The Buenos Aires City government has launched an online platform through which city workers can receive free English lessons. If all goes well, pretty soon bus drivers and health care workers will be able to give perfect indications in the Bard’s tongue. That’s right: Buenos Aires is now going bilingual.
The initiative, known as Bilingual City (Ciudad Bilingüe), will offer city’s workers of strategic sections — health, transportation, public administration, security, gastronomy, commerce, and tourism sectors — classes to learn English up to a C1 level. This is considered an “advanced” level, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
Enrollment is done through the city’s government page and closes on Friday. Those who complete the inscription process successfully will receive a user and a password on September 3 allowing them to access the online platform. The Education Ministry has updated a YouTube video explaining how the platform works.
Health care and transport workers soon to be speaking English
The bilingual learning platform offers up to 10 levels of English teaching based on standards set by the CEFR. Courses start at a beginners pre-A1 level and go all the way to the advanced C1 program.
In order to determine the appropriate course, all applicants just take an entry exam. Once completed, the system will assign people their place based on skill level. Every course is approximately 50 hours long. According to the platform, each one can be completed in 8 weeks by studying 6 hours a week.
In order to pass each course, students must reproduce it entirely and complete a number of required assignments. In addition to the entry level test, they must also take a midterm and final exam to complete all 10 levels. Once they’ve passed the final test, they will receive an Education Ministry-validated C1 certificate valid to pursue other options in higher education. There are also intermediate accreditations throughout the different levels.
All classes are pre-recorded. This means that students will be able to access them on any phone, computer or tablet, at any time. Individuals who do not have access to electronic devices capable of going online can visit city-run spaces known as Digital Points (Puntos Digitales) where they can use this type of technology.
Each Digital Point will have 30 notebooks, an english teacher, and a person with knowledge on how to operate the plataform. Every student can use the facility for up to 2 hours at a time, but can request new time slots. Check here for the Digital Point closest to your residence.