London

New competition for all state secondary and complementary schools in London !

After the success of last year’s competition (teachers said how motivating it was for their students), we’re pleased to announce an exciting new one for year 7-9 students in London mainstream state or complementary schools to celebrate keeping the spirit of the Olympics alive.

They are asked to create a Poster, a PowerPoint, a letter, a booklet, a postcard or even the text for a “Tweet” on the theme of “One World” (see the attached sheet for details) in a language they are learning in school.

Winning entries will be exhibited in SOAS and on the ATLAS web site. Certificates for winning students and schools will be awarded at a presentation in SOAS in April.

Interested teachers should register their interest (without obligation) by contacting Terry King at terry.king@ucl.ac.uk . Please send your name and email address, the address of your school, mainstream or complementary, and the languages likely to be covered. Copies of the colourful poster to advertise the competition will be despatched to you. The deadline for entries is March 1st, 2013.

Information for teachers can be found here

Example poster

Looking forward to receiving your entries.

Terry King (terry.king@ucl.ac.uk)

This hugely popular karaoke workshop is for learners of Spanish at all levels. It helps improve language skills as part of a fun activity. The workshop consists of showing students videos of English versions of popular songs also sung in Spanish. Once the students are familiar with the song and can sing along to it, they are given a copy of the lyrics of the Spanish version. This workshop gives students the opportunity to develop their vocabulary and extend their knowledge of Spanish musical culture. An ideal way to celebration students' hard work, or to give an added dimension to language learning. 

This is a cross-curricular activity linking Languages and Science. It is an instructive but fun way of introducing students to the Russian alphabet, numbers and basic sentences whilst focusing on space travel. The workshop was developed by SOAS student K. Taranenko, and can be delivered at your school by a Russian-speaking Language Ambassador. Examples of the teaching materials can be found at the links below.

Lesson Plan

PowerPoint Presentation

Russian Vocabulary

Review Worksheet

Losar in Tibet is a fun educational activity, which links languages and culture in an interactive way. Students have the opportunity to learn about Tibet and get a taste of its culture during Losar, Tibetan New Year, and the most important time of the year. Throughout this activity, students will have the opportunity to acquire a taste of a completely new language and at the end of the session they will have a comprehensive overview of the most significant aspects of Losar. Moreover, they will be able to articulate New Year greetings in Tibetan, ask people’s names and reply accordingly, as well as write basic phrases and words related to the topic of the lesson.

Apply now to be a language ambassador! The deadline for applications is 15th January 2016.

We are currently recruiting language ambassadors to help us communicate the benefits of studying languages. Working as a Capital L Ambassador will give you experience of working with a wide range of people, help you improve your communication skills, and allow you to make a difference by enthusing young people to learn languages, as well as impressing future employers! As a language ambassador you will attend events at schools and colleges around London or at your own university, informing young people about the benefits of studying languages and inspiring them with your experiences of studying languages at university. 

Language ambassadors are paid £9/hr plus travel expenses for events outside TfL zones 1&2.

Capital L Ambassadors must be current students at one of our partner institutions. For more information, go to our Introduction page.

To apply, please read the role description carefully and send us a copy of your CV accompanied by a letter explaining how you meet the requirements of the role and why you want to be a Language Ambassador to routes@soas.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is 15th January 2016.  

We aim to contact applicants selected for interview by 25th Janurary. Interviews will be held in the week commencing 25th January 2016. Successful candidates will be invited to attend training sessions. Further details will be provided to successful candidates. 

If you have any questions, please contact us on: routes@soas.ac.uk.

Win a chance to perform in the L Factor Festival* and take part in a unique music workshop! 

Between September 2012 and July 2013, Capital L will be holding a languages and music competition aimed at London’s secondary school pupils aged between 14 and 19 years old: “The Language Factor Song Competition”.

The theme of this year's competition is 'citizens of the world', to reflect the EU's European Year of Citizens 2013.

Visit our YouTube page for some of last year's entries and testimonials: http://www.youtube.com/user/routessoas

Entries should:

• consist of a song written by the young performers in any language other than English.
• be submitted as a DVD video of the young people performing the song.
• last no longer than two minutes.
• explore themes around young people's position in the world and their relationship to others.
• be accompanied by a sheet with the full lyrics in the original language and translated into English.
• be submitted by post by Friday 28th March. Please see the competition guidelines for submission details. 

There will be two categories for the competition: 

a. Original music (composed by the performers)
b. Royalty-free music (pre-recorded music widely available online)

We strongly encourage schools to make this a cross-curricular activity between music and languages departments. For more information on the competition rules, please follow the link to the document 'L Factor Competition Rules'. 

• Registration must take place via schools.
• Teachers and pupils will be offered the support of Music Mentors to help with the various aspects of the activity.
• Teachers and pupils will be offered guidance from SOAS Music Mentors with non-western music and text composition.

Please register here to receive the teacher pack, and for further information about the support available. To request copies of the poster, please contact: routes.admin@soas.ac.uk

*The L Factor Festival will take place on the evening of 4th July 2013 (please note amended date) at the SOAS Brunei Theatre. Teachers, parents and classmates will be welcome. All shortlisted songs will be uploaded onto a private YouTube page.
 

 The aim of the Spelling Bee is for students in Year 7 to practice and improve their vocabulary, spelling and memory skills in a foreign language (French, Spanish and German) and to raise the profile of language learning through a class, school and regional event.

This year, the Spelling Bee is being delivered by a national team based in Cambridge. To register, please go to: www.flspellingbee.co.uk

For information on previous Routes Spelling Bees, please visit http://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/national/news/2372