CRC fm will broadcast a second series of Survival English, the award winning programmes helping the immigrant population to learn English commencing Monday July 28 from 4pm to 5pm and repeated on Saturdays from 5pm to 6pm.
Series one of Survival English, which was devised and produced by Fiona Quinn Bailie, an ESOL tutor with Mayo VEC, was first broadcast in 2006. The programmes were widely acclaimed as an innovative approach to distance learning and were given national recognition by AONTAS - the National Association for Adult Education and also CRAOL the Community Radio Association of Ireland.
The programmes deal with a set of everyday situations in which immigrants might find themselves including special occasions, how to engage in small talk, shopping, cars, how to use the telephone, computers, jobs and local people and local places.
The tutor works through a lesson in the studio with some students and listeners can follow the programmes through downloading notes from the CRC fm website.
The programmes will also be posted on the website as podcasts for those listeners who are unable to listen during the scheduled times.
The ability to cope with the English language is particularly important for migrant workers in regard to finding work and integrating into the community and distance education is an accessible cost effective method of achieving this goal.
The feedback from the first series was very positive and over 1,000 work packs were distributed to potential learners. The materials developed were also used in many of the VEC courses
Survival English is just one of a series of special programmes which CRC has developed over the past few years in the area of education, particularly in cooperation with Mayo VEC. Other programmes include Learning for life a general series on adult education, Health Links which deals with a range of health topics and also the arts programme.
Survival English is produced with the assistance of a grant from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland through the Sound and Vision Scheme and in association with Mayo VEC
