Photograph of Marta Simo delivering a talk

The second workshop for tutors of Catalan in the UK was hosted by the University of Birmingham, in collaboration with the Institut Ramon Llull, on 18 November 2011. The programme for the day was designed to show language tutors of Catalan some of the educational initiatives that are taking place at the University of Birmingham, either as part of Catalan Studies or in the study of other languages and subjects within the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music.

The day opened with presentations from members of the College of Arts and Law e-learning team, including Dr Marios Hadjianastasis. Dr Monica Borg presented her interesting project for implementation of the wiki in the 'Introduction to Italian Culture module'. Rosa Sánchez followed with an exposition on assessment methods in Spanish Language courses. The morning was closed with Dr Marta Simó’s talk who introduced the complete course for beginners of Spanish that she created for WebCT. After a lunch break, the afternoon focused on an explanation of the past and present of Catalan Studies in Birmingham by Dr Elisenda Marcer and the presentation of the original and creative ideas that the Catalan tutor Raquel Navas and PhD student, Jennifer Arnold, are implementing in their classes and research respectively.

Even though many of the attendees faced long journeys by rail and even air, the event had a very good attendance and a high level of participation. The day concluded with a meeting with the representative of theInstitut Ramon Llull in London, Mercè Estela. Judging by the comments of the participants, speakers and the IRL, the workshop was a stimulating and productive experience.