In 2011 the senior rugby teams of Olney RFC are undertaking a tour to Argentina. I am a fan of watching rugby and we have been given the opportunity to support them.
During the tour the club members will be undertaking a number of rugby workshops at local schools and orphanages as well as playing competitive rugby. K International has donated a sum which will go towards the equipment for the township schools.
Oliver Brackenbury the 1st Team Vice captain of Olney Rugby Club had the following to say:
“We have carried out two similar tour in recent years to both South Africa and the Philippines, where we have provided not only training at the schools and orphanages but also left them with a mountain of rugby kit to allow them to continue to enjoy the game long after we had left. As a qualified and accredited RFU coach the chance to train with these children, who often come from backgrounds of extreme poverty and hardship, is one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I can assure you that this is always very rewarding for both the players and the children, and this allows us to forge a closer relationship with the companies in and around our area”
This experience has helped us to learn some really interesting facts regarding the many languages that are spoken within the country of Argentina which I would like to share with you readers:
The spoken languages of Argentina number at least to 40 although Spanish is dominant. Others include native and other immigrant languages; two languages are extinct and others are endangered, spoken by elderly people whose descendants do not speak the languages.
Argentina is predominantly a Spanish speaking country with 39.8 million speakers, the fifth largest after Mexico, United States, Spain, and Colombia. Based on the 2001 census and 2006 population figures, there may be as many as 40 million Spanish language speakers.
Argentines are amongst the few Spanish-speaking countries (like El Salvador and Honduras) that almost universally use what is known as voseo the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú (the familiar “you”). The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, whose speakers are located primarily in the basin of the Río de la Plata.
Keep posted for our next blog regarding their progress in Argentina…
Sweet 🙂
Many thanks to Gemma and all at K-International for their support of the Olney RFC tour to Argentina. The money provided by organisations such as yourselves is invaluable to the children who benefit from the experience of using and playing with brand new kit, often for the first time. So far we have coached in South African townships and Pilipino orphanages, and it has been an experience that we have all greatly enjoyed. On a side note, we may need to use your services whilst away. Apparently Spanish is not a widely spoken language in our squad!
I will be back to let you know how we got on…
Thank you for the kind words, we are always happy to help!
I’m sure our readers will be looking forward to reading more.