Personnel from Naval Station (NAVSTA) Rota, Spain, participated in two English language events with students from IES Francisco Javier de Uriarte Spanish School, located just outside the installation gates, March 18, 2022. The event was coordinated by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Lauren Howes, assigned to American Forces Network (AFN) Rota, and NAVSTA Rota Host Nation office in conjunction with the school.
“I wanted to create a volunteer opportunity that involved the local community and was different than some of the stuff normally done,” said Howes. “My hope is to give service members the chance to engage with the local community and for the local community to get to know us.”
When NAVSTA Rota Host Nation Office approached the school with the idea, teacher Ana Garcia Guerra was enthusiastically on board. They decided upon two one-hour sessions – one in morning and one in afternoon – with her more advanced English classes.
“I have always wanted to have some sort of exchange with my students and people from base,” she said.
While the students are taught 3-4 hours a week of English instruction, she explained that they needed interactions with native speakers.
“For the Spanish students, this is a very good experience to find out how native speakers speak,” she explained. “They need to know firsthand how people talk, how people live in the States, how they work, etc.”
Each session started with the active duty service member giving their name, hometown or state, and age. Garcia Guerra quizzed the students at the end to check their comprehension, turning it into a fun game. Afterwards, the students broke up into small groups to chat with service members around the outdoor patio.
The time was used to get to know each other better and ask questions about each other’s cultures.
“I was very excited to learn new English vocabulary,” said Jesus López Salmerón, a student from El Puerto de Santa María, Spain. “To hear how a native person talks with you – vocabulary, expressions – and making corrections [to my English].
Adding that he and his fellow students could teach, “the Americans a little bit more about Spain and its culture and what the Spanish people are like” during the event as well.
The event helped to develop a greater understanding between the two groups which was just what Howes had wanted from these events.
“I hope that both the American service members and the Spanish students get to learn more about each other's cultures,” she said. “I want the service members to know that Spain is more than just jamon and tinto, and for the Spanish students to know that the U.S. is more than just New York, California, and hamburgers.”
These first two events will hopefully set the foundation for future collaborations between the school and the base laying the foundation for what Garcia Guerra described as, “the first stone to build something amazing.”
By the end of the event, students and service members were chatting and laughing like friends. Many were making plans to attend the next event so they could pick up their conversations where they ended.
“I recommend everyone does this,” said Hospitalman Jalon Inofer, assigned to U.S. Naval Hospital Rota, Spain. “This was such a wonderful experience.”
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2022 04:08 |
| Story ID: | 418005 |
| Location: | ES |
| Web Views: | 53 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Building Something Amazing: NAVSTA Rota Personnel Participate in Language Event at Local High School, by Courtney Pollock, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
