Discovering cultural diversity throughout my internship at the cultural center Simón Bolívar in Montreal-Canada

Abstract

As a requirement to complete the study plan of the major in Modern Languages, it is essential to do an internship. It is a practice that allows students the opportunity to implement the knowledge and understanding acquired at the University in a genuine work place. The areas and domains in which languages could be applied are as wide and diverse as the different alternatives and choices that students have to do the internship, whether abroad or within our borders. In my case, I had the favorable chance to do the internship abroad, more specifically in Montreal, Canada. This city provided me the setting to approach people in English as well as in French, and by this, I could ameliorate my skills in those two languages that I learnt at the University. Most importantly, in the city of Montreal, I learnt the complexity and richness of a culturally diverse society. For this reason, I can affirm that the experience of doing the internship abroad is of incalculable value and worth. The institution that received me as an intern was The Cultural Center Simón Bolívar (CCSB). It is the cultural section of the Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Montreal. Evidently, it is a governmental institution dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela. The main goal of the CCSB is the intercultural dialogue and exchange through cultural activities, first of all among the vast Latin American community that resides in that city, and then, between the formerly mentioned community and the society of Montreal. The Cultural Center offers every day a variety of cultural events in three languages: Spanish, French, and English. This fact gave me an additional benefit of having the chance to become more proficient in the languages that I had already studied. At the moment that I was accepted to be an intern in this institution, I undoubtedly agreed to go to Canada and take advantage of this opportunity. There are two main reasons for having done my internship at the Cultural Center Simón Bolívar. First, it is an International Organization, and I immediately saw an opportunity to have a first hand experience with the career that I would like to pursue in a near future. Second, the CCSB is located in Montreal, an important and cosmopolitan center of the world, and most importantly, a bilingual city. At the CCSB I worked as a General Assistant, and my main functions were basically administrative and related to the organizations of many different cultural events. The tasks that I performed made me aware of all the implications of the planning of activities, especially those of great importance and magnitude. Additionally, I experienced the pressure of having a lot of responsibilities, as well as the gratification of having accomplished the organizational goals. Throughout this report, I will be presenting in detail all the features of my internship experience. This means that I will present the job that I carried out at the CCSB, combined with my impressions of the Montreal society. In order to do this, I will divide this report in five parts. First, I will describe the Cultural Center Simón Bolívar, a brief history of its creation, its mission and vission, and the staff that works there. Additionally, I will also explain most of the activities carried out at the CCSB. Second, I will give a rundown of the activities that I was in charge of developing during my internship. Third, I will put into words my retrospective impressions of the internship experience, its positive and negative aspects from my personal point of view as from the view of the Modern Languages students in general. I will also reflect on the implications of working at an institution of the nature of the CCSB, and the features that involve trying to practice language skills in a bilingual society. Fourth, I will analyze some aspects that have influenced the arrival of immigrants to Montreal, and how this society is leaving behind their own social and ethnic resentments, and it is taking a step forward in the recognition and practice of cultural diversity. Finally, I will give my conclusions and recommendations to the School of Modern Languages, The Cultural Center Simón Bolívar and to the students who are near to pursue their internship. Hopefully, these recommendations will be of assistance for the improvement, and subsequently the success of the internship program of Modern Languages.