European Day of Languages

September 26th will be European Day of Languages.  Over the last couple of weeks I have been saving a lot of links for it, and so I thought I would share them with you here.  In no particular order:

• If you're looking for ideas for something to do, you should head over to Dominic McGladdery's European Day of Languages Wiki
  
• How other languages hear animal sounds  - a cool video featuring lots of different languages
  
• "Let it go" in 25 languages - many of the children I know are obsessed with Frozen and know all the songs.  Disney have released this version of the Oscar-winning song "Let it go" in 25 languages.  Can your students name 25 languages?  My 11 year old knows this version of the song off by heart now, but before she heard it said "I didn't know there were 25 languages."  There is also a "behind-the-mic" version showing all the singers singing it.
  
• If your students are fed up with Frozen or are mostly boys, they might prefer this clip of Darth Vader saying "I am your father" in lots of languages.
  
• Interactive version of the "Languages take you further" booklet
  
• Language facts and fun from the Council of Europe
  
• The Great Language Game - listen to a clip of a language being spoken and identify it.  How high a score can you get?
  
• European Day of Languages flyer from the Council of Europe
  
• Some ideas from the Guardian Teacher Network
  
• Free resources from Routes into Languages
  
• Find the links here to my countries and languages Tarsia puzzle
  
• Activity from the Red Cross about how a little language can go a long way
  
• There are still some free resources available from the CILT website
  
• Global Communications, a resource pack for KS3 from Global Dimension
   
• World Stories - stories for children from around the world, in many different languages and English
  
• Lots of ideas and links from Europe in the UK
  
• A video with lots of language facts and figures
  
• ALL's European Day of Languages on Film project

French and Spanish Pocket Cards

I first started making these a long time ago, but I couldn't find a good way of having them printed or of selling them online.  I started using Sellfy to sell resources online last month and realised that it would also be a good way to sell the Pocket Cards.  

So far I have finished two sets for Spanish and one set for French.  You can find out more here in my Sellfy store.

Samples and two free Pocket Cards are available on my website.

So how can you use the Pocket Cards?  I have laminated them, punched a hole in each (the hole is marked on each Card) and put them on a binder ring.  The idea is that children have the Cards as a reference on their desk to use during the lesson.  You could also stick individual cards into children's books or give them cards for home learning.  The best thing is that they are pocket sized, ideal for any language learners.

LinguaTALK Spanish

I mentioned over a year ago that I was working as an author for Mantra Lingua, the people that brought me the talking pen.  Well I have been writing a Key Stage 2 scheme for Spanish and French, and the Spanish is finished!

LinguaTALK Spanish is a series of 31 sound-enabled charts, whose sound you play using the PENpal, the successor of my original talking pen.  It's fully new-curriculum-compliant and is ideal for the non-specialist KS2 teacher as well as KS3 teachers who have Year 7s at lots of different levels.  Here's a little clip of one of the charts in action:

Each chart has a presentation layer, where teachers and children can listen to the new vocabulary and structures and practise them together.  Then each of them has "game layers" built in, which can be used with the whole class, or children can use them individually, in pairs or small groups.  It's something that children can use at any time, so useful when time on the timetable is at a premium.

All the Spanish is spoken by native speakers, so it's ideal for the "pronunciation and intonation" part of the new curriculum.  It also starts children off with reading and writing, building them up from simple word level to short texts at the end.  There is a Phonics chart, as well as two charts with information about Spain and the Spanish-speaking world.

The pack also contains an interactive whiteboard version of the charts, the software and paper with which to make talking minibooks and flashcards, and a sound-enabled bilingual dictionary.

I'm really pleased with the result - there's nothing quite like it on the market, and I hope you like it.