Foreign students are singing the praises of Arbroath in a new website developed to promote their adopted home town.
Students enrolled on the ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course at D&A College’s town campus this week unveiled the Arbroath Voices website to an audience which included locals who have played a starring role in its success.
Over recent months the eight students Latvians Janis Dumbraitis, Elina Mintale and Aivis Grasmanis, Kristina Baltusnikaite and Agne Balciene from Lithuania, Poles Malgorzata Romanowska, and Maciej Kuc and Metin Davidov from Turkey have worked closely with retired businessman Alfie Dickson to find suitable candidates for interview.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y6re5b9UAeU%3Frel%3D0
The college has welcomed growing numbers of foreign students in recent years and the focus of the ESOL course is on improving English language skills to prepare learners for living, working and studying in the UK or using English as an international means of communication.
As part of a project on work and entrepreneurs, the students were encouraged by Alfie to contact local people.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MJCuOEGYro8%3Frel%3D0
He said the project emerged from a Sunday church service at St Andrews in Arbroath when minister the Rev Martin Fair asked the congregation if anyone could volunteer a couple of hours each week to help foreign college students improve their English.
In his efforts to immerse the students in the culture of Angus, Alfie has also been organising events including Burns suppers and Scottish country dance sessions for the students.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=dbTQL9rgO9E%3Frel%3D0
Work on the Arbroath Voices project began last October and, so far, the students have interviewed 11 people.
“The challenging project helped the students develop their English language skills through working with each other interviewing the local people,” said lecturer Linda Archibald.
“They also built teamwork skills as they collaborated to plan, conduct and film the interviews, all of this in English.”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=TcJ8U3hh_pc%3Frel%3D0
Interviewees include recently retired boatyard owner Harry Simpson, who talked about his lifetime at the heart of the town’s fishing industry, Jim Addison of Abbey Music and fish merchants M & M Smith.
Student Kristina, 24, who came to live in Scotland two years ago, said: “I met a lot of new people and gained new experiences.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=f1JdYgmb6-A%3Frel%3D0
“I hope that this will encourage other people to be more active and continue this project.
To show their appreciation to those who have taken part in the project, the students invited the participants to the launch of www.arbroathvoices.com at the Keptie Road campus.