by Giovanna Montalti

We are los amigos, a team made up of:

    •  Facilitators who are fully qualified; with expertise in native-speaking (Spanish, Italian) and who are keen on taking part in conveying our backgrounds, knowledge and experiences within a positive learning environment.

    •  The pupils who form the essential part of our club by taking part actively and directly in our programme, by giving feedback and by bringing their own talents.

    • Special Guest who pass on their knowledge to the pupils through different activities depending on their background.

All our staff have different backgrounds, have Garda vetting and are passionate about dealing with children through Spanish or their native language.  Within our staff, we have teachers, educators, coaches, visual art experts, and other types of professionals that have the roles of being a facilitators of the learning of a new language through an interactive approach.

The founder of this innovative initiative is Giovanna Montalti; she is a bilingual psychologist (Italian-Spanish speaking) enrolled on the Register of the Psychologists in Italy since 2007, and also the mother of a multilingual child. She designs, structures, evaluates and coordinates the programme  according to the age and the needs of the child, as her view is child-centred in order to promote and facilitate the learning of the new language-culture as well as the development of cognitive and psychosocial abilities and a positive mind-set in the child.  She has a strong belief that culture and language can be used as a great tool to foster life skills. In fact, studies have shown how learning and practising a language activates different cognitive faculties in the individual, for instance: concentration, attention, focus, memory, and problem solving. It also encompasses psychosocial areas, for instance motivation, positive mind-set, self–confidence, interactions, relationships, cooperation, and respect, encouraging personal-social development and learning in the child. In addition, it promotes the use of instincts and curiosity in the child.