Last Friday night, the Embassy of the Argentine Republic in Barbados hosted its first Certificate Award Ceremony for Barbadian children who successfully completed the Level One Spanish course taught during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Initially, Argentine Ambassador to Barbados, Gustavo Martinez Pandiani, wanted to “bring more Spanish to Bajan children” and as a result, conceptualized the idea of having face-to-face conversational Spanish classes.
However, due to the pandemic, the classes were given online; demonstrating that although the virus is strong, “we would not let the Coronavirus stop our plans of teaching Spanish,” stated Pandiani. Barbadian Russell Banfield, who lives and works in Argentina, was among the instructors of the course, a fact that Pandiani was particularly happy to share.The ceremony saw almost 100 eager students, in the presence of their proud families, receive certificates of completion from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, John King, and Ambassador Pandiani.
The evening was intended to celebrate the hard work put in by the children who are on their way to becoming fluent in Spanish.
Ambassador Pandiani announced new classes for Barbadian children and hopes that in the future, Barbadian adults will be able to benefit from this initiative as well.
On the significance of the Spanish courses, he stated: “We are following the leadership of Prime Minister Mottley, who said that Barbados needs to become a bilingual country in order to connect with the world. Language is not only important as it pertains to professional development but it forms a cultural bridge between different peoples.” (PR)
