In November 2009, Radio Lingua Schools supported Projet Citoyen, an East Dunbartonshire initiative which aimed to raise awareness about European citizenship. With the help of a grant from the European Parliament, a group of sixth year students spent six days in Strasbourg finding out about the work of the Parliament. Radio Lingua Schools’ role was to support the project both in terms of language input on the visit, and by helping the students to document their experiences through a blog which was maintained throughout the trip to Strasbourg.

A key feature of Projet Citoyen was that the students had to disseminate their learning to other students in their own schools, and on a wider basis. They designed a web-based video quiz aimed at younger learners (11-13 year olds), asking questions about Europe and the European Union. The The quiz was developed in conjunction with the History and Modern Studies departments in their schools, and all students contributed by providing questions. During the visit to Strasbourg, the top ten questions were chosen and three students volunteered to present the quiz, working with Radio Lingua Schools director Mark Pentleton to film the questions in various locations around Strasbourg.

The quiz is now being released on the Projet Citoyen website, and it is hoped that schools throughout the UK and further afield will find it a useful resource to help younger pupils learn about Europe. Take the quiz yourself and let us know what you think of the resource!

Radio Lingua Schools regularly supports foreign visits involving young people from Scottish schools. We are uniquely placed to provide technical expertise, enhancing visits with social media and interactive elements, and to design engaging activities for the learners involved.

Most recently 32 young people selected from across the country by Rotary International travelled to Strasbourg. There they met young people from 26 EU member states and took part in a debate in the hémicycle of the European Parliament. Working in conjunction with EP Projects, we designed the programme for the visit to maximise the learning experiences of the young people on the trip, and to provide an interactive blog used throughout the vist by friends, parents, classmates and teachers back home. This blog featured news updates in French and English and audio and video podcasts of the activities carried out in Strasbourg.

All students involved in the visit were in their final year of secondary school and were studying French at Advanced Higher level. Throughout the visit they were encouraged to use their French at every opportunity, and the programme of activities was carefully planned to allow the students to build their confidence in the language, working towards the Euroscola day.

One particularly popular activity was the Street Survey during which the students stopped passers-by in the streets of Strasbourg and asked them questions about various issues. In addition to being an excellent opportunity for the students to communicate with native speakers in a way they had never done before, this activity also helped the students to develop a deeper understanding of the opinions of people from other countries.

Part of Radio Lingua’s role in this particular visit was to prepare a video introduction to the survey for use in future visits. The students themselves planned the video and presented their advice to future participants in the streets where they had been carrying out the survey a few hours previously. This video can be seen below:

The highlight of the visit was the Euroscola day in the Parliament during which the students worked with their counterparts from the other countries involved and took part in a number of debates and discussions. Each delegation had to be presented to the Parliament, and our Scottish students did so with a suitable bagpipe accompaniment! The live blog ensured that this video was being shown in the schools of the participating students a few minutes after it had been filmed in Strasbourg.

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