Exchange students offer different perspective at HTIS

Holy Trinity International School (HTIS) in Kidderminster has welcomed their latest exchange students all the way from their Asuncion sister school in Paraguay.

Sixth formerAntonella Silvera arrived at the beginning of September and will return home later this month, while Guillermo Aguirrewill continue his studies until the end of June, 2011.

Holy Trinity International School Head, Mrs Pam Leek-Wright, stated: “Student exchanges are invaluable as they enable greater understanding of other cultures and open minds to peoples from other nations. Holy Trinity students benefit greatly, gaining a totally new perspective on world affairs and how Europe is perceived abroad, without even leaving the classroom.”

With the arrival of Antonella and Guillermo, additional language benefits have been felt in lessons with senior AS and A level Spanish students able to converse and listen to colloquial accents and pronunciations, directly aiding their Spanish studies, and AS Geography classes benefiting with the translation of technical vocabulary, enabling all students to gain practical experience of both dialect and language. Opening up to new ideas and thinking internationally in today’s interconnected global economy is extremely beneficial for students’ understanding of world trade.

Said Mrs Leek-Wright: “It is so important for young minds to understand the significance given to education by other cultures with many of our visitors arriving totally bilingual, and many speaking three or even four languages. Guillermo is trilingual, able to speak Spanish, English and German, with a working knowledge of French. He hopes to take AS French in June, after only five months of formal study.”

During their UK stay, both Antonella and Guillermo have been perfecting their written English, previously travelling to the USA from their own bilingual high school, and taking all classes in English, with the real challenge of writing at AS standard.

Stated Mrs Leek-Wright: “Antonella is studying English literature and history and Guillermo history and learning technical language to support his geography, maths and science studies. They both have been fascinated by our AS sports science and related biology and physiology courses, as they simply don’t exist in their home country.”

Staying with host families, all IES students are encouraged to visit their other international sister schools at some stage, either physically or virtually to help broaden and widen their personal understanding of language, culture and global issues.

Issued: 16/02/2011