Pen-friends from Kolkata

Thanks to a year in the UK, I became in contact with a teacher from Kolkata in India. We thought that we could start a small-scale project through which our students could exchange letters. With very little funding, both of us asked our own students whether they would like to have a pen-friend from another country. Based on the reactions we received and institutional requirements, we carried out the project by pairing two classes of young teenagers over the year 2010. Kuheli, my Indian colleague, and I would be in contact through e-mails and facebook but our students would not be institutionally allowed to exchange e-mail addresses as school authorities sought to establish contact always through our guidance and leadership

From the start, this project would enhance group work by making this exchange a collaborative task in which all group members would contribute to. The project kicked off when in pairs students wrote a first introductory letter. In that first letter, students introduced themselves and described the school and their daily routine. They also talked about some tourist attractions, typical dishes, and sports in the area among other aspects which students thought to be different from Kolkata. They also attached pictures of them, their families, their pets and the city. This process naturally included drafting and revising which proved to be highly beneficial as it was carried out in pairs. Therefore, this small-scale experience also contributes to the perception that peer-editing helps improve language proficiency.

When I was ready to post them to India, we received a big envelope from Kolkata. It was the first time I saw my students so anxious and interested in reading in English. These letters were addressed to them and they had been written by real pen-friends from a very different cultural background. The opening of the linen envelope became like a small ceremony. It was the first time they received letters inside a linen envelope carefully sealed and decorated. I distributed the letters at random. Each pair received one and immediately they tore the smaller envelopes and immersed themselves in reading the beautifully handwritten letters illustrated with pictures and drawings. I simply observed how they eagerly exchanged letters to read more about their new pen-friends, how they compared and contrasted information and photographs. Even though they were using their L1, Spanish, they still managed to read in English and summarise the letter contents in Spanish or English.

Usually it took two months for letters to arrive to India and Argentina. Therefore, we agreed that one more exchange, a hand-made calendar, would be an interesting way of finishing the school year opening the door for more exchanges during 2011. In my case, I divided the class into the twelve months of the year. In a plenary we agreed on the layout and accompanying illustrations that each month would feature. I was in charge of assembling the calendar and designing its covers. Once again, throughout the process that was carried out at home, students seemed to have enjoyed working collaboratively to produce a calendar for real people, teenagers in Kolkata they were starting to know.

This project acted as a language boost for my students began to value the importance of learning a foreign language, in this case English. In addition, they acknowledged the significance of developing intercultural competence not only in relation to other cultures but to their own. What they realised was that by explaining to others aspects of Argentinian culture, they had to understand them themselves and from there analyse the differences and similarities between them and Kolkata’s students. As for Kuheli and I, we proved ourselves that we did not need a detailed project or a big budget to link two classes through the medium of letters written in English. All of us learnt about education, teenagers and cultural celebrations from the letters we received and sent.