South West

Visits to schools to talk to Year 9 and Year 11 students about the importance of continuing with the study of languages are carried out by university lecturers and student ambassadors from six consortium universities across the South West.

The presentations include video clips of people who have discovered the importance of languages in the world of work and also the views of some students themselves who see the value of language study. These language talks are available for all year groups and can be tailored to suit your needs.

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Irena Holdsworth at:

Irena.Holdsworth@uwe.ac.uk
 

Routes into Languages in Plymouth has availed itself of the technique of video conferencing, which offers an efficient means of contact between schools and the University.

Routes SW (Plymouth) has been engaged for a couple of years with Hayle Community College, in Cornwall, in a serried fortnightly video conferencing sessions in Spanish and French. At Hayle, pupils from years 7 to years 11, but mainly years 9, in selected groups of 4 to 6 participate in regular oral practice in the target language they are studying for their examinations. The theme of the session is chosen in advance by the school (i.e. my school day, my town, my region, my hobbies) and the pupils interact with our trained RiL student ambassadors.

The sessions last circa 45 minutes, pupils are asked questions in the foreign language and are encouraged to formulate their own questions. The use of English is prohibited.

The University of the West of England is proposing to run a two-day intensive course in July for Year 11 students who are intending to start an AS course in September 2011, the aim being to ease the transition from GCSE to AS and A level work.

The course will be based on communicative grammar and an introduction to the sorts of topics they will be dealing with in their post 16 courses.

We are proposing to run the course in French, Spanish and German, subject to demand. We will also be giving the students the opportunity to try out a new language. There will be no charge for the course, but students will have to make their own travel arrangements.

Could you please speak to your Year 11 students about this and let us know if you think there will be any interest by returning the attached reply slip by Friday 13th May 2011.

Please note that places are limited, so do get in touch with us as soon as possible if you are interested to avoid disappointment.

Contact Mark at mark.haley@uwe.ac.uk
 

The University of Bristol is holding a Languages Day for Years 11 to 13 students in the region.

The Languages Day will take place on Tuesday 28 June 2011 and feature French, Spanish, German, Catalan, Czech, Italian, Portugeuse and Russian language taster sessions. In addition, there will also be cultural sessions including “The Mafia and Popular Culture in Italy” and “Film and the Nazi Regime in Germany”.

To book a place or for further information please contact:
Dr Jo Crow at Jo.Crow@bristol.ac.uk

Please click on the link below to view the official flyer......
 

Entry for this competition has now CLOSED.
All entries can be found on the Routes into Languages South West YouTube website.

The shortlisted entrants are:

Category One: 11 to 14 years

 · ‘En mi Semana loca’ by Vicky Midda, Abi Alexander & Sarah Orr from St Bede's Catholic College, Bristol

· ‘Los problemas del mundo’ by Ben Pembery, Ben Whitfield & Sam Pembery from St Bede's Catholic College, Bristol

· ‘Love Song - canción de amor’ by Victoria Clark, Amy Kemmish, Sam Morgan, Senna Saunders, Dan Sims & Ben Squires from Haygrove School, Bridgwater

· ‘mon coeur’ by Tashina Chowdrury, Sophie Mills & Chloe and produced by Matthew Street & Rosie Jones from Park Community School, Barnstaple

Category Two: 15 to 18 years

· ‘Ca, M'est Egal’ by Jordan Jones, Alex Lake, Lewis Brain & Mike Thompson from Maidenhill School, Stonehouse

· ‘Enchanter Ma Vie’ by Isabel Lea & Catherine Ward from The King's School, Ottery St. Mary

· ‘Je ne suis pas un rappeur français’ by Gareth Allen from Queen Elizabeth's Community College, Exeter

· ‘¡Vamos a España!!’ by Becky Garner & Fiona Murphey from Millfield School, Street

 The Online Viewers Award

This award is given to the entrant who’s video has received the most votes at the Routes into Languages dedicated YouTube website.

Understanding that not everyone wants to sign up to YouTube, I have set up an online voting system in Survey Monkey here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5TTX59L

All you need to do is follow the link and click on the title of your favourite video from the drop down list then press the 'Done' button.

The combined number of votes from both systems will determine the overall winner of the 'Online Viewers Award'.

To read more about the competition and rules, download the poster below.

Check out previous year's entries here.