Institute of Higher Education in Living Languages Juan Ramón Fernández

The Juan Ramón Fernández Higher Education Institute for Living Languages is a public institution under state management in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was founded on February 10, 1904 by Decree signed by the president, General Julio A. Roca and his Minister of Public Instruction, Dr. Juan Ramón Fernández, in which it begins to be called "Normal School for teachers in living languages". It is the first public educational institution in the country aimed at teacher training in foreign languages. It is commonly known as "Lenguas Vivas", IES en Lenguas Vivas or by the acronym IESLVJRF.

The Institute

Languages Vivas has around 3,000 students enrolled in all of its training cycles. It has a Higher Level of training for teachers and translators in German, French, English and Portuguese. At the Higher Level is added the Application Department of the institute for teacher training, which covers the Primary and Secondary levels, both with intensification in foreign languages.

Furthermore, the Institute has an assistantship for German and another for Portuguese, sponsored respectively by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Camões Institute.

Lenguas Vivas collaborates in various areas with the University of Buenos Aires and has a research program in the field of foreign languages and translation, with annual projects, and a Permanent Seminar on Translation Studies (SPET), in addition to being the venue for international conferences on training and research in foreign languages and translation.

Among other resources, Lenguas Vivas is equipped with an Educational Communication Department (DECOED) with language laboratories, a media library, as well as a computer room for students and teachers of the Higher Level, and another for students and teachers of the Department of Application of the primary and secondary levels. It is also endowed with a multilingual central library with around 50,000 volumes, and specialized libraries, such as the Pedagogical Library donated by the French Embassy, the Camões Institute Library, the German Library and the Children's Library "La cave of letters".

The Institute also offers foreign language courses to the community with the program called Higher Level Extension Activities (AENS) which includes courses of different levels of German, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish for foreigners, French, English, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian.

Languages Vivas is, together with the Joaquín V. González Higher Institute of Teachers, the most prestigious institution in the teaching of foreign languages in the city of Buenos Aires, and one of the most prestigious in the country.

The building

The original building was located at the corner of Esmeralda and Sarmiento streets in the City of Buenos Aires until 1962, when a collapse of the adjoining building swept away part of the classrooms, and after a period of reorganization in 1963, the Instituto moved to a turn-of-the-century French-style mansion that had been the residence of the Saavedra Zelaya family, at 1455 Carlos Pellegrini Street, which is the actual entrance to the mansion. The inauguration of April 1963 was attended by the Minister of Education and Justice Alberto Rodríguez Galán and the Ambassadors of France, Great Britain and Portugal. The current access is by Carlos Pellegrini 1515.

The property, which had been acquired by the Saavedra Zelaya family in 1865, was sold at judicial auction to the National State in 1948. The representative of the State in the transaction was appointed by decree of the Executive Branch signed by President Juan D. Peron. The residence was used as the entrance table of the Ministry of Culture and Education until the transfer of Living Languages.

When the State bought the mansion, the chapel, altars, images and prie-dieu were left out, which were donated to Don Orione's Pequeño Cottolengo Argentino.

In 1993, the facilities of Lenguas Vivas were expanded with a new building, arranged in front of the old one around a central courtyard and the current headquarters of the primary and secondary levels. The new building had been planned in the 1980s given the increasing number of students and activities.

Living Languages: an educational tradition

The doctor Juan Ramón Fernández, Minister of Public Instruction who created the Professor in Living Languages in 1904

By decree signed by then President José Evaristo Uriburu and his Minister of Public Instruction, Antonio Bermejo, in 1895 the Normal School for Women No. 2 was founded, located at the intersection of Esmeralda and Sarmiento streets, in the city of Buenos Aires, where teacher training courses that included the teaching of living languages were given for the first time. The reports sent by the director of the school between 1902 and 1904, Dolores de las Carreras, regarding the educational success obtained in the teaching of English in first and second grade so impressed the new Minister of Public Instruction, Juan Ramón Fernández, that he decided to reorganize the system by appointing inspectors in the area and incorporating specialists in various methods of teaching foreign languages. In 1903, the minister chose the Normal School for Women No. 2 to train the first women teachers in living languages in the country and Finally, on February 10, 1904, by decree of President Julio Argentino Roca and Juan Ramón Fernández himself, the foundation of a specialized institution was established under the name of "Escuela Normal de Profesorado en Lenguas Vivas". Initially, Lenguas Vivas dedicated special attention to the teaching of French and English in the primary and middle cycles, and was the first Argentine institution to teach these languages as a subject for promotion within the school system. It also organized foreign language courses for adults. In 1906 the first promotion of the institution graduated and twelve students received the title of professors, six of French and six of English.

