Ninety graduates of an online conversational Spanish programme, offered by the Embassy of Argentina, in association with the National Library Service, are being encouraged to enrol in the intermediate level programme.
The level one programme, aimed at the six to 12 age group, was conducted on the Zoom platform because of the restrictions of COVID-19. This development allowed the number of participants to increase from the 30 originally targeted to 90.
Minister with responsibility for Culture, John King, in an address to the closing ceremony last Friday, commended the organisers for the initiative which, he said, demonstrated their commitment to assisting Barbados to become a bilingual society.
He noted: “Over 500 million people in the world speak Spanish with over 400 native Spanish speakers alone in nearby Latin America. With the world now a global village and with wireless communication available with a click on our smart devices, it is imperative that many of us in this island should be able to become acquainted with this language.”
He encouraged the graduates to embrace the intermediate level programme, sharing that studies had revealed that learning Spanish had numerous benefits.
He outlined some of these as improving their knowledge and understanding of their own language, preparing them for study abroad experiences and allowing for a greater appreciation of Spanish-speaking cultures and customs.
Minister King announced that the intermediate programme begins this week and will run for eight weeks. He further revealed that a similar programme for adults will also be launched in the near future. Friday’s closing ceremony, which took place at the Argentine Embassy, Hastings, Christ Church, was also attended by the Ambassador of Argentina, Gustavo Martinez Pandiani and Acting Director of the National Library Service, Grace Haynes.