Craig and Michael meet the Mayor of Curitiba

Today we had the pleasure to meet the Mayor of Curitiba, Gustavo Fruet. A fantastic welcome to the city that we will be based in this year.

You can read about the meeting today in Portuguese here http://www.curitiba.pr.gov.br/noticias/ingleses-ensinarao-idioma-a-estudantes-de-curitiba/32623

The English translation is as follows:

Teach English language to students of Curitiba

Two young English city of Newcastle that are in Curitiba to participate in a project volunteer were gathered in this Tuesday (15) with the mayor Gustavo Fruet. The meeting at the office of the City the pair presented part of the schedule of actions that should be developed over the next few months in partnership with the Municipal Secretary of Education. Their goal is to teach the English language to needy children and be in Brazil during the period of the World Cup.

Craig Robson and Michael Gardner belong to international organization Lionsraw of football fans. Along with five other English will be for approximately one year in Curitiba.

Officially the first activity of the project for the teaching of language will happen on April 22. Will be a training involving the seven British volunteers and teachers municipal of five schools where the project will be involved. No meeting in the Center of Continuing Education of the Municipal Secretary of Education will be presented the didactic material prepared by British Institute that will be used in English classes with the students.

Although the Curitiba there is little more than a week Craig Robson and Michael Gardner already have friends in the city. Also know part of teachers and students with whom they will work. Since May of last year the double has participated in a cultural interchange involving five schools of municipal network of Curitiba with students and teachers of elementary school Holystone the city of Newcastle England.

The children of the two countries exchanged letters, photos, drawings and information about the culture sports and habits of each one. The rapprochement between the groups also happened through videoconferencing, recordings of songs and videos that showed the routines of children in their cities.

"We have great expectations for the beginning of the activities with the children, in particular with which we started contacts through cultural exchanges" said Michael Gardner. The British prepared themselves for the coming to Brazil. The pair learned Portuguese and second Craig enjoy the conviviality here to strengthen the new language. "It is not easy to learn the Portuguese, but we have made a concerted effort because we want to promote key exchanges for all the project" said Craig.

The municipal schools that are taking part in the project are Maria Augusta Jouve, Doutel de Andrade, Romario Martins, Francisco Frischmanns and the Unit of Integral Education Wenceslau Braz. The schools were chosen because they have the discipline of English in the curriculum which facilitates communication between students English and Brazilian.

Also gathered with the British the municipal secretary of Education, Roberlayne Borges Roballo, the Media Gladimir Birth in addition to members of the staff of the department of elementary education and the director of the department of Social Media Marcos Giovanella.