PorTraits my second project in London

PorTraits

Art and technology as tools to facilitate the learning of a new language

After the experience of Strange(R)Faces occurred to me that such activities, with the necessary modifications, could be useful as a tool to improve language skills.

Learning English is, for many immigrants, a journey that will last the entire life (I am one of them);  the difficulties faced by adults, is that, for them, it is necessary to overcome the linguistic "impasse" as quick as possible.

One of the biggest difficulties that I met since I came to London was that it was almost impossible for me to practice English because,  in my work environment , everyone speaks Spanish or Portuguese (and not only in my work environment). I soon realized that the problem was not only mine, many people remain "trapped" in their social context in which the main language (or even the only) remains that of the country of origin.

If many immigrants, like me, start from the countries of origin with basic language skills, others arrive without knowing anything but their own language and start here to learn English. 

In London there is an abundance of courses, but few opportunities for many people to practice the language.

The Migrants Resource Centre had been the first organization I had contacted as a costumer on my arrival in London (April 2014); I was able to take advantage of their guidance, help in drafting the C.V. and cover letter, and I could also participate at  theater workshops, also very useful to practice English

This project had been, for me, fundamental to understanding how to achieve my current project Conversation and Animation.

I take this opportunity toto express my gratitude to  Laura Marziale (Community Education & Employment Co-ordinator), for believing in my ideas and  for giving me the opportunity to develop it, Bianca Galluccio and the whole start working at the  Migrants Resourse Centre.

The idea:  to create a conversation class open to all levels of language proficiency

The artistic activity, in this context, has two purposes: "break the ice" favoring communication, and carry of a talking picture to use as a tool able to help the verification of the results.
People were asked to record a message at the beginning of the conversation sessions and then, later, in the end, in order to check the linguistic progress.
Why to use the animations? Because the effect on people is amazing, extremely funny. A factor that is often not considered is the stress for an adults to learn a new language, but also related to  the status of immigrant , and and how this two elements affects learning.
Listen their voice and articulated sounds in a language is certainly useful but can also be, for some, a frustrating experience. In my experience this negative effect is virtually eliminated by the use of talking pictures (the plan was to use not only portraits but whatever image the person was found to represent the fun).

I want to thanks Ricardo for giving me the permission to publish the letter he wrote about the experience he had during my workshop