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Languages on an International Level

Language skills offer greater prospects for those working on an international level. Professionals operating in sectors such as information media, politics, fashion, cinema, publishing and sport are very much aware of the career opportunities that open up to those who know languages. As international communication and, therefore, languages, become more important, new prospects are appearing in the language sector itself (teachers, interpreters, translators etc.) And it doesn’t stop there. Multilingual training is also a powerful instrument of intercultural dialogue When we speak today about dialogue between cultures, we mean education with a view to interculturalism, by which we mean discovering the differences within ourselves, but which is also an ability to take on board, and inter-relate with, those differences which are outside of ourselves.   The premise is that this is what intercultural education means: it is the key to reading the differences as well as the possibilities that we have at our disposal to interact easily and constructively with those who seem to be different from us.
What the event will consist of:
The event will be introduced to the general public and to the media with a press conference to be organized for Thursday 24^th September.  The first of the two days, Friday 25^th September, will be Sorrento Lingue’s Open Day, during which the doors of the institute will be open to the general public. The school’s language teachers will be giving mini-lessons, open to all, so that those taking part will be able to appreciate the modern methods and professionalism of our teachers. The lessons will be open to students attending schools in the Sorrento peninsula (primary, middle and senior), along with their foreign language teachers, who will have the chance to experience the new methods used by the institute in the field of distance language learning (e-learning).  One of the participants, the winner of a prize draw, will be able to take a free week-long study holiday at a college in Great Britain. Throughout the afternoon of 25^thSeptember, a series of language training sessions will be organized for students and teachers. Teachers will be able to participate in lessons with foreign teachers who have come to Sorrento especially for the purpose, and will have the chance to evaluate the validity of didactic methodologies as yet unknown to them (focusing especially on classroom interaction and on developing students’ communication skills).     Those teachers taking part will be able to enjoy a somewhat rare chance to put themselves to the test and bring themselves up to date, trying out new approaches in the classroom, and testing the most recent language teaching and classroom management techniques. During this phase, it will be possible to pick the brains of internationally qualified teachers specialized in LS/L2 teacher training and certification.      For the 26^th September - Saturday -  there is going to be a convention (held at the local Teatro Tasso theater) which will be open to students in their third year at middle school and to all students from senior schools, along with their teachers and anyone else operating in the field of language training, either publicly or privately. It will also be open to those in local administration, language teachers working in the area, and to Campanian companies operating internationally.    From this edition onwards, Sorrento Lingue will be concentrating on a theme, which will be different every year, and which will be connected in some way to multilingualism and language training. Central to the 2009 edition will be the possibility of language exchanges and international training for students from Italian senior schools (which will be followed in 2010 by study abroad programs and university level language training and, in 2011, with top notch international post-graduate training). Educational and professional opportunities offered by the EU (the Erasmus, Leonardo, Comenius and Grundtvig projects) as well as the importance of languages as a competitive instrument in the world of work, both in Italy and abroad (especially in an area with a high level of tourism, like Sorrento and the peninsula) will also be an important part of this event. 
The Sorrento Lingue International Network
For the organization of this event, Sorrento Lingue is making its entire sizeable network of foreign partners available. This network is the result of long, consolidated experience in the field of study abroad. Our institute is already a card-carrying member of the international higher level education system and runs summer and semester Italian courses every year for a number of foreign universities, welcoming personalities from the American and European cultural and political scenes as students. Thanks to this international atmosphere, principals and teachers taking part in the event will be able to enjoy this precious and infrequent opportunity to stretch themselves to their limits. A place for interaction and intercultural training; a place for sharing experience, didactic methodologies and setting up joint projects (exchanges, educational trips ...)  for promoting professional  and educational programs within the context of round tables and theme meetings.

THE DEFINITIVE PROGRAM FOR THE EVENT WILL SHORTLY BE AVAILABLE