Celebrating bilingualism (21.02.17) Any Ideas?

[JohnSB]

It’s International Mother Language Day on 21^st February and we would like to share some ideas for planning projects.

For those of us working in multi-lingual settings this is a valuable opportunity to promote and present good EYFS practice. But this work might be even more important in mono-lingual settings where children can learn the value and importance of learning and respecting other world languages.

Learning about and learning to respect linguistic diversity, and the interdependence of different peoples and language groups is an important component in education for sustainable development. More than 70% of the world's population speaks more than one language, and we can encourage language learning from an early age. Language maintenance is important in the conservation of cultural heritage. Diversity in languages can also be considered a global asset that is in many ways equivalent and related to global bio-diversity, which is much more widely recognised as being under threat.

“A language disappears on average every two weeks, carrying with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. The protection of linguistic diversity is a challenge for sustainable development. Languages ​​convey knowledge and local know-how, they are an irreplaceable tool for sustainability.” (UNESCO, 2012)

“While it is widely acknowledged that the degradation of the natural environment, in particular traditional habitats, entails a loss of cultural and linguistic diversity, new studies suggest that language loss, in its turn, has a negative impact on biodiversity conservation.” (UNESCO)

 

SCILT has produced some useful resources you can download here

 

We especially liked the animated phrase book

[Guest]

Providing well known nursery rhymes in dual languages can be one way of broadening children's knowledge of linguistic diversity.

 

You may find the following of interest for your rhyme area:-

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chinese-English-Nursery-Rhymes-Languages/dp/0804840946

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deux-Trois-Language-French-English/dp/1845076230/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478118001&sr=1-2&keywords=English+nursery+rhymes+in+other+languages

Edited November 2, 2016 by Lynnetteb

[finleysmaid]

this is my favourite site for books and resources in other languages

 

http://uk.mantralingua.com/

[Guest]

^{I wonder if anyone has any dual language story books that they could recommend or dual audio books? It would be fantastic to build up a library of multi-lingual resources. You might find the following website useful:}

^{http://www.languagelizard.com/}

^{Language Lizard is an online shop - Bilingual Children's Products in Over 40 Languages - Their testimonials say: Language Lizard Bilingual Books Are Ideal For...}

• ^{Teaching and learning English as a Second Language}
• ^{Teaching and learning foreign languages}
• ^{Maintaining home language skills}
• ^{Developing an understanding and tolerance of diversity}
• ^{Encouraging parental involvement and reading among ethnically diverse families}
• ^{Building multicultural classrooms}
• ^{Providing resources for families to introduce native languages and pass on their heritage}
• ^{Helping librarians meet the needs of their ethnic patrons and reflect the diversity in our communities.}

Edited November 2, 2016 by Lynnetteb

[Guest]

this is my favourite site for books and resources in other languages

 

http://uk.mantralingua.com/

Thank you so much for sharing this.

[Guest]

This site might also be useful for sourcing bi-lingual books.

 

 

http://www.alien-languages.com/default.aspx