Media
Centre
goFLUENT
Press information issued on
behalf of: goFLUENT
web www.gofluent.com
8th March 2011
Italian Ministry of Education
engages goFLUENT to help schoolchildren perfect their English
language skills
The Italian Ministry of
Education has become the second European government department -
following France’s Education Ministry - to get goFLUENT, the
European leader in distance English training, to provide English
language learning for schoolchildren.
This latest pilot programme, begun in November last year and
organised by goFLUENT, links children at Rome’s Piva Caesar Middle
School - via videoconferencing technology - with English native
speakers who are English language teachers based in the USA.
Using only an internet connection, a computer with a sound system, a
webcam and a video projector, 22 children participated in this
innovative learning process which complements traditional English
teaching methods. Every child took part in ten of these
web-delivered lessons, each of which lasted for 30 minutes.
Both the on-site teacher and the US-based trainer support complement
each other’s role in the classroom. The classroom teachers play a
key role because they are responsible for making goFLUENT’s
interactive lessons meet the requirements of the Italian Ministry of
Education.
Sally Van Dyke, one of the teachers, said: "It was amazing to see
how quickly the students’ familiarity with English improved. It was
clear that the concepts that they had already acquired in the
classroom were greatly enriched by goFLUENT’s training."
The pilot project marks the second time that goFLUENT has worked
with a national government to teach English to its children. Since
2008, in conjunction with France’s Education Ministry, goFLUENT has
made its brand of English language training available to children in
the le Havre area of France.
This project involves 1,000 schools, of which 40 - in Périgueux -
took part in a pilot programme in 2008. Then, in 2009, the training
was extended to children in Rosny-sous-Bois and, subsequently, to
children aged nine to 12 in the city of le Havre and the surrounding
area.
Christophe Ferrandou, goFLUENT’s CEO, explained: "Involvement in one
of our programs - whether you’re a child or an adult - gives you a
head-start when learning English because you learn true English
pronunciation quickly and effortlessly from native-speaking
teachers. You get the chance to learn a new language and appreciate
a new culture as well.
"Our experience - now in both France and Italy - in providing
distance English training via videoconferencing to young people has
shown that our teaching method is particularly well suited to
teaching them English, given the familiarity that most of them
already have with the internet. And the students' feedback shows
that they are happy with the structure, content and outcome of the
lessons."
Nicola Musazzi, goFLUENT’s Country Manager in Italy, commented: "The
added value of our approach is shown in its playful and experiential
approach to learning - and students of all ages benefit from the
simplicity of the programme’s construction as well as its high
degree of personal interaction with the teachers."
Ferrandou added: "Using videoconferencing technology is an ideal way
to introduce students - not just in Italy and France but all over
the world - to native English speakers without the need to disrupt
anyone’s life by a lot of travelling, thus avoiding the costs and
the adverse effects on the environment that such travel brings.
Moreover, using this technology to deliver the learning gets around
the difficulty of finding native English speakers in the students’
locality."
The results of the pilot programme in Rome are now being analysed
and are being shared with other Italian schools via the InnovaScuola
web portal (http://www.innovascuola.gov.it). InnovaScoula is an
initiative of Italy’s Department for the digitisation of public
administration and technological innovation along with the country’s
Ministry of Education University and Research.
End
About goFLUENT Italia’s Education Project
For further details of this project visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxMR3zb0a9Q and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gq3hfoor3k
About goFLUENT
goFLUENT offers distance business
English training solutions combining eLearning and live trainers.
goFLUENT is assisting, every year, over 60.000 business executives
in more than 5.000 international corporations in making their
company more efficient and profitable when doing business globally
and managing intercultural situations. goFLUENT is established in 10
countries, with 560 employees and with the world's third largest
telecom company, NTT Communications (NTT Group) owning 30% of its
shares." For more information about goFLUENT, please visit
http://www.gofluent.com.
Further information from:
Robert de Ocampo, goFLUENT, +33
(1) 72 71 83 31;
rdeocampo@gofluent.com
Bob Little, Bob Little Press &
PR, +44 (0)1727 860405;
bob.little@boblittlepr.com