Languages Action Alliance: Lingo » VIC

‘EUROPEAN MASTERS’ AS LANGUAGE TEACHERS

BrigitteL — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:28:04 +0000

Of course the purpose of visiting art galleries is to appreciate weird and wonderful works of art, but at the current exhibition of European Masters at the National Gallery of Victoria, my family and I were also in for a pleasant linguistic surprise. Apart from trying to figure out the German and French titles of the Staedel Museum’s collection without the aid of the English translations, my grandsons, whose LOTE is German, particularly enjoyed the language activity that was incorporated in the display. Selected works were accompanied by questions to engage the younger generation, and these were labelled from A to Z, each letter linked to an English word and then its German equivalent, e.g. L for lonely – einsam, which expressed a feeling in Max Klinger’s painting of a woman on a rooftop in Rome.

The exhibition opened on 19th June and runs to 10th October, 2010, so there’s still plenty of time to enjoy this cultural experience and to get some basic German lessons as a bonus.

A picnic and multilingo animals down on the farm

BrigitteL — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:05:53 +0000

Multilingual Picnics getting an airing at last

BrigitteL — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:22:16 +0000

This link takes you to Maria Zijlstra’s ‘Lingua Franca’ program on ABC Radio. The main topic of discussion is Camberwell Primary School, a bilingual English/French school in Melbourne – HOWEVER – the other good news is that multilingual picnics also get a mention – a general reference to the efforts of Irma Lachmund in Perth, Mandy Scott in Canberra and Philip Mahnken in Queensland, and more specifically, the Melbourne Language Picnic 2010.

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/2010/2850694.htm

Melbourne Language Picnic #2

BrigitteL — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 07:17:19 +0000

The Melbourne Language Picnic - 2010

The Melbourne Language Picnic is on again!

Date: Sunday, 21st March, National Harmony Day 2010, from 9 am to 5 pm.

Venue: Collingwood Children’s Farm, St. Heliers Street, Abbotsford.

Bring your family and friends, your lingo and share in some multilingual fun and games.

For further information, follow this link:

http://www.melbournelanguagepicnic.wordpress.com/

Kimmba Bilingual Learning Playgroups: Parent Initiative – Community Benefit

BrigitteL — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:54:35 +0000

One of the presentations at last year’s seminar on raising bilingual children at Melbourne University discussed Languages Activism and the different ways in which parents can contribute to enhancing language learning in the wider community. Kimmba Bilingual Learning Playgroups are an outstanding example of such an initiative, and here is the story of the person behind its success.

Marisha Theeboom is an experienced, trained Mandarin teacher and volunteer community worker since 1987. She has worked with a variety of ages, cultures and in different continents whilst involved with a large charitable organisation that spans Taiwan, America and South Africa. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree from University of Cape Town, R.S.A.,1996.

She married an Australian Pilot in 2000, migrated to Melbourne and has three daughters. As a migrant herself, she is aware of the difficulties involved in settling within the local community. Thus she has turned her love of teaching and community work into establishing Kimmba Bilingual Learning Playgroup Inc. Kimmba has been established for migrants and local residents to be able to gather together and understand each other through a fun and loving playgroup environment. In doing so, she hopes the establishment of Kimmba Bilingual Learning Playgroup enables more migrants from differing cultures to benefit by retaining their self-identity and at the same time develop proficiency in English language skills.

Marisha has developed her own bilingual education program for young children, called Jo Jo Bilingual Education Program and started the first Mandarin bilingual learning playgroup at Taiwanese School of Melbourne in July 2006. She has further studied and obtained a Certificate in the Professional Development Program in Second Language Teaching Methodology for Teachers in Ethnic Schools (Chinese Phase I) from RMIT University November, 2006.

This year Marisha is expanding Kimmba so that more children and families can be exposed to wide range of languages and cultures. She is opening a new Center in Prahran that will be available for students ranging from 0-6 years old to come from 1 hour- 15 hours a week to learn either Mandarin, German or Spanish. The Prahran center is set up as an early learning center with two fully qualified and trained teachers in every room. This center is hopefully the first of many to come as Marisha is passionate about exposing children and families to different languages and cultures to help build positive relationships with everyone in the community.

