The Tribune

The Association of International Banks and Trust Companies (AIBT) and the Ministry of Financial Services are sponsoring a second College of the Bahamas (COB) student who will be attending a Spanish course in Mexico.

Justin Knowles has begun a six-week Spanish Language Immersion programme at the Universidad Internacional. He will attend Spanish and Mexican culture classes, including up to 38 hours of language instruction per week.

The 21 year-old Economics and Finance major was selected from a shortlist of student attendees at the 2012 Nassau Conference, and joins fellow Bahamian and COB student, Franktasha Rolle, who began the same immersion programme on June 20.

The Universidad Internacional programme is designed to develop fluency in Spanish conversation by focusing on four main skills: Listening comprehension, reading, conversation, and writing.

Classes are run on a ‘group of five’ system, where there are no more than five students assigned to one professor, resulting in students getting dedicated and personal attention.

The Spanish Language Immersion initiative is a key component of AIBT’s professional development efforts, which feature the Nassau Conference as the centerpiece.

They also include a Ministry of Financial Services/AIBT sponsored six-week paid internships for students at leading financial services companies.