|
|
|
|
|
|
Special Report |
LAST UPDATE February 5, 2006
|
|
| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 8, 2006 |
The Global English/Español Training (GET) Programme |
|
| |
 |
| The 52nd Global Voyage GET team |
Communication is perhaps the most fundamental of all factors in order to exchange ideas and solve conflicts peacefully. Hence, it has been a constant element of Peace Boat’s philosophy to provide a platform where communication methods can be improved. Entering its fifth year, the Global English/Español Training (GET) Programme offers Peace Boat participants an opportunity to develop English and Spanish language communication skills while onboard.
Led onboard by Programme Coordinators Izu Yuuka and Matthew Steele, the team for this voyage is composed of 15 English and 2 Spanish teachers. Chosen from a competitive pool of over 80 applicants, the countries represented by the current GET team are: Australia, Canada, England, Wales, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States. |
site design imagesparkle.com |
 |
| GET coordinators Izu Yuuka and Matthew Steele deliver the initial open class of the term |
As has become the norm, the GET programme is providing both “intensive” and “open” classes. The intensive courses are comprised of 70 sessions lasting 40 minutes each in a formal classroom setting with no more than six students per teacher. Meanwhile, the “open” classes are available to any Peace Boat participant free of charge and are given in large seminar rooms. Both sets of classes are offered on a daily basis, except the day after a port of call. Within the intensive courses, 143 participants have signed up for English while 12 others are taking Spanish. |
| |
 |
| GET English teacher Petra Devey assists a student during an intensive class |
As Izu Yuuka explains, “our mission is to encourage the use of language, especially English, as a tool for communication. And the Peace Boat environment is perfect to use practical English – with the crew members, international staff, guest speakers, and on ports.” The GET programme has also developed a set of so called “Challenge Programmes.” These are optional activities for students to join during ports of call, which encourage them to apply what they learn onboard the ship. During our current voyage, a cultural exchange with university students has been developed in Singapore, an English Safari in Kenya, a homestay with South African families in Cape Town, and a cultural exchange in Fiji. |
| |
 |
| Intensive lesson led by GET teacher Nick Howes from Australia |
Meanwhile, a series of extra curricular activities onboard continually motivates students to communicate in a foreign language. The GET team will be running relaxed conversation sessions (Café Latino, English Café, and One-on-one chat), English workshops, as well as special events such as the GET Language Olympics, a speech contest, end-of-term project presentations, a Cultural Day, and as always, global issues are integrated into the language curriculum. |
| |
|
|
|
