Language and cultural exchange Erasmus Project

Project Title

Language and cultural exchange

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Creativity and culture; Overcoming skills mismatches (basic/transversal)

Project Summary

Our project is entitled “Linguistic and Cultural Exchange”. It will start in September 2020 and will cover a period of 24 months. The starting point for this project is the observation that our students really need to broaden their awareness and understanding of other cultures. This project will involve 20 French students and 20 Spanish students (aged 12-15), supervised by 4 teachers, as well as the 20 host families who will welcome the students and provide accommodation.

Students will work together towards a common goal – the creation of a digital and print magazine, from scratch. They will plan the sections, choose the name of said magazine, design its logo, its front cover… They will write informative articles about the country and region where they live, and about the country they will discover during their stay. They will also give an inside guide to the local culture (food section, history…). Students will also share articles about their experience living in host families and within the school of the host country. They will be able to tell their adventures, memories and discoveries through a travel diary and illustrate it with their own pictures.

In order to do so, various activities will be carried out on eTwinning before and during the creation of the magazine. We will use the platform to make contact with the foreign country, but also to plan ahead and anticipate potential students difficulties. We will also use other applications such as Padlet, to carry out planned activities and maximise the level of student curiosity and motivation over time. Youri Gagarine school has its very own radio club called ‘La Youri Radio’ – students will therefore be able to record podcasts to broadcast on the school’s radio and act as real journalists. The Spanish school will also broadcast students videos on the reception area information screen.

The twenty French students and their two teachers will stay in Spain for seven days, in order to work with their Spanish counterparts on the creation of the magazine. During the 2021-2022 school year, the twenty Spanish students and their teachers will travel to France in turn.

French and Spanish students will connect beforehand to get to know each other and prepare the project. Teachers will be in permanent contact (via WhatsApp, Messenger or phone conversations ) to establish student goals, choose the destinations, prepare the activities and determine how they will be carried out – from the first contact of the students to the actual meeting. We will also send constant messages to the students families so they will be able to keep up to date with the project progress and what is happening during the trips.

The objectives of this project are as follows:
– Multidisciplinary learning and collaboration in practice between school subjects such as history, science and European languages
– Improve the students’ language skills in authentic situations
– Enrich their culture and their personal development
– Training to become a European citizen: increase the students understanding and tolerance of other cultures, living together, openness to the world, boost their ability to adapt to a new environment…
– Work on students’ independence and confidence
– Make the students actors of their project
– Develop a global perspective and discover a different educational system

We expect tangible results, such as the creation of a quarterly magazine, containing varied and detailed articles. We also expect intangible results and various benefits from these educational excursions: the students will acquire new knowledge and experiences, an openness to other cultures, an improvement of their linguistic skills (in alignment with the CEFR), development of their autonomy, interpersonal and social skills, etc.

We believe this project will have a positive impact on the two participating schools, by promoting a positive school climate. It will also increase interdisciplinarity and strengthen teamwork between teachers and the administrative team. The project also aims at strengthening the European dimension of the global school projet (“projet d’établissement”).
Also, this project will increase the participation of parents in the life of the school. The relationships between students, teachers and parents will only be better. It will also have an impact on our respective cities and regions thanks to the planned dissemination plan. The goal is to give people the opportunity to open themselves up to Europe and the rest of the world.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 52052 Eur

Project Coordinator

COLLEGE YOURI GAGARINE & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Instituto de Educación Secundaria “Cardenal Cisneros”