West Midlands

Calling all linguists and budding artists!

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!

Following on from our "Why Study Languages?" theme last year, pupils are invited to produce a poster on the theme of “Countries”. Pupils will need to choose a country where the language they choose is spoken, research it and design a poster to tell us about it. The twist? Pupils MUST choose a country outside of the "mother country" of the language (so if they choose French, they must choose a country other than France, if they choose Spanish it must be a country other than Spain and so on).

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 Monday 7th October.

Please send your entries to: EDL Competition, Routes into Languages West Midlands, MB741, 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/

Do you need help motivating your pupils and encouraging them to continue studying languages at GCSE, A level and beyond?  If so, then our Routes into Languages Ambassadors are on hand to help out.

Routes into Languages West Midlands has a team of enthusiastic ambassadors keen to use their passion for languages and encourage others to see the benefits of learning languages.  Our team includes current languages undergraduates as well as Erasmus students from France, Germany and Spain currently on study exchange placements at these Universities as part of their English Language studies.  They are on hand to give 'Why study languages' presentations as well as share their own experiences of studying languages in higher education.  Our students are also able to develop language taster and cultural sessions to inspire and enthuse your pupils.

Our ambassadors can adapt sessions to suit your requirements both in terms of content and duration and are happy to work with pupils of all ages. 

For more information please contact us at routes@aston.ac.uk

Breakthrough A2 event (Year 12 Cultural Awareness Day)  – Thursday 30th June 2016

The purpose of the day is to provide your Year 12 students of French, German and Spanish with an insight into the wider aspects of studying a language in preparation for their A2 study of a cultural topic

Each session will consist of a short lecture followed by some language based analysis of a text, historical period, film or song before the students are given the opportunity to produce their own responses to the things that they have seen and heard. They will also have the chance to work with, and ask questions to, current language undergraduates at the University.

Teachers can book on to the event by sending an email to Annunziata Videtta a.videtta.1@warwick.ac.uk specifying how many teacher/student places they would like and for which language stream (French, German or Spanish).

For Year 12 students who would like to attend unaccompanied, there will be a minibus shuttle service leaving Coventry Rail Station at 9.30am and returning at 3pm.

Teachers who don't have access to a school minibus can also take advantage of the minibus service. There will be a student ambassador at the station ready to welcome students and teachers and take them to the minibus.

Student feedback from previous Cultural Awareness Days

The day was very useful as it helped me to decide that I want to study at university.

The day was really enjoyable and I got a good insight into studying languages at university.

I enjoyed meeting and working with people from other schools and it was great working with the student ambassadors

The whole event was very eye opening – I would definitely recommend it

It was fun and it’s made me more determined to go to university

Following the success of last year’s event, we would like to invite Year 9 students of French, German and Spanish to attend a day where they will be given the opportunity to use their language skills in a business context. They will be working with current students at the university as well as teachers in the academic departments to develop their linguistic ability and discover how their skills might be of value to them in later life. 

Student feedback from previous Apprentice Days

I learnt about the importance of languages in a career and that you are more likely to get a better job if you learn a language

I enjoyed the day as we worked with people outside of our school and it has made me want to learn more languages fluently

“…a fantastic opportunity for students to challenge themselves not only linguistically but also on a personal level.” (Teacher feedback)

Bring your students to campus for the day to experience different aspects of language learning. During the day they will hear about the opportunities that learning languages can bring, take part in taster sessions of a new language, use the language that they are currently learning at school in a new context, explore the campus and find out about life at university and hear from student ambassadors about why they have chosen to study languages at a higher level.

Student feedback from previous language taster days

I like languages more than I did when I came in!

I loved the tour and looking at how university life is

I have decided that I want to study French and Law at university

Bring your Year 10 students to campus for the day to experience different aspects of language learning. During the day they will hear about the opportunities that learning languages can bring, take part in taster sessions of a new language, use the language that they are currently learning at school in a new context, explore the campus and find out about life at university and hear from student ambassadors about why they have chosen to study languages at a higher level.

Student feedback from previous language taster days

I like languages more than I did when I came in!

I loved the tour and looking at how university life is

I have decided that I want to study French and Law at university

Bring your Year 9 students to campus for the day to experience different aspects of language learning. During the day they will hear about the opportunities that learning languages can bring, take part in taster sessions of a new language, use the language that they are currently learning at school in a new context, explore the campus and find out about life at university and hear from student ambassadors about why they have chosen to study languages at a higher level.

Student feedback from previous language taster days

I like languages more than I did when I came in!

I loved the tour and looking at how university life is

I have decided that I want to study French and Law at university

Bring your Year 8 students to campus for the day to experience different aspects of language learning. During the day they will hear about the opportunities that learning languages can bring, take part in taster sessions of a new language, use the language that they are currently learning at school in a new context, explore the campus and find out about life at university and hear from student ambassadors about why they have chosen to study languages at a higher level.

Student feedback from previous language taster days

I like languages more than I did when I came in!

I loved the tour and looking at how university life is

I have decided that I want to study French and Law at university

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

The day will feature native German speakers from Austria and Switzerland 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 Goethe Institut will be in attendance to judge the winning group.

Alongside the pupils' sessions, the Goethe Institut 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.