Dolores de las Carreras, promoter of teaching in living languages in Argentine public education

On June 3, 1916, the Asociación Alumnas del Profesorado en Lenguas Vivas was created with the aim of continuing the links between the graduates and the institution, paying for scholarships, and organizing courses run by the alumni.

Students of the Living Languages in the 1950s

In 1925, by decree of President Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, "Juan Ramón Fernández" was added to the name of the institution in homage to its founder, and in 1928 it received the name National Institute of Living Language Teachers "Juan Ramón Fernández" and his acronym INPLV appeared on the shield with alternating blue and red quadrants, divided by a golden cross, along with the legend "Ad altiora tendimus" which means "we tend towards perfection". It was at this time that the institution counted the poet Alfonsina Storni among its teachers.

In 1938, by Decree 22.666/38, the admission regime to Living Languages institutes was established, which included a language aptitude test. In 1953, by Decree No. 3911, the curriculum for teachers was restructured.

In 1954, the Italian and Portuguese sections of the National Institute of Secondary Teachers were transferred to it and the curricula of French and English teachers were restructured, so that Living Languages passed to cover a wide spectrum of language teacher training for primary and secondary schools. The Italian teaching staff worked for only two years at the Institute and by Decree No. 7175/56, it was once again transferred to the National Institute for Secondary Teaching Staff. In 1957, the first issue of the institution's magazine was published, Lenguas Vivas, dedicated to issues related to foreign languages and Spanish, which was published until 1971.

In 1963, by Decree No. 1654/63 of the Minister of Education, it was renamed the "Juan Ramón Fernández" National Institute of Higher Education in Living Languages.

Languages Vivas was characterized by its advanced teaching methods and innovations. In 1939, he was the first in Argentina to introduce mechanical aids in language teaching, and in 1961, he was also the first to introduce a language laboratory. In 1964, specialization courses began, with an official diploma, for French and English Teachers. In 1967, he created a sound file that recorded the voices of Argentine and foreign poets, writers, and actors, the "Word File." In 1971, he introduced a literary and scientific-technical translator and interpreting among his careers, the first of this type in the country, with a notable impact on training in foreign languages and translation, since, until then, it only existed as a career in Argentina, sworn translations and interpreters had to be trained abroad.

Among the professors, prominent personalities, who taught subjects in these professorships are Jorge Guillermo Borges, Jaime Rest, Bertil Malmberg, Luis J. Zanotti, among others.

In 1968 the Institute stopped training normal teachers. Until 1988, the Application Departments, Primary Level and Intermediate Level, only had women among their students. In that same year, male students entered the first grade of primary school and in 1995 the first year of the Intermediate Level.

In 1971, new careers began: the Teaching Staff for Primary Teaching in English and French, the Translator in English in the Literary and Technical-Scientific specialties, the Literary and Technical-Scientific Translator, the Literary and Technical-Scientific Translator in French and the Interpretation in English.

Over time, together with the consolidation of its academic prestige, Lenguas Vivas gradually modified its institutional organization, expanding and modifying its educational offer in careers and languages, renewing teaching methodologies, incorporating new technical-pedagogical resources, and even serving as a model for other training institutions in foreign languages.

In 1983, the German Faculty and Teaching Staff were created.

In 1992, due to the educational decentralization policy implemented by the national government during the 1990s, a scheme of government and administration of the national educational system was established based on the direct action of the jurisdictions and the indirect action of the National State (Transfer Law No. 24,049, Federal Education Law No. 24,195). In this way, the Government of the City of Buenos Aires (GCBA) had to face the transfer of educational services located in its jurisdiction, signing the Transfer Agreement on February 19, 1992. In 1994 the IESLVJRF ceased depend on the National Ministry of Education and was transferred to the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, adopting its current name.

In 2000 the second stage of the Lenguas Vivas magazine began, which subtly changed its name to Lenguas V;vas. Since 2015, the magazine has a supplement called “El Lenguas”: Institutional Projects”.

Primary Level

The Primary Level with intensification in foreign languages, Department of Application of the Higher Level of Living Languages, develops its activities in the afternoon shift, in days of four and a half hours (single day). It is made up of seven grades corresponding to the Basic General Education plan of the Argentine Republic. Each grade in turn has two divisions: A and B. The subjects studied are Mathematics, Language Practices, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Technological Education, Arts (Musical Education, Plastic Education), Physical Education, Foreign Language (English or French), and Ethics and Citizenship Training.

Medium Level

The Intermediate Level offers the orientations Baccalaureate in Languages with intensification in a foreign language, Baccalaureate in Mathematics and Physics with intensification in a foreign language, Baccalaureate in Sciences social sciences and humanities with intensification in a foreign language and Bilingual Baccalaureate.

