FEDELE Comunidad Valenciana

Continuing with the section of mini-interviews on our blog, it is the turn of Victoria Sanahuja, president of FEDELE Comunidad Valenciana and the director of Hispania, school of Spanish. Here are the questions we asked Victoria and her replies.

What function has the Comunidad Valenciana had up till now in the sector of Spanish as a Foreign Language in Spain

The Comunidad Valenciana doesn’t have such a strong tradition of Spanish as a Foreign Language teaching as other regions of Spain, but nowadays we can see that ELE in the Comunidad Valenciana is healthy and growing. Each year more students are choosing to learn Spanish in the Comunidad Valenciana and this can be seen both in the increase in the number of students per school and in the opening of new schools. We are hoping that this will continue in the same way over the coming years and that lots of students will come not only to the Comunidad Valenciana but also to all of Spain

What are the most important aspects of the educational opportunities in  ELE  in this Comunidad?

With regard to educational opportunities, I couldn’t say which are the best because the opportunities are very varied and each school has its own essence which makes it unique and special. Every school has its own charm which makes it different from the rest. If we were to talk about the important things they have in common, I would mention the teacher training. The teachers come with a very sound linguistic knowledge and this means that what we have to offer is of very high quality. Also, the Comunidad Valenciana is very rich in terms of culture, history, gastronomy, and leisure. The leisure opportunities enrich the educational opportunities offered by our schools. And with regard to internships, we can offer a wide range of possibilites because different national industrial sectors are initiated and developed in our Comunidad.

What challenges are the schools and the association facing at the moment? How will they be dealt with?

In my opinion the most important challenge is to give FEDELE the international prestige and visibility it deserves. As an association, we should be known throughout the whole world, in the same way as the equivalent associations in other countries are known, and this will mean confidence and respect for our schools.  On the other hand it is important that every school believes in FEDELE and that they have quality and transparency as their main objective. Quality comes from training, honesty and transparency and this is something that all FEDELE schools should share.