Soccer and Foreign Languages
It may seem intriguing why I gave such a title on a blog post, and you might wonder what may be the relationship between soccer and foreign languages?
Just recently in Atlanta, Georgia, and organization called Soccer in the Streets or (SITS) teaches less advantaged children how to make positive choices and become successful in life through soccer, has announced that their organization will be recognized for their efforts to introduce young people to foreign languages.
The Southern Conference on Language Teaching or SCOLT is the body which will present an award to SITS for being among the individuals and organizations that encourage, promote, and highlight world language learning and teaching. This year Soccer in the Streets is being recognized for its German Street Soccer Cup.
The executive director of Soccer in the Streets is thrilled together with the organization for being the recipient of the “SCOLT Friend of World Languages Award”. SITS is an organization which strives in creating a comfortable learning environment for children of different cultures. Its program brings children of diverse cultures and backgrounds together through positive physical activity to help them overcome their differences and bridge their gaps.
The German Street Soccer Cup which is sponsored by SITS will be held sometime this year and it requires children of various backgrounds to form a team and work together. Each team is required to have a German and Spanish speaker. The games are intended for children to have fun and to bridge cultural gaps while teaching each other foreign languages. The players who will qualify as all-stars will have the opportunity to travel to Germany to compete. The tournament will also recognize the student with the best cultural experience and will have the chance to travel to Germany with the all-star team as a reporter for Todo Alemán which is a blog that highlights the German culture all over the world.
One of the aims of Soccer in the Streets is to promote and provide leadership opportunities for youth to gain important life skills through soccer and by promoting the German and Spanish languages using soccer as a medium. SCOLT appreciates Soccer in the Streets’ language diversity and vision in exposing the youth to a variety of communication so that the youth may be encouraged to pursue language studies.
Soccer which is also known as football in many parts of the world is a very popular sport not only for the young but the not so young too. Having this sport as one of the keys to promote the learning of languages is very innovative and helpful in promoting not just the languages of the players but it also teaches young people that through this sport and the languages that they learn, they will be able to make the world a better and harmonious place.
If you are interested in Soccer in the Streets Organization visit http://www.soccerinthestreets.org/
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:52 pm
[...] about language learning programs connected with sports, this is our second article related with soccer and foreign languages. Football (which is also known as soccer in some parts of the world) is one of the most popular [...]
January 27th, 2010 at 6:03 am
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