Two British university students have already bathed in the beaches of Vigo, climbed Mount Au Castro and tasted Albarino at Eligio Tavern Thanks to the adventures of Inspector Leo Caldas. Paula Antillaa Spanish teacher in Liverpool, and starting this month in Royal Holloway in London, is using Domingo Villar’s memorable novels to bring her students from Spanish Studies Course Culture, traditions and gastronomy in Vigo and all of Galicia.
“It has always frustrated me so much that the ELE textbooks provide everything Cultural content focuses on Madrid, Barcelona or Seville And that Galicia was never or hardly ever mentioned. In addition, in the second year of my degree, where I teach my subject, the content places great emphasis on preparing students for Europe abroadwhich is like the compulsory Erasmus that they have to do in the third year, and they have Too few references when choosing where to exchange in Spain. So it occurred to me to do this activity so that they can discover our society, its language and culture on the one hand, and also try to open their eyes to other places where they can study. We may not have the climate of Valencia, but we have a very rich culture‘, defends.
Spanish and French The most famous foreign languages However, in the UK, not all universities have a Galician department: “But in Liverpool, they have Basque and Catalan departments. So doing this activity in class was the only way I had to not only bring our culture closer to them, but also put Galicia on the map ” .
Antilla and her department partner, Marina Rabadan from Wilva, implemented their proposal for the first time during the 2020/21 academic year and almost due to pandemic restrictions. It was on the students Making a literary map of Vigo from “Ojos de agua”, the first case of Inspector Caldas. The experience was so satisfying for everyone that they repeated it the following year and They added the second installment, “Drowning Beach”..
During the first semester they have to read “Ojos de agua” and analyze the characters and Create digital maps On Google Maps or on another platform. It’s kind of Direction or literary path through Vigo by following the scenarios of the novel. They must also discover if they are real or imaginary and find out where they are inspired. And in the second chapter they read the following novel and we also touch on the film adaptation,” he explains in detail.
“They work hard and I love to see them excited. They love gastronomy. He is the star of the seasons. They were surprised by the octopus and learned the name of the oyster. They also searched Taberna Eligio’s listing on Google and one of my students chose Hotel México [actualmente Hotel Occidental]near the train station, to include in his guide and to contact him by phone to ask for information and to practice his Spanish,” he celebrates.
The teacher, who was already familiar with Villar’s work, notes that crime novels fit perfectly with this type of experience: Crime fiction motivates students. In addition to being a reading medium for contemporary authors. Noir novel has game components, and it’s a topic I work with a lot, because the reader is, in a way, involved in solving the crime. and these links They help the students a lot. Many places in Vigo are well described and in each of them something happens that leads to a clue to discover the killer.
In addition to tracing the killer’s trail through the pages of Villar, British University students discover A land that attracts them with its natural landscapes and traditions.
They read novels, they tell me everything they didn’t know, and it surprised them how The beauty of the beaches and sis. O Castro is one of their most loved places. They are also known as Toralla or Bueu. It’s a way to discover Vigo from the UK, without traveling. And then they really want to go. Two of my students will go to study in Santiago, while others, who also study Portuguese, have chosen Porto but are going to Vigo, and many want to travel to Galicia to learn about it,” he explains.
Britain’s exit from the European Union limits cultural exchange
As Antela refers to Britain’s exit from the European Union Among the reasons why her educational proposal is necessary. “Now it is more complicated to make exchanges. Previously, much of the Spanish culture was carried by Erasmus who traveled to the UK, but now this program is no longer in the country and students lose this connection. It is also difficult for British universities to make agreements with other European universities. That is why it is so important to try not to lose this interest,” he highlights.
He has been in the UK for two years, but before that he has been working in Bordeaux and has always been a great impulse to make known the customs and riches of his land: “I love Galicia, and I believe that when you are away, your homesickness increases and I have a profession that allows me to proclaim. In France we celebrate Magusto and Sammen, and in Liverpool with the help of the Cervantes Institute I organized a virtual concert of traditional Galician music because the musicians could not travel due to the pandemic. The support is little, but I always try.”
Antilla jokes about her choice of author from Vigo and the existence of plots connected to the city despite being from A Coruña. “I don’t care about these things, when you are away, everything is in Galicia. We also showed a video of students Vigo Christmas lights And they were afraid. She says between laughs: We are ambassadors.
your project too Greetings to VillarHe died suddenly last May. “I have an Instagram account that my students follow and they all commented when it happened and remembered how much they liked the novel. When I come to Galicia in the summer I take the opportunity to record videos and during these holidays I make some new videos about the settings in the books,” says Antilla, who also turns to her sister, who lives in Vigo, to add content to her account.
Teacher and classmate Marina Rabadan, who also learned about “the mistake” in Galicia and did the Camino de Santiago this summer, shared their experience during the last meeting of the ilocwhich is the Association of Spanish Language Teachers in the UK, which has just published a book featuring an article for both explaining their project.
Antela joins his new position tomorrow at Department of Spanish Philology at Royal Holloway in London He intends to provide content on Galicia as soon as possible: “The idea of Spain in the UK is Mallorca and Benidorm, and I like to make language students, who are more interested in culture, see it as more important.”
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