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CNN WORLD REPORT
Volunteers in Switzerland Help New Immigrants Learn Local Language and Culture
Aired August 12, 2001 - 14:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANSI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, racial prejudice and language barriers are major obstacles for many recent immigrants to the United States and Europe.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: But in Switzerland, people have found a solution for social integration, thanks to a United Nations declaration promoting volunteerism. There, volunteers are teaching new immigrants how to speak the local languages. Ron Green of Swiss TV SRI has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RON GREEN, TV SRI CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Swiss passports, which are issued on a local rather than on the national basis, are not easy to get. They can be quite expensive, and applicants must prove, before a panel such as this, that they are familiar with local life and institutions and that they understand and speak the local language.
This can be an especially big problem for the wives of immigrants who rarely get out of house. So, why don't we teach them the language, said a group of women volunteers in the German-speaking town of Krinz (ph) in central Switzerland.
Several volunteer teachers decided to help prepare women immigrants for citizenship by offering grassroots tuition. Trudi Dinkelmann, a former member of the examination panel, was one of the pioneers.
TRUDI DINKELMANN, VOLUNTEER LANGUAGE TEACHER (through translator): We started out with only three pupils, but then the project really took off. These ladies told their friends about our courses, and since they were free and there was no red tape and no application forms to fill out and attendance wasn't compulsory, more and more women took part, and the thing just grew and grew.
GREEN: Ten local women are involved in the courses, either teaching German or looking after the pupil's children while mom is hard at work. They also accompany the are when they go out to face real-life situations equipped with their newly-acquired linguistic skills, for instance at the local post office. The task: To buy a prepaid phone card.
Another volunteer teacher, Ute Barth, explains why the learners are exposed to such situations.
UTE BARTH, VOLUNTEER LANGUAGE TEACHER (through translator): Our main aim is to help them enjoy learning the language and to get them to go out and use it.
GREEN: And use it they can, as this successful transaction demonstrates. A big step toward social integration.
From Swiss Television and Swiss Radio International, this is Ron Green for CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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