Has There Ever Been a More Meaningful Way to Learn a Language?

FCB Brazil and the CNA language school network are launching the Speaking Exchange project, which connects CNA students in Brazil with Americans living in retirement homes. It’s heartwarming and touching.

The chats take place via an exclusive digital tool that uses video chat technology to bring the students face-to-face with Americans.

Speaking Exchange follows CNA’s communicative approach, which uses everyday situations to help students fluently speak, read, write and understand a foreign language naturally. Additionally, it allows Brazilian students and American senior citizens to exchange unique experiences, developing relationships that break geographic and language barriers and improve people’s lives.

“The goal of the Speaking Exchange project is to transform lives. Our students have the opportunity to practice English with people who are willing to listen. During the chat sessions, the students discuss ideas and information from their lives in Brazil with the American senior citizens, many of whom have never had contact with anyone from Brazil before,” explains CNA’s Marketing Director, Luciana Fortuna.

The tool, developed exclusively for this “intercontinental integration,” allows students to choose a registered institution and a topic suggested by the system. The conversation is recorded and a video is uploaded to a private YouTube channel so that teachers can evaluate the students’ development. The pilot project was implemented in the CNA unit in Liberdade and the Windsor Park Retirement Community in Chicago, USA.

“CNA invests in new resources and models that bring what we teach our students in the classroom closer to their everyday lives. Our goal is that they learn a language through real-life experiences and become citizens of the world,” states CNA’s Education Director, Marcelo Barros.

“The idea is simple and it’s a win-win proposition for both the students and the American senior citizens. It’s exciting to see their reactions and contentment. It truly benefits both sides,” highlights Joanna Monteiro, executive creative director at FCB Brazil. For Max Geraldo, the agency’s executive director, “the beauty of this project is in CNA’s belief that we develop better students when we develop better people.”

Credits

Advertised brand: CNA

Title: Speaking Exchange

Advertising Agency: FCB Brasil

Executive Creative Directors: Joanna Monteiro and Max Geraldo

Digital Creative Director: Pedro Gravena

Creative: Vinícius Fernandes, Bruno Mazzotti, Daniel Alves and Mauricio Bina

Creative Technologist: Márcio Bueno

Digital Production: Brave.ag

Project: Lia D’Amico

Technology: Gerson Lupatini and Caio Mello

Account:Mauro Silveira, Alec Cocchiaro, Pedro Führer and Thiago Figueiredo

Planner: Raphael Barreto, Lia Bertoni and Pedro Schneider

Media: Alexandre Ugadin, Tiago Santos, Fábio Tachibana, Sandra Carvalho and Fábio Menezes

RTV: Vivi Guedes, Ana Flávia de Lucca and André Fonseca

Production Company: Hungry Man

Director: Ricardo Mehedff

Co-direction: Fábio Pinheiro 

Photographer: Fernando Young (Brazil) and Grant Weiss (Chicago)

Production Company: Hungry Man 

Account production: Mariana Marinho

Editor: Rodrigo Resende

Managing Partner: Alex Mehedff 

Executive Production: Alex Mehedff and Rodrigo Castelo

Post Production: Hungry Man and Psycho

Post Production Supervisor: Rodrigo Oliveira 

Sound Producer: Timbre

Client Supervisors: Luciana Fortuna, Nicadan Galvão, Diego Marmo and Ricardo Martins