Importance of Guyanese learning Spanish emphasised
THE importance of Guyanese learning Spanish was reiterated when 116 of them graduated from the Venezuelan Institute of Culture and Cooperation (IVCC) on Monday.
At the ceremony in the Theatre Guild Playhouse, on Parade Street, Kingston, Georgetown, 54 were graduates from the basic level, 42 from the intermediate and 20 from the advanced.
Venezuelan Ambassador to Guyana, Mr. Dario Morandy said, at the function, that 2010 is a year of special significance, noting that President Bharrat Jagdeo assumed the Presidency of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR).
Morandy, who lauded spanish for its complexity and grammatical strength, said Guyana should move to become a trilingual society, recognising Creolese as another language.
Director of the Faculty of Language, Art and Culture at University of Guyana (UG), Mr. Alim Hosein agreed it is important to learn spoken Spanish as a second language.
Praising the work of the IVCC, he said UG feels a special bond with those who promote the pursuit of learning languages.
Underlining the importance of languages in the context of globalisation, Hosein said the system works on a fundamental basis and Spanish is critical in a globalised world.
He maintained that language is the primary human form of communication and the knowledge of a second, largely, increases the ability to communicate.
Hosein pointed out that learning a language is not just to learn the words and sentences but also the culture, history and the way people think.
He encouraged the graduating group to continue their pursuit of Spanish and posited that there can be no one globalised language.
CANNOT SUFFICE
Hosein said, even though English is a lingua franca, it alone cannot suffice to represent all cultures and ideas.
“We must take steps to learn another language,” he urged.
Echoing Morandy’s sentiments about the complexity of Spanish, Hosein described Spanish as a language of passion and beauty.
Hosein said Spanish was more particular in pronouns and commended Morandy for his recognition of Creolese as a language.
Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Mr. Mohandatt Goolsarran said the institution is planning to expand ‘Escuela Nueva’, a programme developed by the Ministry of Education for schools in Regions One (Barima/Waini) and Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), to other parts of the country.
He said language, in the case of Spanish, is drawing Guyanese closer to their continental destiny and exhorted the graduates to use their knowledge for helping NCERD’s efforts to implement more effective language programmes.
The IVCC Programme of Academic Development and Cooperation (Programma de Desarrollo Academico y Cooperacion) makes Spanish classes available in three broad levels, basic, intermediate and advanced.
The three are sub-divided into three sub-levels, for example Basic 1, Basic 2 and Basic 3 and so on. Each level is taught over three months and a certificate is awarded at the conclusion of every broad level, once the student has attained a passing grade.
The IVCC was established by the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown about 43 years ago, amongst ongoing cooperation in cultural activities.