West Midlands

Aston University invite you to campus for this fun and interesting Spanish cultural event for Year 8 and 9 pupils from 10.30am - 3.30pm on Wednesday, 10th February, 2016.

The day will feature native Spanish speakers from countries outside Spain who will deliver language and culture workshops to small groups of pupils. Pupils will then design their own posters and present what they have learnt to the larger group at the end of the event. Representatives from the Spanish Embassy will be in attendance to judge the winning group.

Alongside the pupils' sessions, the Spanish Embassy will provide CPD training for teachers. A buffet lunch is provided for staff and students.

These events are fully funded and therefore FREE to attend. There are a maximum of 80 places on this event and we can offer each school up to 10 places. Late cancellations are charged at £5 per pupil.

This event is fully booked and registration is now closed.

Aston University invite you to campus for this fun and interesting French cultural event for Year 8 and 9 pupils from 10.30am - 3.30pm on Tuesday, 26th January 2016.

The day will feature native French speakers from countries outside France who will deliver language and culture workshops to small groups of pupils. Pupils will then design their own posters and present what they have learnt to the larger group at the end of the event. Representatives from the French Embassy will be in attendance to judge the winning group.

Alongside the pupils' sessions, the French Embassy will provide CPD training for teachers. A buffet lunch is provided for staff and students.

These events are fully funded and therefore FREE to attend. There are a maximum of 100 places on this event and we can offer each school up to 10 places. Late cancellations are charged at £5 per pupil.

Registration has now closed as this event is fully booked.

Our Languages in HE Sixth Form Conference will take place at Aston University on Wednesday 22nd June 2016.  This is a Routes into Languages West Midlands collaborative event involving a number of partner universities.

The Languages in HE Sixth Form Conference will enable your Year 12 students to discover more about the opportunities available for language study at university, helping them to make an informed decision about their future studies.

The varied conference programme will provide Year 12 students with an opportunity to hear about the different types of language study at university, as well as hearing from current undergraduate students about their experiences of language study and the year abroad.  In addition, students will participate in two sessions in their current language(s) of study (French, Spanish or German) and a taster session in a new language, or in Translation studies.

This conference will start at 10.00am and end at 3.30pm on Wednesday 22nd June 2016 and is free to attend.  Please note that places are limited so early booking is advisable as all places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.  Please use the form below to book or contact us at routes@aston.ac.uk or on 0121 204 4720.

A multilingual poetry competition that celebrates cultural diversity and the many languages currently spoken in schools across the UK.

The aim of the Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition is to celebrate languages, culture and language-learning, giving secondary school students the opportunity to practise and improve their foreign language skills (any language they are learning in school) and appreciate their heritage, using poetry. The regional competition is being led by Routes into Languages West Midlands at Aston University, Birmingham, in cooperation with Writing West Midlands.

The idea was originally developed by the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Manchester Metropolitan University and Routes into Languages North West and due to its success, is now being rolled out across the country.

The competition

Mother Tongue entries will be in two parts: The first part is the poem. This can be an original, creative piece, or a poem or song that is ‘remembered’ – i.e. something in your first language that you recall, or that has been told to you by a relative. This can be in any language but English. The second part should be a short explanation of the inspiration behind the piece, where it comes from, or why it is important to the person submitting it (no more than half a page). This part must be written in English and is the part your entry will be judged on.

Other Tongue entries must be an original poem written in a language that is not the first language spoken by the person writing it. Entries are welcomed in French, Spanish or German.

Winning students from the West Midlands will be invited to the Regional Celebration Event in February 2016 and the National Celebration Event at Manchester Metropolitan University in June 2016.

How to enter

The competition opens from Saturday 26th September (European Day of Languages) and the deadline for entries is Tuesday 1st December 2015.

Please send your entries by email to routes@aston.ac.uk, or by post to Project Manager, Routes into Languages, School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET.

The competition is open to all students in KS3, KS4 & KS5.

For more information on the competition, how to enter and for ideas of how to integrate this into your lessons, please find attached the Teacher’s Pack.

See www.mtot.org.uk  for further details and to download promotional materials, workshop ideas and resources.

Help celebrate the European Day of Languages on 26th September by taking part in our poster competition!

To mark the European Day of Languages and following the success of the competition last year, we invite schools in the region to participate in our poster competition. With the number of UK language learners reducing whilst international commerce and travel increase, our aim is spread the message of the importance of learning languages, promoting intercultural awaresness and encourage uptake, particularly at GCSE and beyond. By taking part in our competition, your pupils can help us out and learn a thing or two themselves!

To get our Year 7, 8 and 9 pupils thinking about the many careers with languages, our theme for this year’s Poster Competition is “My Language Role Model”. Pupils should research and design their own poster, using, if they wish, a variety of materials and languages!

Pupils should choose a person who speaks a language they study at school. The poster should tell us who they are, what they do, which language(s) they speak and what they admire about them!

Entries can be submitted in any foreign language or languages and may include some English if desired (for example, pupils may like to provide a translation of the facts they provide). Each poster should be no larger than a sheet of A4 paper and must be completed by hand but any form of materials can be used – felt tips, paint, fabric, etc. Judges will be looking for originality of illustration as well as accuracy of language and content.

The competition is open to pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 with one winner and one runner up in each year group. Each entry MUST be clearly marked on the back with the pupil’s name, age, class, teacher and school, as well as any necessary information about the language(s) chosen (i.e. if it is a less widely learned language) to facilitate judging. When sending school entries, teachers should provide a covering note with their contact details for ease of notifying winners.

