A FUN PACKED WEEK FULL OF ACTIVITIES

MEALS

You are expected to be present at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even if you have less of an appetite meal time is a fundamental part of our program. In fact, many of our student professionals can talk ‘shop' in the business environment, but find themselves at a loss of words and understanding with typical table talk. We try to use the meal time as a time to relax but still a time to work the ear, mouth, and brain. Not only does it round out the social skills, but helps depart from other topics, often filling the air with intrigue and laughter. .

ONE TO ONES

One–to-ones offer an extremely effective way to promote authentic, flowing conversations. In fact, they form the backbone of all Pueblo Ingles programs. Each student is allocated a native English speaking partner where conversation lasts fifty minutes. There is some wonderful scenery and lots of delightful places to sit down and relax or wander around exploring. Short of chewing gum at the same time, to give students an extra challenge, some one-to-ones will occur over the telephone where you will call each other from your respective hotel rooms.

The one core thing that must run through every one to one is unrelenting English interaction, and conversation topics are completely up to the partners involved. Conversations should be varied to prevent repetition and ensure that the students are forced to leave their comfort zone. One-to-ones allow the students to go faster or slower according to their abilities, and are a great way to converse with individuals on a more personal level and are often found to be highly rewarding and culturally insightful.

TELEPHONE SESSIONS AND CONFERENCE CALLS

During telephone sessions a volunteer and a student effectively do a one to one over the phone, speaking from the comfort of the living areas in their respective hotel rooms.

You will be given a broad list of potential subjects and will have some time to consider a choice of topic and the types of things you will spend your session discussing. Conference call sessions, on the other hand will normally involve at 3-4 students and one volunteer who will address the group of students through a conference telephone connection. During the course of the week you may be asked by your Program Director or Master of Ceremonies to host a conference call (voluntarily). Again, guidance will be provided with regards to topics and scenarios.

Both telephone and conference-call sessions last for a total of fifty minutes with roughly thirty-five minutes of actual talk time. The sessions are particularly useful to Spaniards who want to improve their understanding and confidence in English conversation, without the aid of facial expressions, mouth movements and body language. Many of the participants talk English over the phone in their day to day business lives and theses sessions provide an opportunity to train the ear and practice listening skills, without the stress that comes from real and immediate business pressures.

GROUP ACTIVITIES

What exactly you'll be involved with and getting up to do is a surprise. While there is a chance it might involve presentation skills, teamwork, creativity, debate or diplomacy, it is one hundred percent guaranteed to involve chat, chat, a little thinking and more chat! Some of the group activities may also involve situational improvisation.

 

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS

Sometimes it's easier to talk with a little guidance. What we do here is to arrange participants together in smaller groups of 4-5 people according to the levels of the students. We provide a range of themes/topics that can be discussed. It gives the student an opportunity to express their opinions whether for, against, or undecided. The simple objective is spark conversation that can be a bit more emotional, controversial, or perhaps trivial depending on how you look at things. While we do this with respect (always), we have found that when opinions touch certain roots and when the blood flows more passionately that a language learner forgets that they are speaking in another tongue and simply communicates!

THE MEETING ROOM: ENTERTAINMENT HOUR

Each evening groups are formed and various challenges, games, presentations and theatre are set to take place in our “Meeting Room.” Our Master of Ceremonies (MC) is always heavily armed with fun, engaging and thought-provoking activities, as well as helps organize short presentations and theatrical sketches….sure to bend the ear, tweak the mind or bust the gut!

Theatre time fills part of the evening entertainment hour and in the most part offers a chance to sit back, relax and enjoy some very funny performances. Your options are almost endless but common takes include short scripted pieces or perhaps improvisational interpretations of fairytales, TV programs, or a Pueblo Ingles experience. Comedy-style role play scenarios are the most popular style but a dramatic masterpiece is just as welcome. The main goal is light-hearted entertainment, communication, confidence building and group bonding. Participants will be given some time during the day to work with their group on all aspects of the production and our program staff will be there to help if you're short of ideas. Participation is not obligatory but we'd recommend you to get involved as you're bound to have a real hoot!

 The brave and fearless like to get up and share a 5-10 minute presentation with the group, and we highly encourage you all to do so! Don't worry. They don't have to be perfect. In fact, it can help the language learning students to see that not every native-speaker is a master presenter.

Here are some suggestions for presentations:

• Share an interesting story about your adventures, travels or culture
• Explain some old folklore from your country
• Teach on a subject of personal or cultural interest
• Play an audience-participative game (20 questions, pass the message, Simon Says)
• Teach a song or read your favorite poem
• Play an instrument (we have a guitar at Pueblo Ingles)

These are some of the more "normal" things that go on at Pueblo Ingles. We've had the occasional surprise presentation: painted belly dancers, ancient tribal chants, fire eating and hip hop dance classes! So get your thinking cap on and start planning your surprise act!!!

Depending on the venue, projector equipment may be limited however, we always have a flipchart to help you with getting your idea/story across. Check with your MC before and he/she will let you know how your presentation or skit idea can be fit into the plan for the week.

The students are also given the nail-biting task of giving a five-minute presentation (during the morning ), on a subject chosen by them, in front of smaller groups! Whether professionally or personally related the students's presentations tend to be very interesting. We rotate volunteers in as audience members throughout the week so you will get the chance to learn , ask questions afterwards, and perhaps give tips and feedback.

DID I HEAR FREE TIME?

Although we must admit there is practically no free time ;-), we recommend that you take your SIESTA after meals to recharge your energy for the afternoon activities. The Spanish custom with time is to extend the morning into the afternoon, the afternoon into the evening, the evening into the night and the night…. well, we try to stop there but even night-time English can be productive.

On top of this you can decide how you spend your free time whether it be playing sports, going on nature walks… or, yes taking a siesta!

SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

You can expect a half-day excursion at a nearby town or surroundings . This not only gives everyone a chance to move the legs and change the scenery, but it allows for the group to learn about some of the local geography, history and culture….all in English, of course. Additionally, we organize a party night where people get a chance to dress up and strut their stuff on the dance floor! There's plenty to keep you entertained especially in the evenings where there'll be a few surprises!

HOW DO I PREPARE?

We encourage you to bring other conversation stimulus from home. Past participants have brought items like photos, newspapers, maps, tourist info leaflets and also some fun props for the theatre skits. Pre-prepared presentations about a favorite topic are always welcome, generally informal. Some props are provided at the venues, but if you have some funny wigs or costumes lying about, why don't you bring them along! There might not be a laptop or projector available for presentation, but flip charts can be provided to use as a tool to present your information.

You can bring anything that you think will enhance your contribution to the program! And from flag pins to chocolate to massage balls the sky's the limit!

Before heading up to our venues, remember we choose remote areas, which means there no shops in the immediate vicinity. So if you need phone cards, stamps, medicine or any toiletries, do stock up before you go! You DO NOT need to bring towels, bed sheets, or an alarm clock as you get wake up calls in the morning and after siesta. If you use one, you should bring a hair dryer with its corresponding converter. You will be given further details on what to pack, according to the time of the year and the venue.