During the current school year, the 4th-grade students of Secondary Education at the San José Private School of Salamanca have participated in a school exchange program, an intercultural and linguistic activity in English which has the objective of practicing and improving the English language.

The activity has been developed in collaboration with the Gesamtschule Eiffel educational center in Blankenheim, Germany. The Spanish students participating in the exchange first traveled to the Eiffel region in Germany for a week-long period during last September. The itinerary of the first part of the exchange included a wide range of activities such as attending classes at the German school, discovering the city of Cologne and the municipalities of Nettersheim and Bad Münstereifel, nature workshops at the Arboretum and the Nettersheim rope park, or visiting the former IP Vogelsang complex.

Subsequently, over the course of a week during the month of February, the German students were received in Salamanca with activities such as the «Poppy Park» recreation park, the visit to the Cathedral, the Dominican Convent of San Esteban, or the Salamanca City Hall; trips to Madrid and Béjar to explore both cities, and activities such as paintball and an inclusive sports day with the «Aviva» foundation.

The students were hosted by German families on the way there and by Spanish families on the way back, showing full involvement and participation in all activities. This direct coexistence with families fostered tolerance, interpersonal relationships, and understanding and knowledge of different cultures (Spanish and German) in the students. Through the use of English as a shared foreign language between the two countries, students were able to understand the instrumental value of languages and enriched themselves with new ideas.

ROCÍO ANTONIO NÚÑEZ
profesora especialista en inglés de Educación Secundaria del Colegio Concertado San José de Salamanca