The Language Show (live) | Portfolio site

GAMES GALORE - Witold Wozniak (senior MFL teacher)

How classroom games can encourage the learning of language

- fun games and activities are the most memorable when it comes to language > encouraged to think about what we remember from our secondary and primary education - he's right; I mainly remember games and song

- "learning by doing is the most powerful tool"

- short, fun, interventions are the best tools > simple pictures and triggers

Don't think this is the right talk for me? Giving examples of classroom games, rather than how they are actually useful... on to the next talk...

AMY I TAKE IT BACK!! I'M ACTUALLY SUPER INTERESTED IN CLASSROOM GAMES! how can we encourage kids (and YA) to learn a language in a fun way, in and out of the classroom? is it worth looking into more? rewatch the recording and go from there

HOW CAN LANGUAGES HELP SAVE LIVES AND BUILD BETTER FUTURES?

- founder of 'Bilingualism matters' - CEO of 'The Charter of Linguists' - British Council speaker based in Paris - Marshall in the MoD - People in the UK Intelligence Agencies > MI5, MI6, GCHQ -

!!SPEECHES FROM INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES ARE NOT RECORDED!! apparently, I'm not allowed to write notes, but basically, it's important to understand many, many languages in the field.

Ministry of Defence > DRACUL: The Defense Requirements Authority for Culture and Language
- language training is mandatory for those being posted > re-drafted quarterly

- language assessment for those in the armed forces > not just those being drafted; for all

- follow NATO standards with 4 levels: 1. functional 2. survival 3. professional 4. expert > time spent = language training based on their post, what level do they need?

- cultural courses are NOT explicitly taught > by learning a language; you learn a culture and context > culture of a country and military culture

- cultural understanding (of a country and a country's military) is painfully important to the MoD > this understanding is 'untrainable', and is developed through repeated exposure

- there is no substitute for speaking the same language as another when in combat > the difference of a second between understanding what is asked, and not understanding saves lives

Q&A

- imposter syndrome? even the world's best linguists have imposter syndrome
- massive opportunities in the armed forces around language - many feel employers are not supportive in their endeavors... not in the army! (?)

- Defence Languages Forum > constant posting of material, support, and answers questions... share resources - the language Reddit for the Mod

Academic Language Manager for the British Council - specializes in regional and minority languages !!!!

- why are regional languages disappearing? every regional language (with the exception of Welsh) is on UNESCOs endangered atlas... in the 18th century, there was a want for a nation-state and unity > effort to impose a single national language

- educational inspector speaking to MFL teachers in the 1700s "your only need here is to eradicate the Britons" > there was a conscious effort to eradicate languages.... children were whipped for using their native languages in the 18th century unless they snitched on someone else using their own native language HOLY SHIT!

- the downward cycle of prestige... people don't want to pass their language down to their children as it becomes a dangerous burden.... it only takes one generation to not transmit it down for a language to become endangered

- if a language disappears, a culture, an identity, disappears

- Welsh was forbidden under Henry VIIIs rule

- The UK is part of the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages - language training is mandatory through education > it's working in Wales (aim to have 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050)... but this obvs isn't global

- how can we revitalize languages? inter-generational transmission > basically, ensure parents are teaching their children their native languages > immersion education, too... but kids need a reason to apply it outside of an educational context. school = boring! = kids don't want to think about it outside of school = they won't speak stuff they're taught... just because they know a language and can speak it, doesn't mean they're going to use it... its often too formal, and cannot be used outside of an educational setting... it needs to be living! It's all well and good being able to ask "can I use the bathroom?" but that won't be useful outside of school... why aren't kids taught "do you want to play hide-and-seek?" or "can we watch toy story 4?"

Founder of Bilingualism Matters > the cognitive, cultural, and social benefits of language

- science and communication > multilingualism in society and public engagement

- are multilingual societies healthier? more productive? more coherent? better?

- UNESCO the futures of education - learning to become = adapting to change

- people who learn AND USE more than one language = have better conflict resolution, better focus, are able to switch tasks easily > are less overwhelmed, better at prioritizing arguments

- better understanding of perspectives > can more easily walk a mile in someone else's shoes > QUICKER ADAPTABILITY TO THEIR OWN EGOCENTRIC VIEW!!!

- neutral understadinggg

- decision making is affected subtly based on the language spoken > better control of biases based on emotional reactions > more rational

- the perfect bilingual doesn't exist!

... a bit too smart for me to understand ngl...

HOW TO NOT UNDERSTAND A LANGUAGE... ONE KINDER SURPRISE AT A TIME! - Keith Kahn- Harris (the babel message: a love letter to language)

VERY ODD TALK...

- the manuscript = the bit of paper that comes with Kinder. 37 languages on 12x5cm paper > the Message ... an important one; denoting danger to kids when opening a kinder surprise (normally in English)

- the lesser Messages > give JUST product details and contact info (in other languages) - no warning message? I'M SO LOST

- warning messages in different languages ARE NOT THE SAME > cultural context provides meaning

- kinder surprise eggs are the rosetta stone of our time... putting languages together can give insight into one you don't understand BUT NOT ALWAYS!!! warning vs attention (in french)

- the Estonian scandal > shocker > added characters and macrons that don't even exist! the message is technically unreadable

- liberating the message > it should be given in more languages... hieroglyphics?!?

- tower of babel myth > can be a blessing, not always a conflict!

- "deep wheel Orcadia" poem mixing English and Orcadian, sci-fi, future > Harry Giles

- can write ASL using a transcription system > for academic journals > looks like modern hieroglyphs !! (no BSL version) > soton "sign-writing"????

- this dude has just created his own language! a CONLAG... that has rules and can make words!

- "David Petterson: the art of language creation"