London

Secondary and supplementary schools in London are invited to submit entries for stage 2 of the ATLAS Olympic Languages Competition. (For the winning entries in stage 1, see www.ucl.ac.uk/atlas)

Requirements

Create an on-line page or poster in PowerPoint, PDF or Word (landscape) welcoming young Olympic visitors, in any language taught in your school.

You will also need to add three more pages, or a short video or sound file, in the chosen language, covering just one of the following;

a) Information about the school's local area, places to visit, where to eat, how to get around the area, greetings and everyday phrases;

b) Information on selected sports (e.g. some past sporting achievements and future hopes of the target language’s teams) and a glossary of sporting terms;

c) Some notes for visitors on the local history or geography of the school area;

d) A recorded song, or performed sketch, in the target language (video or sound only, with text) on the theme of welcoming visitors (max length 5 minutes);

e) Original art-work on the theme of welcoming visitors; e.g. (i) a cartoon strip in the target language, or 3 posters for the Underground, or (ii) 3 paintings/drawings + commentary for an art exhibition welcoming visitors).
These will need to be scanned. The target language should be part of the work or a commentary on it;

f) A board game on the theme of visiting London (e.g. “Snakes and Ladders” where the Snakes are difficulties visitors might face and Ladders are helpful tips).

Only one entry per language per school. Competitors must enter as a group or pair.

This activity is aimed at Years 8 and 9 at Specialist language schools and supplementary schools. Teachers must vouch that they are learners at level, or a level equivalent to, Key Stage 3 or 4 of formal learning of the target language. Ideally the work will supplement class-work.

The entries in each language will be judged by university teachers of each language. Winning entries will be displayed on the ATLAS website. Winners will be presented with certificates at an Award event in UCL and will be offered an optional tour of the Emirates Stadium.

If interested, please contact the project manager, Terry King at terry.king@ucl.ac.uk

This TV Advert media production workshop is a two-day language programme being offered to Year 12 speakers of Bengali.

The aims of the project are to give speakers of Bengali 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 media production skills.

The first day will consist of high-level Bengali language lessons as well as sessions with current SOAS students working towards producing a script for a short film about London. The second day will consist of the filming and editing of the video, and a screening of the completed short films, which will be made available after the event. Students will also receive information about studying languages at universities as well as about other language qualifications.

The students
The students should be Bengali speakers in Year 12. 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, and would be particularly suited to those who have taken Bengali at GCSE or are studying it for AS Level.

Confirming places
Please ask your selected students to complete the attached application including parental consent and return to the address below by Monday 5th July 2010. Please note there are 30 places, which will be offered on a first-come first-served basis (maximum of 10 places per school). It is not necessary for students to be accompanied by teachers.
Please inform Julien Boast of interest as soon as possible – you don’t need to wait until the form is completed, although only then will bookings be confirmed. If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact Julien Boast via email on jb73@soas.ac.uk or direct telephone 020 7898 4113.

Universities in the Routes into Languages Capital L London Consortium have put together a range of special thematic days for London school students. Each day will be unique and will focus on different employability-related themes and different community languages. Below is a table that highlights the offered activities:

This event has now been POSTPONED until Thurs, 17th June
Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies
Theme: Media
(Priority given to speakers/ learners of Turkish or Farsi; language tasters in Indonesian & Japanese)
Contact: Mr. Julien Boast
T: 020 7898 4113
E: jv73@soas.ac.uk

Tue, 8th June
Venue: Kings College London
Theme: Health
(Priority given to speakers/ learners of Spanish; language tasters in Turkish and Russian)
Contact: Ms. Dominique Borel
T : 020 7848 2381
E : dominique.borel@kcl.ac.uk

Wed, 9th June
Venue: London School of Economics & Political Science
Theme: Business
(Priority given to speakers/ learners of Chinese; language tasters TBC)
Contact: Dr. Hong Lu
T: 020 7955 6126
E: H.Lu1@lse.ac.uk

Thu, 10th June
Venue: University of Westminster
Theme: Creative Arts
(Priority given to speakers/ learners of Spanish or Portuguese; language tasters in Arabic & Chinese,)
Contact:  Ms. Payal Gaglani
T: 020 7911 5765
E: p.gaglani@wmin.ac.uk

Fri, 11th June
Venue: University of Westminster
Theme: Leisure & Tourism
(Priority given to speakers/ learners of Spanish or French; language tasters in Arabic & Chinese,)
Contact: Ms. Payal Gaglani
T: 020 7911 5765
E: p.gaglani@wmin.ac.uk

Learning Outcomes
The key learning outcomes of the day are as follows:

- to get involved in themed subject-specific activities that show an insight into how languages are used in the real-life working world

- to participate in a range of new language taster sessions

- to interact with staff and students from universities and enjoy the facilities available in higher education institutions

Target Group: Year 9 Students

Numbers: 40 places on first come basis

Date & Time: 7th – 11th June 2010; 10 am to 4 pm

Registration: Please complete the attached application form and email it to the contact at the university you would like to attend the event at by Friday, 21st May 2010.

The Capital L Summer School is for Y10 students and offers them the opportunity to visit 5 of Capital L’s Higher Education Institutions and get a feel for what is like to study languages at each one of them.

