Colegio Miralmonte: unforgettable European experience!
Hi everyone! We are Aurora Targa, Gaia Bertaggia, Margherita Palazzi, Giulia Dorz, Edoardo Turba and Stefano Metta, the 6 Italian students of ITE Tosi Busto Arsizio, a school near Milan.
It’s great to go a little bit away from school and home for rejuvenation and energy, and this is exactly what happened or even much, MUCH MORE….carry on reading and find out! We are still thinking about our awesome experience in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain thanks to the amazing and qualified people who worked with us in Colegio Miralmonte for the Erasmus+ project “Debating as a new approach to Learning”. Before leaving , we were almost new to debating: last year we attended a course of 20 hours and for the pandemic we couldn’t practice more! What a pity!
We come from different classes of our school but debating has put us together and our stay in Spain really changed us! During our stay at the Colegio, we had so much FUN working with different countries and we made many new international FRIENDS: Finnish, Lithuanian, Slovenian and Spanish ones! We did many activities there, assisted by 3 skilled and charismatics Spanish and Slovenian teachers: Rok, Nusia and Manuela who helped us to improve our abilities in debating, and it’s incredible how changed we are after this INCREDIBLE opportunity
Here our some of out thoughts the day after coming back ..in our daily routine at school with Spain in our hearts.
Aurora:
School days are said to be the best part of a person’s life. Though there is a lot of study pressure on us the students in our school, it offers a number of other aspects to CHERISH throughout lives. Among other things, this exerience defintely stands out! In fact I cannot describe the beauty of how I felt in the experience of the games and activities that we did during those incredible days : I can say this was the best school trip experience I’ve ever had!
Gaia:
I could also put into practise my abilies as debater in an inetrnational context and I learnt a lot enjoying myself in all the free time occasions. I DO MISS those amazing days at Coelgio Miralmonte!
Stefano:
Just being in the midst of this crowd of students, debaters, coaches, teachers , trainers made me know what are my upcoming priorities: I want to become a good debater and to debate in international contests. On this journey I was able to find answers to many of my questions and found THE INSPIRATION I wanted.
Marghe:
It was wonderful to discover a new school in a new European country and even more it was incredible to make friendship with Finnish, Slovenian , Spanish and Lithuanian teens of my age..or similar!
Giulia:
But , Marghe, listen: certainly nothing is so WONDERFUL after a long day of listening and paying attention as visiting the city and walking around together with new people: it released all that energy!
Edo:
I can’t believe how much I could speaking in English with so many different people from DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES and how it could make me happy at any time. And also visiting Cartagena and Alicante what marvellous cities!
To conclude, we can say that we feel that our Erasmus + mobility was something really special and that will cherish forever. Together, students and teachers and coaches formed A BOND that resulted in greater understanding among people throughout Europe…
GRAZIE COLEGIO MIRALMONTE, FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS!
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Omar Kadir:
For me, the best part of the trip was the learning experience. Learning new debate techniques from the brilliant tutors was very useful and helpful for my, and overall everyone's debate skills.
Luukas Mäkelä:
The trip to Spain was an unforgettable experience. The true value was not in the teaching sessions, evening walks, city tours or delicious meals. It was the friends we made along the way. Erasmus provided us with this great opportunity and allowed us to partake in this unforgettable cultural experience. Alas we eventually had to depart, but while our memories of the hardships we faced may fade, we'll never forget the best of times, for it was an unforgettable experience.
Talvikki Vanhatalo:
The best part of the trip was the confidence that was built during the training sessions. The repeated practices of going up to speak lowered the threshold of talking up on stage in front of an audience. I could feel this clearly impacting my confidence in a positive way when debating after the trip.
Isabell Roman:
The trip was really nice and the debate workshops were really helpful. It was nice to to meet new people from different places and get to debate with them.
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Lina:
I really had fun in Spain, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get anything from it. I actually learned a lot in the time span of the trip. The most useful experiences that I got are probably debate-related. We, as a group, learned how to use body language for being more convincing. I already knew most of the important stuff based on it but I also figured out that I have to use more eye contact when talking. I learned how to structure and come up with an argument. I think that this was the most helpful part, the reason being because from now on my arguments can be more convincing and in all, just better.
Ela:
From the whole trip, I think that debating activities were most challenging, because we really had to strain our brains. Moreover, I got closer to my peers too. I found out that people from other countries are very friendly and funny. I also discovered that in Spain they have grades from 1 to 10. They also eat grapes for the New Year's. I love learning about other countries and I also love travelling.
Gal:
The most challenging thing about the workshops was that you had to speak English all the time and use proper and top-tier quality words that would make sense and you could not plan the speech before talking. You just started talking and had to remember words meanwhile. I discovered that my peers from other countries have many similar things in their lives and a lot of different things as well. They have different cultures, different school systems, and different hobbies. For example, Italians are home alone many times, so they have to cook by themselves. That is the reason they can cook so well. I discovered that my peers from other countries do have lots of different rituals and national customs. The only thing I noticed in every one of my peers was that they all liked to debate and speak English.
Nejc:
The whole program was very well put together so it would be very hard to figure out what to change. However, the thing that could be improved is the collaboration of different age groups in debate. The groups were pretty separated in that area and I think that it could be interesting if they would occasionally mix. I think that we could learn a lot from each other and also compare our experience in debate. That could make the whole program even more interesting and fun. The only way I can describe the trip is probably with the words: educational and fun, because we learned so many different things but the whole process was extremely enjoyable and fun.
