Languages Action Alliance: Lingo » Experiences

‘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.

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

Supporting Bilingual Children in Early Childhood

BrigitteL — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 09:56:09 +0000

This very informative article is published by Learning Links, an “Australian charity and non-profit organisation formed to help children who have learning disabilities, difficulties and developmental delays, and their families”.

http://www.learninglinks.org.au/information-sheets.htm

LANGUAGES MATTER

BrigitteL — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:32:25 +0000

This must-read feature in the Winter edition of Multilingual Life (published by the SA Government) can be accessed on http://www.multicultural.sa.gov.au/magazine.htm.

Contributors include Michael Clyne, Lia Tedesco, Greg Wilson and many more.

German Bilingual Scout Group starts up

acsso — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:23:10 +0000

Camping, canoeing, roasting marshmallows, go-karting, baking, having adventures and making friends sounds like every child’s dream. The boys and girls of Canberra’s newest Scout group will be doing all this and more, all in the German language.

The German Australian Pfadfinder Scout Group will take children aged 6 and up, and will be accessible to north and south side families as their Scout Hall is in Turner. Pfadfinder is the German word for Scout and it literally means “path finder”.

“We’re very excited to be starting up this bilingual Scout group this year. 2008 is the Year of the Scout, and it is also the International Year of Languages, so it is very appropriate,” said ACT Scouts’ Chief Commissioner, Mr Neville Tomkins.

Group Leader Lisa Stephan said, “The new Scout Group builds on existing children’s German language groups, including a playgroup for 0-5 year olds and the German Australian Playschool for 3-5 year olds. With the new Scout group, Canberra can now cater for people from birth to adulthood looking for fun and educational activities in German.”

“My aim is to have the kids begging to go to Joeys, Cubs and Scouts every week, as they will be having so much fun!” said Leader, Jens Stephan.

The group’s scarf colours will be red and yellow. Many scouts in Germany have yellow scarves; and red is the common colour which appears on the flags of Australia and the German speaking nations, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The Group is non-religious and is open to children from all spiritual traditions. Its aim is to develop children’s self-confidence, practical skills and values which will help them make an ongoing positive contribution to their community.

There is a pre-Scouting group for 5 year olds, who attend Scout nights with their parents and enjoy the exciting program too.

Families wishing to add their child’s name to the lists for 2009, 2010 or 2011 should contact Lisa Stephan on 6251 7743 or spielwelt@homemail.com.au

Online Parent / Carer Survey

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:20:07 +0000

The Languages Action Alliance is preparing an online survey for parents / guardians / care givers of children and/or parents-to-be to identify their attitudes, experiences and needs relevant to the support of language learning.

The survey will be online by Friday 5 September 2008.

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admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:46:59 +0000

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