What are your hopes for Primary Languages in 2011 and onwards?

Would you like to make your voice heard by ‘important people’?  By that I mean people who make policy and decide what the really important people ie the pupils get to experience at school.

In response to the White Paper released last week which more or less fails to mention Primary Languages, a number of people started a discussion about how we should respond to the invitation to comment.  One of those people was Catherine Cheater who sent a list of her hopes for the future of Primary Languages.  So well did she express the views that many held, she was urged to make an ecard that we could send to Michael Gove et al.

Here’s her message to us –

Dear colleague,
If you feel that our children in the UK deserve access to language and cultural learning during their primary school years, you might wish to send a message to:
•    Michael Gove (see www.michaelgove.com/contact)
•    Nick Gibb, Schools Minister (see www.parliament.uk/biographies/nick-gibb/25544)
•    your local MP (see www.parliament.uk/about/contacting/mp/)

Please write a message from your heart.
Please say in the message why this is important to you.
Please say how you contribute to this already (e.g. teacher, trainee, LTA, parent, publisher, LA adviser, organisation).

You may wish to include the following link in your message:

http://www.4d-studios.co.uk/primary_languages/card.html

Best wishes,
Catherine Cheater.
(With thanks to Richard Tallaron for designing the e-card)

So if you want to add your voice, the ecard link is above.

A great way for animating text!

Have a look at my message and try making your own!

made on Wondersay - Animate text with style

Last one – for now anyway!

A Colombian Old MacDonald called Tío Ramón.

You know the drill – click the picture and it’ll take you to the song!

And thank to 123SpanishTogether for the wonderful songs!

Another subtitled video – for those of you still hanging on to Autumn!

Hojas, hojas, again from 123SpanishTogether, is a lovely simple song about falling leaves and colours.

Click the photo and it’ll take you to the subtitled video.

Thought I’d highlight two great treats for Advent from two inspirational people.

Firstly, Mandy Barrow of the world famous Woodlands Junior School in Kent has produced an online World Advent calendar with details of Christmas around the world.  Each day you can open a new door and find out about Christmas traditions from other countries, and find the answers to questions like

How does red-suited Santa survive in the heat of a Brazilian summer?
In what country is Pavlova a popular Christmas dessert?

At Whitehouse Common, we’re going to use it to increase our ICU each day, and hopefully discover some things that we didn’t know before!

The second Advent treat is from Mark Pentleton at Radio Lingua Network who has made a Festive Phrase advent calendar. Behind each door is a short enhanced podcast  teaching a festive phrase and also giving information about the language, speakers and where it is spoken.  Can’t wait to find out if he’s doing Icelandic!  Another great opportunity to increase the breadth of experience of our pupils in terms of language, knowledge about the world and understanding of others.

Just discovered the following via Linguascope’s Facebook page.

To celebrate the second Linguascope Conference in Brighton we have decided to create a series of awards aimed at rewarding and highlighting outstanding achievements by individuals, companies and organisations involved in the field of Modern Foreign Languages.
The categories are as follows:
Language Teacher of the Year
This award aims at rewarding excellence and encouraging best practice in Language teaching.

Language Company of the Year
The award is aimed at rewarding a company for its outstanding contribution and service to the Foreign Language Teaching Community.

Language Product of the Year
This award aims at highlighting a product that is considered outstanding or innovative in the field of Languages.

Language College of the Year
This award is aimed at rewarding the College that has fostered outstanding achievement, elevated standards of good practice and has contributed to the local community.

Language Organisation of the Year
This award is aimed at rewarding an organisation that has raised the profile of Languages in the UK.

Language Speaker of the Year
This award is aimed at rewarding the speaker who has contributed innovative and inspiring ideas within the Language conference circuit.

Language Personality of the Year
This award is aimed at recognising the contribution of an individual in helping to raise the profile of Languages.

Language Blogger of the Year
This award is aimed at rewarding the most interesting and helpful blog in the field of Modern Foreign Languages.

To nominate someone is very easy and FREE! Just click on the relevant award, then download and fill in the form, making sure that all fields are completed. Then, fax or post it back to us (Linguascope) using the details below.
All nominations must be made via fax or post and submitted by the end of March 2011. The finalists will be announced at the end of May 2011. The Awards will be presented at the Linguascope Conference in Brighton on July 1st and 2nd 2011 at the Thistle Hotel. The VIP Guest Speaker for the event will be the Comedian John Moloney.
In order to keep the selection impartial we have appointed an independent panel of judges with extensive knowledge in the field of education and Languages.

So, get nominating! There are lots of great language ‘professionals’ out there who deserve a pat on the back!

Like this video clip on counting from 0-9.  Seems to be like the Spanish version of TenTown?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-69eHd3SHSQ

Just (re)discovered ZooBurst thanks to Carolyn Jones and her message on the Yahoo MFL resources group giving the LinkBunchURL from TeachMeet Sheffield. It’s something about which I’ve heard before.  And I’ll be investigating further.

ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own 3D pop-up books.

ZooBurst allows you to write your own stories and animate them as pop up books.  As the pages turn, the characters pop up, and can be made to speak.

As with Storybird, you can search an online gallery of other people’s stories.

Having had a little look, I came across these stories Celebrando el Bicentenario en Chile.

As a MYLO ambassador, I’m pleased to say that, following a long hiatus in proceedings caused by the change in Government, MYLO is live!

MYLO, the free online language learning resource for students aged from 14 to 16, is live and online.
MYLO is the latest way for students to learn French, German, Spanish and Mandarin through computer activities which include producing a TV advert, working in a French fashion house and designing a football kit. With practice materials, online dictionaries, phrase books, background information and plenty of hints and tips, learners have everything they need to complete tasks online. Crucially the site also provides opportunities for students to use their productive skills working on writing and speaking projects.
Kate Board, Chief Executive of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, says: ‘The fun, innovative and creative approach to learning that MYLO offers is an ideal way for young people to learn a new language. If we want to reverse the downward trend in GCSE take-up, we need to connect with young people in a way they can relate to – and show them how they could use languages in a whole range of situations in later life.’
MYLO has been piloted and developed with the input of a number of schools, educational bodies and teachers. They report that it gets young people excited about languages, and helps them develop skills in delegating, group work and project management. One Year 8 student from Bradford described the activities as ‘fun and cool and something we are interested in’, whilst another talked of how it is ‘very different to anything we do in language lessons.’
MYLO also has a social networking element that allows students to become part of a MYLO community. Once their school is registered with MYLO, students can create their own online profile, comment on the work of their peers, get feedback from their teachers online and even compete against other schools. Teachers will also be able to create special playlists of projects for their pupils, to tie in with their own study requirements and personal interests.
To sign up for MYLO, and get more information on how it will work, go to mylo.dcsf.gov.uk