Joining the Club of 329 Million

St Christopher’s School is one of only two schools in the Middle East to afford students the opportunity to sit the DELE (Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera – Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language).  These diplomas are awarded by the Ministry of Education in Spain, through the Cervantes Institute. They are internationally recognised, have indefinite validity and facilitate access to universities and employment. Learning Spanish has become very advantageous for young people in a world where 329 million people are native Spanish speakers. 24 St Christopher’s Senior School students spent the weekend of the 24 and 25 May, sitting the A1, A2 and B1 DELE Examinations. On Friday 24 May, they completed their oral examination at St Christopher’s School, Isa Town. After a 15 minute period of preparation under the close supervision of Jamel Bazzouz, the examination was conducted by teachers/examiners Niurka Gonzalez, and Luisa Peñalva, respectively from Havana, Cuba and Pamplona, Spain. On Saturday, the Reading and Listening comprehensions and Written Expression examinations were completed at the Sheikh Ibrahim Centre for Culture and Research, in Manama, an ideal venue that very much resembles an Andalusian Moorish Palace. All students felt very confident about their performance after the examinations. We are all eagerly awaiting the results, which should be published in September/October, 2013.

The DELE pioneers to be celebrated for their linguistic achievements, are:

Quentin Botha	Anina Bernhardt
Alec Klatourov	William Caley
Iman Malik	Alexandra Pafford
Shawn Anton Amirthan	Hemangini Raina
Sean Paul Shackleton Chavez	Pireh Moosa
Simran Bhatt	Nasik Amanullah
Rebecca Dench	Marco Maggi
Cheyma Le Falher	Tor Sanderson
Daniel Patrick Horler	Saarah Malik
Soraya Durand	Stuti Roy
Mahira Essa	William Caley
Zahra Essa	Riva Kapoor