Students receive an education strongly articulated with the specificity of the Institute: training in foreign languages. In this sense, in the Curricular Design blocks are organized as follows: 1) Deepening in additional language "A"; 2) Additional language “B”; 3) Additional language “C” and 4) Language and culture. In our school the additional languages taught are German, French, English or Portuguese.

To enter the middle level, students from other primary schools must take an entrance exam for the language they want to study. To be accepted, applicants must exceed an average of approximately 70% correct answers, although the value may change depending on the number of applicants for the following school year.

During the first and second year, the subjects studied are Mathematics, Language and Literature, Biological Sciences, History, Musical Culture, Latin, Language, Physical Education, Civic Education, Plastic Education, Practical Activities, and Geography. In the third year, the subject Practical Activities is eliminated, which is replaced by Accounting and Elements of Physics and Chemistry. Starting in the fourth year, the courses are divided into four divisions, three where baccalaureate is taught with orientation in Living Languages, with intensification in foreign languages, and one where baccalaureate is taught with orientation in Physical-Mathematical Sciences, also with intensification in languages foreign.

Students who graduate with an average equal to or greater than 8 in the last two years in the second language can enter directly into higher-level teaching careers. To enter the Translator careers, they must take the Spanish exam.

Upper Level

Higher Level Building of Living Languages

The Higher Level offers four-year Teacher Training courses in German, French, English or Portuguese; Higher Education Teachers in German, French, English and Portuguese for five years; and Translation in German, French, English or Portuguese. In the case of the English Translator there are three optional orientations: Technical Scientific Translator in English, Literary and Audiovisual Translator in English and English - Spanish Interpreter. The careers have various scholarship, exchange and internship programs, both national and international.

In addition to undergraduate courses, the Institute offers training activities such as affiliation to chairs for foreign language teachers and translators; two postgraduate degrees, Higher Level Teaching Specialization in Interculturality and Teaching of Spanish as a Second and Foreign Language (IELSE) and Technical Specialization in Conference Interpreting in the Language: German or French or English or Portuguese (ETIC); and distance master's degrees in agreement with various foreign universities in the areas of education and language sciences.

The IELSE Postgraduate Course proposes training for professionals who work with a migrant or foreign population, with students from schools in the City of Buenos Aires whose mother tongue is different from Spanish or whose dialect variety is particularly distant from River Plate Spanish or with bilingual models aimed at deaf students who require approaches to Spanish that are also typical of second language teaching approaches. A fundamental objective of this training is to prioritize the relationship between language, interculturality and teaching and learning contexts.

The ETIC Postgraduate is aimed at professionals to work in public and private institutions and national and international organizations whose main demand for interpretation is manifested in the following areas: governmental and non-governmental organizations, Mercosur institutions, educational and research institutions, ministerial, parliamentary and protocol spheres.

Organization and government

Languages Vivas enjoys organic autonomy within the public educational system of the city of Buenos Aires and its government is exercised by the Rector, two Vice-Rectors and the Board of Directors, the latter made up of nine tenured professors, eight students, one graduate and an administrator. The positions are elective and periodic. Academically, Living Languages is divided into four departments, each corresponding to a language: German, French, English and Portuguese.

In 1957, by Decree 4205/57, the Institutional Organic Regulation (ROI) was approved. It entered into force in 1961, and was suspended between 1976 and 1982 by the military dictatorship that ruled the country during this period. With the return of democracy, the Organic Regulations were reformed to introduce the co-government of students and graduates. The last modification to the ROI was made in 2015.

Authorities (1895 -)

Acknowledgments

The Institute received the decoration of Honorary Member of the Order of Merit conferred on the Institute by the Government of Portugal.

History file

The IES en Lenguas Vivas "Juan Ramón Fernández", with its 113-year history as a pioneer institution in the teaching of foreign languages, constitutes a fundamental piece in the educational history of our country. The Institute has an important Documentary Fund that has been organized, in a first stage, with the collaboration of the Roca Museum through the Heritage and Education Program. In this first stage, work was done on the organization of said documentary collection, carrying out the corresponding inventory and taking the necessary measures for the storage and conservation of objects and documents. This valuable fund has an important collection of photographs that have been digitized and audiovisual material that can be consulted with free access on its website.

The project also made it possible to value the goods found and organize them in a space within the establishment, thus constituting the Museum of “Living Languages”, which reflects the evolution of foreign language teaching through the history of the institution.

In 2016 and 2017 the institution participated in the Night of Museums program. This activity made it possible to show the community furniture, didactic resources, historical books, works of art, old photographs of the main building, a selection of images from the Documentary Fund and showcases with historical objects that are part of the educational heritage. In addition, numerous cultural and academic activities were carried out. In 2017, part of the Huellas de la Escuela team visited our institution, which toured the school participating in the different proposals during the Night of the Museums.