In the frame of the PLOUTOS project, the second round of the Business Language Course has been implemented in Palermo.
This time around, 19 participants from three different continents completed the PLOUTOS Business Language course participating in 10 learning sessions between January and February 2023. The topics covered were the same as in the previous courses, among them how to open and use the SPID, ISEE and topics around labour market inclusion, as well as bank procedures and services, which were again perceived as highly relevant for the daily chores in Italy.
The learning session regarding entrepreneurship was supported by CESIE trainer Filippo Corbelli, who gave an introduction on how to look for funding. The module on banking was supported by Giulia Siino, another trainer from CESIE, who introduced an interactive approach in order to help participants to deepen their knowledge on banking related terms.
Chris Obehi, singer, and songwriter gave a testimonial of his experience with entrepreneurship as a migrant himself, discussing the ups and downs with the group as well as sharing some new songs. His appearance contributed to the creation of a safe and enriching environment for everyone, in which people felt free to share life experiences, brainstorm different ways to apply for jobs, or to deal with banks in participants’ countries of origin.
As in the first round of the PLOUTOS Business Language course, participants were accompanied by the language teacher Solange Santarelli, while there was no linguistic facilitator available. However, due to the very high level of Italian spoken among the participating men and women as well as the linguistic competences of the facilitators, this did not prevent a successful implementation. Indeed, participants proved to be able to successfully perform the various tasks assigned, freely interacted with the teachers and to supported each other in case of need. This collaborative atmosphere contributed strongly to the learning progress that was made during the 5 weeks of the course.
During the journey, participants showed great enthusiasm for learning and motivation to improve their soft skills and to navigate into the Italian bureaucratic system with more ease, equipped with stronger linguistic and practical awareness and knowledge. In particular, it was common that participants brought their daily life experiences to class, having to deal with bank procedures and systems, offering inputs to each other and sharing their doubts with the whole group.
All of this led many of them to express their interest in further courses in the field of business/financial procedures as well as such providing practical knowledge. It was further mentioned that an even longer duration providing the space to actually put their newly gained knowledge into action, would have been useful.
To sum up, it can be said that participants’ feedback clearly demonstrates that the PLOUTOS Business Language Course addresses highly relevant topics and is tailored to third country nationals’ needs. The implementation in Palermo can hence be seen as a big success.
The next step will be the implementation of a financial literacy course between May and July 2023, which will deepen participants’ knowledge in the field of financial services and business opportunities even more.
About the project
PLOUTOS – cooPeration for achieving third country nationaLs’ financial independence thrOUgh financial liTeracy tOols and entrepreunerShip bootcamps is a project financed by the European Union under the program AMIF (DG Home Affairs – Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund).
Partners
- Halmstad University (Sweden, coordinator)
- Innovation Hive (Greece)
- Aristotle University (Greece)
- SquareDev (Greece)
- Future Needs (Cyprus)
- European Microfinance Network (Belgium)
- Sofia Development Association (Bulgaria)
- Centre for peace, nonviolence and Human Rights (Croatia)
- Breza (Croatia)
- ABI Lab (Italy)
- CESIE (Italy)
For further information
Read more about PLOUTOS, visit the website of the project and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.
Contact Paula Luise Goltzsche: paula.goltzsche@cesie.org.