To find out more , please visit http://www.kimmba.com.au/

How to activate language learning outside the home: tips to make a difference

BrigitteL — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:13:57 +0000

For those not able to attend the recent RUMACCC (University of Melbourne) seminar on raising bilingual children, the link below will take you to the handouts for the sessions on what parents can do to encourage language learning beyond the home, for their children and community alike.

http://www.rumaccc.unimelb.edu.au/schools/how.html

RAISING CHILDREN IN MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE

BrigitteL — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:40:23 +0000

You are invited to a FREE seminar for parents, early childhood and pre-school workers, grandparents, teachers and others interested in bilingual education.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 12:45pm – 5pm
Carrillo Gantner Theatre, Sidney Myer Asia Centre, Cnr Swanston St and Monash Rd, University of Melbourne

THE SEMINAR IS FREE BUT REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL by November 23rd.

Speakers include: Prof. Michael Clyne, Dr. Susanne Döpke, Prof. John Hajek
Raising children bilingually is a very important process. There are many positive strategies that can be employed. The sessions in this seminar discuss issues in raising children bilingually, show you how to recognise your child’s needs in the language and provide you with important tools to foster your child’s language learning and maximise the advantages available to you.

TO REGISTER: Please send an email listing the names of people wishing to register to: rumaccc-info@unimelb.edu.au

THE SEMINAR IS FREE BUT REGISTRATION IS ESSENTIAL by November 23rd.

What you can do:
• Forward this email to any friends or family you feel might benefit from our seminar, or direct them to our website to find out more: www.rumaccc.unimelb.edu.au
• Promote the seminar in your sphere of influence, at school, day care centre, community, local government area, your local library.
• Encourage parents and those working in the area to attend.

MELBOURNE: BILINGUAL EDUCATION FORUM

BrigitteL — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 03:31:01 +0000

You are invited to attend a free public forum to explore the advantages of educating children bilingually, with focus on establishing an Italian Bilingual School.

When: Sunday, 11 October 2009, 2pm

Where: Co As It, 189 Faraday St, Carlton

Prof Joe Lo Bianco, from the University of Melbourne will give the keynote address.

This forum is being organised by a group of parents who are members of the Italian Bilingual School Project (a not-for-profit unincorporated association).

italianbilingualschoolmelb@gmail.com

Suspension of Small Candidature Languages at the Year 12 (Certificate) Level

acsso — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:46:07 +0000

Public Meeting on this issue

Monday 24 August, 7.30pm
Multicultural Hub
506 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
(Opposite Queen Victoria Market, Melway Map 1E J2)

Speakers include:

Professor Michael Clyne, Universities of Melbourne and Monash
Dr Bruno Mascitelli, Swinburne University
Mr Stefan Romaniw, CEO, Community Languages Australia
Mr Frank Merlino, Principal, Victorian School of Languages

RSVP Christine 03 9474 0531

Language Learning is a Picnic in the Park!

acsso — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:48:40 +0000

Following on from the successful Multilingual Picnic in Canberra in December last year, the first ever Melbourne Language Picnic attracted families associated with the following languages: Arabic, Chollo, Croatian, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Swedish and Vietnamese.

While not everyone was able to come on the day, there was plenty of feedback and interest in supporting this kind of event in the future.

The presence of a Japanese exchange student provided an opportunity for the children with Japanese LOTEs to try out their skills, and prompted a similar exchange for those with Italian LOTE. A highlight of the day was some basic formalized language activity, and it was a joy to observe the enthusiasm with which all the children joined in.

Alessandro, one of the video stars below, gave us this spontaneous vote of approval: ‘The language picnic is cool!’

Some linguistic potential who could be persuaded to pose for a photo

Video clips:

Language bites in

If anyone would like to offer ideas, suggestions or become involved in organizing language-focused social events in their locality, please contact Angela or Brigitte.