Participating universities include: King's College, LSE, SOAS and the University of Westminster. The programme also includes a trip to Paris, where we will visit popular landmarks with the help of students from the University of London Institute in Paris.

There are 30 places available in our Summer School. The deadline for submitting applications is the 13th May 2015.

The Summer school is free of charge. However, the actual cost per student is approximately £400 and is covered by Routes into Languages. Students are expected to attend all five days of the Summer School, with some flexibility for emergencies and unforeseeable events. However, please note that in case of late cancellations (made after the 13th of June) and non-attendance without a valid reason, schools will be invoiced for the total cost of unused places.

A letter to parents and application forms are available to download from this site. For any other information or queries you can email us at routes@soas.ac.uk or give us a call on 020 7898 4745.

The GCSE Polish immersion course is aimed at school students who would like to take GCSE Polish in 2010 but have not been able to receive any formal tuition.

You will be encouraged to improve the four central language skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing, as well as
your examination-taking skills. You will be given past papers and specially tailored practice material to help build your skills and experience.

Additionally, participants will be invited to a careers session involving professionals, who will speak about the advantage of a good foreign language competence as an asset to enhancing your employment prospects.

How to apply
Please complete the application form. Parent/guardian to complete one section, then teachers to complete the reference section.
The application needs to be accompanied by a deposit of £30 to reserve a place (cheques to be made out to UCL). The deposit will be refunded to the participants at the end of the course. If a student is accepted but fails to attend the course, the deposit will not be refunded.

The deadline for applications is Friday 26 March 2010.

Further information
For more information, please contact Ewa Kedzierska:
EMAIL e.kedzierska@ssees.ucl.ac.uk
TEL +44 (0)20 7679 8772

Up to £2,000 is available for London secondary schools to deliver after-school clubs in world languages.

This project aims at either supporting heritage learners develop their linguistic ability, or at providing pupils with the opportunity to learn a world language. The language chosen must be one not currently taught at the school. Pupils must be able to work towards obtaining a qualification such as GCSE or Asset Languages.

The After-school club should run in 2010-11 and weekly sessions should last 50 minutes.

Schools will have responsibility for recruiting and managing world language teachers; providing rooms and facilities; applying evaluation questionnaires and reporting back to Capital L.

Capital L will fund teachers' rates and make training available for unqualified World language teachers and/or teachers of others subjects who would like to teach a language they are fluent in. This opportunity may also be suitable for a classroom assistant or other school staff.

Deadline for submitting applications: 15 July 2010

One application per school only.
 

For more information or to apply, please contact us on routes@soas.ac.uk.

Westminster’s Language immersion Saturdays have been designed to help GCSE and A Level students develop their language ability and gain more practical expertise in the language they are studying.

Languages covered are French, german or Spanish (at gCSE, AS and A2 level) and italian (at gCSE level).

The events are part of the routes into Languages initiative and are hosted by the department of Modern and Applied Languages.

● Each level will be offered over two half days (Saturdays, 9.45am – 2.15pm, 27th Feb+13th March and 6th March+20th March)
● For each level, the first Saturday will focus on listening and speaking, the second Saturday will focus on reading and writing
● Each session will look at common grammar points, vocabulary expansion and practical language use, such as role plays, debates, comprehension tasks or writing in context
● These events are hands on sessions, giving you an opportunity to work with languages in real life situations and practise key skills
●Bookings will be taken strictly on a ‘first come, first served’ basis, and numbers per group/level are strictly limited to 15 students
●Please note that if you are interested in booking a place on one of these two day events, you will need to commit yourself to the two days.

Please note: This year, we will also be running our popular four day A Level language workshops from 6 – 9 April 2010.
Our new Saturday events are not replacing these, but aim to give students extra language exposure.

For informal queries, contact Dr Manuela von papen by email ONLY:  m.von.papen@westminster.ac.uk

or check the website at:  westminster.ac.uk/sshl
 

Capital L is launching a scheme to provide university student ambassadors to act as tutors, supporting language teachers during class. The aim is to support students to raise their achievements and further develop their study skills.

Schools will nominate a coordinator to liaise with Capital L and supervise tutors.

Secondary schools can apply to receive up to a maximum of 4 tutors.

The scheme will run until May 2010 or until university students need to prepare for their exams.
 

 If you are interested in this opportunity, please email us at:  languagetutors@soas.ac.uk

We will be holding 4 Bring your Mum/Dad/Carer to university this academic year and perhaps a fifth for those not able to attend previous sessions.

The sessions will consist of the following:

• Information about courses available at our partner institution
• Ambassadors presentations about their experiences and Q&A session
• Language related activity – parents and pupils separately
• Tour of HEIs facilities

They aill aim to raise parents’ awareness about the opportunities to study languages at universities, break down negative perceptions about access to university and provide parents with an opportunity to visit Higher Education Institutions with their son/daughter(s) and ask questions. Furthermore, they will also raise awareness of the value of home languages in today’s economy.
 

Please note that in the case of late cancellations or no-shows, we reserve the right to request that you cover some of the costs incurred. 

Email routes@soas.ac.uk to book a session.