The ICBIE is finally enjoying a lucky streak in its English courses. Whereas our Italian program, thanks to the ongoing efforts of Marlene and Pietro, has proceeded continuously since we opened, achieving spectacular results that have made it the finest in the city, English instruction has only been offered sporadically. This is a great pity, because our Brazilian students find English more difficult than Italian, due to that fact that, unlike Dante’s tongue, Shakespeare’s idiom is not a closely related Romance language, and its daunting idiomatic phrases and its enigmatic spelling require constant practice along the rocky road to mastery.
In the past two years, four teachers—Rosa, Michelle, Daniele and Louise—have come from the American Overseas School of Rome to teach inspired English courses, each lasting between four and six weeks, but even with the precious help of Mary Overby, who has come twice from the United States, the gaps have loomed large.
At last, this deleterious sputtering has stopped, and our students can benefit from five months of uninterrupted instruction. After Louise’s departure, we now have Claire, a delightful young volunteer (who was directed our way thanks to Rhythm of Hope’s Phillip Wagner); she has courageously offered to teach two conversation courses, until Mary returns (for a record third time!) in September, and remaining for a good, long term of residence that will extend well into the month of November. The Louise-Claire-Mary tandem will keep our students really busy, so they will at last be able to compete, on a level playing field, with the Italian groups!
Thanks to Guido Altieri for this great photo of Claire, taken yesterday, on her first full day in Brazil.
