São Paulo – Syrian refugees will teach Arabic and English classes to Brazilians in the city of São Paulo next month. They will take part in the Abraço Cultural project, which gathers refugees who are teachers from four different countries to give language classes and also cultural experiences. The classes are scheduled for July 6th and 30th and registrations can be made until June 30th.
The project is organized by the NGOs Atados and Adus. Also taking part in Abraço Cultural are teachers from Congo, Haiti and Nigeria. Besides the languages mentioned above, French and Spanish classes will be offered in July. Groups ranging from six to ten students will be formed.
The classes offered by the project are: Arabic focused in Arab culture; English with focus in Arab culture; English with focus in African culture; French focused in African culture; and Spanish with focus in Latin culture. Wessam Alkourdi will teach English classes, while another Syrian will teach Arabic classes.
“The classes will have 70% of their time directed to teaching the language. The experimental classes will be focused on cultural practices. There will be, for instance, a class about cuisine in which the teacher will explain an Arab dish with the ingredients’ names in English, says André Cevi, one of the founders of Atados.
Cevi explains that the course will also have classes focusing on themes like dance and literature, but that the culture workshops, in general, will take advantage of each teacher’s interests and experiences. The courses are intended for students from the basic and intermediate levels.
The Atados representative says the refugees selected for the classes already work as private teachers in their countries. “They already had experience as English teachers in Syria”, says Cevi about the Arabs. According to him, for the classes of each language, there’s a support team available to the teachers.
The July courses are Abraço Cultural’s first initiative, but the plan is to turn them into permanent courses starting next semester. For this to happen, Cevi says that they are seeking a space in which to teach the classes. The July classes will take place at Biblioteca e Centro de Pesquisa América do Sul – Países Árabes – Bibliaspa (Library and Research Center South America – Arab Countries – Bibliaspa).
According to Cevi, besides offering the opportunity for the refugees to work in the project, the NGO’s intention is to also train the Syrians so they can work as Arabic private teachers and translators in Brazil. Another plan of Atados is to offer a gastronomy workshop in the second semester. “This could generate income and they could work in other places”, he says.
Service:
Abraço Cultural Project – Language and culture classes with refugees
Period: July 6th to 30th, 2015
Time and date: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 7:30 PM to 10 PM
Address: Rua Baronesa de Itu, 639 – Santa Cecília – São Paulo – SP
Price: R$ 400,00 (US$ 128.27) / R$ 100 (US$ 32.07) registration fee + R$ 300 (US$ 96.20)
Registrations are open until June 30th
Further information available at http://abracocultural.com.br/#curso
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
