6 February 2012
Apprentices benefit from foreign language skills
Today, at the start of National Apprenticeships Week, ColegauCymru / CollegesWales is celebrating a new opportunity for apprentices to improve their foreign language skills and gain valuable work experience in different European countries, thanks to a work placement programme coordinated by CollegesWales International.
In the highly competitive global economy, knowledge of modern foreign languages is of tremendous benefit. Internationally portable vocational careers can be found in beauty therapy, business administration, catering, construction, education, engineering, and more. High level technical and soft skills plus experience of other cultures and a grasp of another language make for an unbeatable combination.
Coordinator of CollegesWales International, Siân Holleran, who speaks four languages herself, said: "The European work placement programme is ambitious and challenging for learners. It involves apprentices taking on the responsibility of doing a job of work in a company in Europe. They have to adapt to a new culture, get along with new colleagues and communicate in an unfamiliar language for the duration of their stay. It’s a great maturing experience as well as a skill-building opportunity.
“The work placement programme includes language and culture preparation sessions, which means that prior knowledge of the host country’s official language is not a prerequisite. Clearly, however, a background in the relevant language serves as a valuable springboard.”
Charlotte Hodgens and Joseph Barry are apprentices with the Youth Offending Service (YOS) in Swansea. They are training to be mentors, working with young offenders and ‘at risk’ young people in the Swansea area. They undertook a three week placement in Italy last autumn, mentoring a diverse group of interns from a range of European countries. Preparations for their placement were coordinated by CollegesWales International with the support of Gower College Swansea, and organised in Italy by Centro Servizi Cultura Sviluppo Srl.
Addressing 120 school pupils at the fourth annual conference of “Wales, Europe & the World”, which took place last Friday, Joseph explained the links between their work as apprentices with the Youth Offending Service and their work placement in Italy: “In Swansea, we provide support for older children and young people up to the age of 16. In Italy, the interns we mentored were older, aged 17 plus, but their support needs were comparable. The interns we supported were living in a foreign country for up to ten months, knowing no-one and without prior knowledge of Italian. Our job was to mentor them through difficult patches and nurture a family spirit and build morale”.
Charlotte said: “It’s important to make the best of opportunities that come your way. It was scary, but so worthwhile. I had never been abroad on my own before this work placement so it was a great personally rewarding and maturing experience for me. In addition, although I’d learnt some Italian at college before I went to Italy, the best way to learn a language is to use it. That’s what I did, and in just three weeks my language skills improved markedly. I’m so pleased I had this opportunity. What an awesome apprenticeship this is proving to be!”
Janice Hall, Team Leader at the Family Group Conferencing Unit, which is part of the Youth Offending Service, said: “This has been an incredible opportunity for the trainees to live and work Italy and also to have daily interaction with so many different cultures as CSCS provides work opportunities to young people from a range of European countries. This experience has been personally rewarding for them and it has also provided evidence for their vocational qualification.”
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Contact: Sylvia Davies on 029 2052 8384 or 07968 771913.
Notes to editors:
1. ColegauCymru / CollegesWales is a national educational charity that represents all 20 further education (FE) colleges and institutions in Wales. Its mission is to raise the profile of further education with key decision-makers to improve opportunities for learners in Wales. For further information about ColegauCymru and the colleges it represents, visit www.colegaucymru.ac.uk or www.collegeswales.ac.uk
2. CollegesWales International is the international arm of ColegauCymru.
3. The European work placement programme organised by CollegesWales International is funded by the Leonardo Programme - part of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme http://www.leonardo.org.uk/
4. In the first year of the CollegesWales International programme, 30 apprentices from colleges across Wales are being supported in work placements in Spain and Italy. Other countries in Europe have already signalled their interest to become involved in the programme if CollegesWales International is successful in its funding bit to continue the programme beyond 2011/12.
5. Four apprentices from the Youth Offending Service who study at Gower College Swansea, including Charlotte and Joseph, went to Italy in September/October 2011. In Wales, the work placements were coordinated by ColegauCymru. The placements were organised in Italy by Centro Servizi Cultura Sviluppo Srl (CSCS). CSCS is a vocational training provider which is also active in the field of student and staff mobility and supports European educational providers to plan and implement work placements in Italy through www.italymobility.com
6. Charlotte and Joseph were speaking at “Wales, Europe & the World” – a conference to promote languages in the workplace for 14-19 year olds. The conference was organised by Routes into Languages Cymru and took place at Cardiff City Hall on Friday 3 February 2012.