The English Language Learners (ELL) Orientation Programme provides students from diverse backgrounds with more equitable learning opportunities.
Embarking on a life-changing journey to study with peers from around the world is both exciting and challenging – especially for students who are do not speak English as their home or first language. To ease this transition, UWC Adriatic offers the English Language Learners (ELL) Orientation programme, designed to help students adjust both linguistically and culturally before the academic year begins.
This year, 13 students from Angola, Armenia, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Japan, Niger, Palestine, Russia, Syria and Venezuela arrived in Duino a week ahead of the official start of term. The programme offered English language lessons, basic Italian instruction, and an array of social and cultural activities such as an exploration of the nearby city of Trieste, mask making and theatre activities, as well as cooking together and sharing their own cultural cuisine. The goal was to ensure students could settle into their new environment with confidence and form connections that would support them throughout their time at UWC Adriatic.
Two alumnae, Stani (Slovakia) and Liza (Ukraine), returned to Duino to lead the programme and to ensure its success by guiding new students during all activities; supported by a dedicated team of eleven second-year volunteers — Anwen (USA), Ashraf (Palestine), Esperance (Togo), Iren (Armenia), Julie (Italy), Luca (Italy), Mariana (Portugal), Marita (Lebanon), Nicole (South Sudan), Rubi (USA) and Valentina (Colombia).
At the end of the week, the new students and the second-year volunteer students were ready to start the new term, and very grateful for the experience. Anonymous feedback taken at the end of the programme from the primi included:
Others echoed this sense of gratitude.
The energy of the week left a lasting impression.
The atmosphere of welcome was repeatedly mentioned.
Laura S., Head of English, has been supervising this programme since it was initiated in 2018, and sees the positive effect it has on the new students each year: «Some students arrive full of trepidation and understandable anxiety about this new stage in their lives, particularly related to their level of fluency in English. To see how quickly they gain confidence in this small, supportive group is wonderful – and a testament to the hard work, commitment and care which our UWC students – past and present – offer to the new students».
The initiative, made possible by the continued support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, is a key part of the college’s summer preparations to welcome students from around the world and to create a more equitable educational environment. As the week concluded, both students and volunteers expressed their gratitude for the experience, feeling more prepared and excited to begin their UWC journey, as is clear from the video below, made by the students themselves.
