London

The Chinese Art, Language and Culture workshops are to be delivered through the University of Westminster's unique Chinese Poster Collection which holds hundreds of posters from China. The material will be selected to teach children in KS3 and KS4 about   Chinese culture and the Chinese language (Mandarin). The children will be able to see real Chinese posters and memorabilia dating from the 1950s to the 1980s, to learn some elements of culture in modern China and to apply some rudimentary Chinese language skills such as speaking a phrase or learning to write some characters. They will also be introduced to the recent extraordinary transformation of China through talking about exciting recent events such as the Olympics.
 

Overall, skills can be developed in cultural understanding and knowledge, language and culture, and heightened awareness of Chinese language learning through visual culture.

These workshops are aimed at Key Stage 3/4 students.

A series of 3 days for learners to gain a greater insight into one of the regions covered at SOAS (Africa, China & Inner Asia, Japan & Korea, Near & Middle East, South Asia, and South East Asia). Each day will focus on one region, their growing influence on Europe & America, and the consequent importance of understanding their languages and cultures.

The programme will consist of three sessions; one language taster and then one session on the development, economics or politics of the region, and one session on the history, anthropology, archaeology, music or religion of the region.
 

The aims of these events are:

• To place language learning as an integral part of understanding culture
• De-mystify the study of languages demonstrating that it is not just about learning a language
• Provide a spark of interest in languages by exposing students to a language substantially different from those commonly taught in school. For example, an Arabic session may focus on calligraphy and how different the script is from the Western alphabet

The Employability strand of Capital L will be working with London Aimhigher partnerships to deliver 5 events (1 based on each of the designated Strand themes) for Year 9 students over the academic year so that there is at least 1 event delivered in each Aimhigher Partnership.

These events are aimed at:

• deliver confidence-building workshops in either spoken or studied languages based on the concept of ‘the linguist as professional communicator’ (to retain the languages in action/employability focus) followed by a taster in a new language; this emphasises transferable language skills and language learning skills;
• establish within the programme of each AimHigher Partnership in London a calendar of language activities which includes employability skills; employer engagement; language tasters; contact with student ambassadors, information on going to university/taking languages degrees and combined degrees with languages; careers opportunities.
   

In addition to themed event days, a series of short ‘stand-alone’ workshops will be developed from them that can be presented at existing AimHigher events in order to ensure still wider coverage for languages.

A competition for language specialist secondary and supplementary schools in London to create an on-line front-page “poster” and then, either four additional pages, or a video, on welcoming young Olympic visitors to London.

Materials may be in any language taught in the school. and submitted in PowerPoint or a similar programme.

Entry is free

A day for Year 11-12 learners of French to demonstrate the wider links between language, culture and history; based at SOAS.

The programme will consist of two main sessions - the first will look at the history of the French empire in North Africa, and the second will discuss some of the cultural ramifications of this period.  Some language work will be embedded in these sessions.

Students will also work with Ambassadors to discuss their thoughts about issues raised throughout the day, and what implications these have on the importance of languages.

We would like to invite your school to participate in an exciting new project called Active Languages.  In partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, the London Consortium for Routes into Languages is coordinating this project that aims to take languages out of the classroom and combine fun language learning with sports and exercise.

The Active Languages project will begin on Tuesday 14th July 2009 with a full day event for participating schools at the London Metropolitan University, Holloway Road Campus. A proposed programme is enclosed. This introductory event for teachers of MFL and PE/Sports will provide advice, demonstrations and practical sessions delivered by secondary schools and Youth Sport Trust representatives. After learning how effective this combined form of teaching can be, you will then have chance to begin planning your own Active Languages project, with your school colleague, that can be delivered in your school later in the year. Projects might involve pupils producing guide books in the target language for a school trip abroad, or learning how to play a new sport through a new language - you can tailor your project to suit your school and your pupils. We encourage schools to develop projects that are aimed at pupils in Year 8 or 9, although this is flexible.

There are places for a maximum of 8-10 schools to take part in this project. All participating schools will have an opportunity to bid for funding (up to £1k) to run their Active Languages project during 2009/10. Representatives from the London consortium programme will be on hand to offer help and support throughout the length of your project.

In order to take part, you will need to book a place for yourself AND a colleague from your school's PE and Sports department by returning the enclosed reply form.

Please note that the morning sessions will involve active participation in the activities. It is therefore recommended that you arrive dressed in appropriate sportswear (for example, track suit and training shoes) and be prepared to take part.

You may also wish to bring a fully charged laptop to assist with Action Planning for your own Active Languages projects in the afternoon.

Synopsis
The Languages Immersion week is a four day immersion language programme, and is being offered for two languages, Urdu and Turkish.

Each day, the programme will consist of language classes in the morning and group work in the afternoon. There will also be sessions exploring Pakistani and Turkish history, music, and business. For the group work, participants will be given a choice of project titles and work together with SOAS students to prepare a presentation in whatever format they chose. The presentation will be delivered on the last day. Students will also receive information about studying languages at universities as well as about other language qualifications.

The aims of the week are to give speakers of these languages the opportunity to develop their written skills, to raise the profile of world languages in general, and to provide young speakers of world languages the chance to explore cultural-political-historical topics related to Urdu and Turkish.

The students
The students should be Urdu or Turkish speakers, in years 9 to 11. Priority should be given to those who would be the first generation in their family to attend University. This is a widening participation event forming part of the Capital L-Routes into Languages project.

The deadline for submitting an application is the 1st of May and there are 30 places for Turkish speakers and 30 for Urdu.

Capital L Summer School is targeted at Y10 pupils.

It will be held at London Metropolitan University, SOAS, UCL, University of Westminster and LSE.

Deadline for application: 5th May

On the summer school pupils will:

• Further your knowledge of languages

• Try new, exciting languages

• Explore languages in relation to broadcast journalism & film

• Visit Brussels for a day

• Learn more about languages at the European Commission

A day for Year 11-12
learners of French to demonstrate the wider links between language, culture and
history; based at SOAS.

The programme will consist
of two main sessions - the first will look at the history of the French empire
in North Africa, and the second will discuss
some of the cultural ramifications of this period.  Some language work will be embedded in these
sessions.

Students will also work with
Ambassadors to discuss their thoughts about issues raised throughout the day,
and what implications these have on the importance of languages.

The London consortium is working with Sports Leaders UK to offer London schools and FE Colleges 4 teacher packs - equivalent to 10 students' registration, free of charge.

Sports Leaders UK Foreign Language Leader Award aims to teach young people how to lead others through basic languages activities (teaching the colours or days of the week for example) by working to develop their leadership, communication, organisation and motivational skills.

Language Ambassadors are available to help with this activities

For more information on the Language Leader Award, please visit:
http://www.sportsleaders.org/our-awards/foreign-language-leader-ward.asp...