Students from Egglescliffe School in County Durham have been inspired in their foreign languages studies thanks to a new initiative run by the MFC Foundation, the charitable arm of Middlesbrough FC.
The Key Stage Three pupils attended the 'Shoot for Success' initiative at the Riverside Stadium last week where they met Boro goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who helped teach the students about his home town and answered questions about his own experiences of learning a new language.
"Victor seemed a really nice guy, and it was great to see someone who doesn't have English as a first language who now can speak fluent English," pupil Joe Hartson told mfcfoundation.co.uk. "It gives us no excuse for us to not learn languages at school."
WATCH 📱| @Boro's @1victorvaldes lends a helping hand to Egglescliffe School students at our 'Shoot for Success' foreign language event! 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/dWUq5lReqo
— MFC Foundation (@MFCFoundation) January 11, 2017
Valdes also presented students with certificates as well as signing autographs and posing for photos.
"Some guys in the team have asked me whether I had English lessons before I came to Middlesbrough," he said. "I told them that I like watching my favourite movies back again but in English, and put on subtitles in Spanish, so maybe that’s the reason I had a good level of English before I came here."
Shoot for Success is designed to prepare young people for the world of work; using Middlesbrough FC as a real-life model to improve students perception of business, enterprise and the world of work - helping them stand out from the crowd.
This programme develops the skills of students and also provides them with invaluable experiences and the chance to impress employers.
Around 2,000 young people are engaged in the programme every academic year.
See: MFC Foundation | Universty shooting for success with club partnership
