Having established Spanish as an obligatory subject and foreign language in our senior classes (Year 11/12/13) we would like to add authentic and motivating experiences to the classroom teaching. Student exchange programs provide excellent possibilities for intercultural encounters, enabling all participants to increase options on a European labour market, as students acquire language competences in authentic situations, are likely to reduce possible barriers of cultural differences by getting to know them and are motivated not only to learn about a common European idea theoretically, but by personal experience. Spanish as an obligatory Second Foreign Language (First language English, Second French or Spanish) for A-level students has been introduced at the IGS Anna Seghers since 2017/18. Students have given a remarkable response of interest, as half of the complete year of students (45 students, two classes) enrolled in this language. For the coming new year of students (2019/20) this trend is again confirmed. The Erasmus exchange program will further promote the importance of foreign language learning and enable our students to gain the benefits from cultural diversity, even more so, as their own background very often is multicultural and in some cases without the financial background that is necessary to make young people meet. The participating students are 17 to 19 years of age, thus matching the Valencia group of students who mostly range from year 4o de E.S.O. (16-17) to 1ero de Bachillerato (17-18). For the German students who are basic learners with five classes of Spanish per week the program begins with first contacts to possible exchange partners by eTwinning in year 11. They are encouraged to talk and write about their life. In the second year of learning (year 12) the personal experience of meeting each other is possible, adding the benefits of authentically communicating during the daily routine in a family and of getting to know “Spanish life”. There will be multiple opportunities to talk about common or different aspects of living as young people in European cities (Mainz and Valencia are twin towns). During their stay of one week the students keep an online diary containing a personal feedback and critical reflection of the day. Descriptions of sites and places of interest, presentation of the host family, comparison of their respective daily school routine and the description of their day at a local company will be added. A homepage presentation about the exchange is expected later. Additionally the school community will be informed about the experiences. After the exchange meeting and with improving language abilities the students will be able to keep up the given contact to their partners and deal, for example, with the following topics: youth unemployment; Nations first or Europe first? and challenges and chances of migration. The project experience will be passed on from one year of students to the following one. Promotion for and information about the exchange program should be given by presentations and reports and respective meetings. We would also like to stress the fact that the exchange will find public interest beyond the school as Mainz and Valencia are twin towns and the idea of finding schools in Valencia for this exchange has actively been supported by the city council of Mainz.
Due to the pandemic, only one group could participate in a mobility to Spain in the first year, so that they could gain experience abroad and be prepared for the European labor market and life in Europe. The trip promoted the subject of Spanish in school. Thanks to the project, a group of pupils was able to experience Spanish daily life, but the pandemic prevented a second mobility. German students learned about the possibility of the project in grade 11 with the first contacts with exchange students through eTwinning. This network was replaced by private media during the project. The first and only mobility took place in January 2020. German students stayed with families, participated in a varied cultural program and got to know the school and working life of the country for ten days. Many students kept in contact with their partners. The following topics were addressed: youth unemployment, migration movements and EU benefits for young people. During the exchange, the students wrote a diary, which is available on eTwinning, in which they critically reflected on their day and their experiences using a variety of linguistic means, as well as completing various tasks. The project strengthened both the relationship between the two partners and the skills required by the CEFR. The TELC language certificate could not be achieved due to school closures, but the participating students received a Europass – as did Spanish pupils later. Since the pupils successfully passed the Abitur in March 2021, some pupils can already attach this certificate to their job applications. Afterwards, the students wrote a report for the school's website and told the school community about their experiences. In addition, the Association of Former Employees of EU Institutions (A.I.A.C.E. DE e.V.) became aware of the IGS Anna Seghers and honored their commitment with a financial donation. A second group welcomed Spanish exchange students in March 2020. A return visit could not be offered within the project due to the pandemic, but was recovered in September 2021. The current situation required some changes, such as accommodation. The first group of Spanish students welcomed German students in January 2020. These students had already been in Germany the previous year during a school trip. In parallel, another group of students worked two hours per week contents in German, outside school hours, in a classroom enabled for this purpose in Abastos. A Spanish teacher taught them some German because Spanish students had not studied German before. They started with basic notions, and continued with homework about "personal description", "description of my family" and "description of a city". Everything is collected in the DRIVE and published in eTwinning. When students visited Germany, they were not yet able to hold a conversation, but they were able to improve their vocabulary. Spanish students did a research paper on the German cities visited, showing the results in Spanish and German and they increased their cultural knowledge of the other country. Due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 during the stay, the program had to be adapted. Both schools made the project known to the whole educational community. All information is published on the respective school website and the IES Abastos even published it on social networks like "Twitter". The local newspaper: "El Levante-emv, Innovación en las Aulas" published an article on January 29th. Unfortunately, due to health restrictions caused by COVID-19, the activities planned in the project for the second year could not be carried out. All in all, the partnership between the cities of Mainz and Valencia has been created and, at the same time, professional and friendly contacts have been established, which continue today.