Please note that entries cannot be returned, we advise making a scanned copy for pupils who wish to retain their work. In the event of insufficient entries of good quality no prize will be awarded; the judges’ decision is final.

The prizes are £20 vouchers for the winners and £10 vouchers for the runners up, plus a framed certificate. The winning entries will be displayed around the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University and will feature on our website. They may also be used in publicity materials in future. Prizes will be presented in school by a member of Routes into Languages staff who will also deliver a “Why Study Languages?” presentation to your pupils.

We hope that you will enter this competition as part of your in-school European Day of Languages celebrations and so the deadline for submission of entries will be Friday 2nd October 2015.

Please send your entries to: European Day of Languages Competition, Routes into Languages West Midlands, School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET. If you have any queries please email us at routes@aston.ac.uk or call 0121 204 3872.

Need some inspiration?

• Encourage pupils to use home languages – they could even teach a few words or phrases to other pupils

• Take the opportunity to do some cross curricular work with your Art department

• Visit https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Routes into Languages West Midlands are offering six grants, each worth £1,000, to first year students studying on a non-language degree course in the West Midlands. These grants can be used towards approved summer schools or volunteering placements in a non-English-speaking country in the summer 2015.

The successful students will receive pre-departure training and agree to take part in future Routes into Language activities, as well as producing a written or video blog during their stay to promote travel abroad.

To apply, please complete our online form and submit by email to routes@aston.ac.uk or by post to Routes into Languages West Midlands, School of Languages & Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET. Deadline for applications is Sunday, 31st May 2015. The winners will be announced in early June 2015.

**Please note that there have been some problems with online submission of the application form. To ensure we receive it, please send it by email to routes@aston.ac.uk - you will receive a confirmation receipt.**

For more information on summer schools, please contact your local university contact:
 

Aston University:

http://www.aston.ac.uk/current-students/careers-centre/summer-school-programmes/

Contact the International Placement Team

Tel: 0121 204 4998.  

internationalplacements@aston.ac.uk

University of Birmingham:
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/studyabroad/outgoingstudents/Summer-Schools.aspx

Alexandria Moorghen - Outgoing Study Abroad Administrator (Erasmus)

Tel: +44 121 415 8423

Email: a.j.moorghen@bham.ac.uk

Josh Allen  -  Acting Outgoing Study Abroad Administrator (International)

Tel: +44 121 414 3037

Email: j.allen@bham.ac.uk

Coventry University:
http://www.coventry.ac.uk/new-students/advice-and-support/planning-your-future/work-or-study-abroad/

Contact the International Experience team by:

Tel: +44 (0) 24 7615 2056
Email: internationalexperience.ss@coventry.ac.uk

Keele University:
http://www.keele.ac.uk/studyabroad/keelestudentsgoingabroad/shortprogrammessummerschools/

Contact the Global Education Manager

Tel: +44 1782 734114

Email: studyabroad@keele.ac.uk

University of Warwick:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/study/studyabroad/contact/opportunities/

Contact the Study Abroad Co-ordinator
exchange@warwick.ac.uk
+44 (0)24 7652 4133

University of Wolverhampton:

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/current-students/careers-enterprise-and-the-workplace/jobs/opportunities-abroad/

Contact the Careers Centre:

Telephone: 01902 321414

Email: careers@wlv.ac.uk

The University of Birmingham invites local year 8 pupils to their Languages & Sports Day. Have the opportunity to try Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Portuguese in the morning, followed by an afternoon learning a range of sports from the target language countries!

A multilingual poetry competition that celebrates cultural diversity and the many languages currently spoken in schools across the UK.

The aim of the Mother Tongue Other Tongue competition is to celebrate languages, culture and language-learning, giving secondary school students the opportunity to practise and improve their foreign language skills (any language they are learning in school) and appreciate their heritage, using poetry. The regional competition is being led by Routes into Languages West Midlands at Aston University, Birmingham, in cooperation with Writing West Midlands.

The idea was originally developed by the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Manchester Metropolitan University and Routes into Languages North West and due to its success, is now being rolled out across the country.

The competition

Mother Tongue entries will be in two parts: The first part is the poem. This can be an original, creative piece, or a poem or song that is ‘remembered’ – i.e. something in your first language that you recall, or that has been told to you by a relative. This can be in any language but English. The second part should be a short explanation of the inspiration behind the piece, where it comes from, or why it is important to the person submitting it (no more than half a page). This part must be written in English and is the part your entry will be judged on.

Other Tongue entries must be an original poem written in a language that is not the first language spoken by the person writing it. Entries are welcomed in French, Spanish, German or Italian.

Winning students from the West Midlands will be invited to the National Celebration Event at Manchester Metropolitan University on 29th June 2015.

How to enter

The competition opens from Saturday 21st February 2015 (International Mother Language Day) and the deadline for entries is Friday 22nd May 2015.

Please send your entries by email to routes@aston.ac.uk, or by post to Project Manager, Routes into Languages, MB741, School of Languages and Social Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET.

The competition is open to all students in KS3, KS4 & KS5.

For more information on the competition, how to enter and for ideas of how to integrate this into your lessons, please find attached the Teacher’s Pack.

See www.mtot.org.uk  for further details and to download promotional materials, workshop ideas and resources.