Klemen:
In Spain, I have learned a lot about getting more and better arguments. To me, the most challenging part of the workshops was finding the right word for something in English, and communicating with other non-native speakers in English. I discovered that in other countries there were many more kind people. The experience was one of the best because of meeting new people and getting to know people from around the world.
Zala:
We were given very interesting topics that helped me stay focused. The trip itself was not straining at all, I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. I loved how we were able to meet so many new people and also learn a lot about them. I got to see how fun Italians are, I loved how warm and welcome the Spanish students made us feel and I also enjoyed spending time with the Finish and Lithuanian students. This exchange has been definitely one of the most interesting and important experiences so far. I feel like not everyone is as privileged and has opportunities like these, so I'm obviously very thankful. If I were to change anything, it would definitely be making the exchange longer by 3 weeks! The whole experience was an epitome of what an educational exchange should look like and I'm thrilled I got to be a part.
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Gustas:
During Learning, Teaching and Training activities at Colegio Miralmonte in Cartagena, all the students were divided into four mixed groups. My group consisted of the participants from Italy, Finland, Spain and Lithuania. Firstly, we were introduced with the basics of public speaking. A professional debate teacher from Slovenia taught us how to prepare a speech and how to make it structurally appropriate. He also emphasized the importance of the speaker’s posture, voice and body language while delivering a speech. Lastly, he presented the most commonly used structure of the argument: statement, justification, examples and effects. After a short theoretical introduction, we did some practical exercises: every student of each group had 10 minutes to prepare a short speech about the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, which was taking place exactly at that time. Some students suggested possible solutions to the climate crisis, others explained the importance of this historical event. After every speech, we heard some comments from the debate teacher and other debaters, which included plenty of tips for us on how to improve our speaking skills. Finally, we had another possibility to prepare our speeches, but that time we were free to choose a topic individually. The last and the most important debating activity was our final debate on the topic whether water should be privatized or not. Proposition claimed that the legalization of water property would improve the world economics while the opposition expostulated with them by proposing the fact that water is essential for all life forms and the possibility to privatise water might cause an economic and environmental catastrophe. I am proud to confirm that the final debates were very successful for our team since we managed to present our arguments as good as we could and finally convinced the jury that water should never be made private property. Overall, practical debate activities during our mobility to Spain have really broadened my outlook and provided me with fundamental debating skills. They were particularly beneficial for the improvement of my public speaking, critical thinking, stress management as well as English speaking skills. The participation in the mobility was an outstanding opportunity for me not only to travel abroad but also to get acquainted with the history, culture and nature of Spain.
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Aurora:
The last days were amazing, the best week of my life. I learnt a lot. I’m very grateful to all the people that made this experience possible. I’ve never debated before, it was my first time, and all the people had a very good English level, higher than mine, but because of that, I learnt a lot. I learnt new structures and how to do a speech. I made a lot of good friends, and we can’t wait for meeting them again. We promised to keep in touch. The last day, at the party, when this dream came to the end, the farewell was bittersweet. Bitter because we didn’t know if we’re going to be able to see us again, and sweet because that days were the best days in my life. Definitely I wish to have another experience like this one, and to be able to participate. I will never forget this experience and the friends that I made.
Guillermo:
I think that the Erasmus project was a very good idea and that we should repeat it. I also think that it is a good way of making friends and having fun, and also learning about new things. The experience for me was very good, and I had lots of fun. I have learned how the voice of a good speaker in debating has to be and all of those things.
Ernesto:
Well, I think this activity was pretty cool. It's a good activity and I'am so happy. In that week we visited Cartagena and Alicante. And in my personal opinion, I think that It was a good idea to talk in english in these activities because we are in a very good age to learn English. Every morning, we did some english debate activities, and the last day i was sad because they were leaving.
Martina:
I had a great time with the Erasmus+ students and the activities we did. First of all, I have to say that the organization of the week was great. I've learnt a lot of new things like other debate structures, new vocabulary, new things about the places we visited and, the most important for me is that I could practise my English with other people. I also learnt about other cultures, for example the food that they usually eat in each country or the life in other countries. I liked the debate classes in the morning very much. I liked that we could learn how to improve our speeches and argumentation techniques. We also learnt how to contextualize the debate. I think the Erasmus+ is an amazing activity, I recommend it to the people who wants to learn and practise debate skills with other people in English. I'm so thankful for participating on it.
Maria del Carmen:
The experience with the Erasmus students was incredible. I had a great time and I learned many things. The first day, in the afternoon, we went to the Hotel to receive them. That day we played some games to know each other. The second day, in the morning, they came to our school and introduced their schools, which are very cool. Then, we did some debate activities. In the afternoon we visited the city of Cartagena. The third day, in the morning, we did debate activities and in the afternoon we went to Alicante, to vist a castle. The last day, in the morning we did a debate in groups. It was very interesting. Then, in the afternoon, we went to the Roman Forum and the Roman Theater. After that, we went to the school, to the farewell party. In my opinion, this was the best day but also the saddest. It was very sad that they left but we enjoyed the party. I would like to see them again because we had a great time. It was really fun to talk to them in English, I made new friends and I learned many things from other countries, some words and typical foods.