Happy (belated) European Day of Languages 2022!

26th September marks the European Day of Languages, an event which has been celebrated every year since 2001 by the Council of Europe and European Commission.

Photo by Christian Lue on Unsplash

The day is designed to celebrate and promote linguistic and cultural diversity across Europe, a continent which is home to 24 official languages, but in which over 200 languages are actually spoken!

The European Centre for Modern Languages (Council of Europe) have put together some fantastic resources for the occasion, which can be used in the classroom, at home, or just for personal enjoyment! These range from posters to challenges to jokes and quotes. You can have a look for yourself here.

We particularly love these posters which show some amazing facts about languages in Europe and across the world! They are also available in various languages at the link above.

Taken from the ECML website – download your own here!

What will you do to celebrate European Day of Languages 2022? You could:

  • Watch a foreign-language film (with subtitles)
  • Read a book or article in a foreign language or in translation
  • Learn a few phrases of a new language
  • Send a message to a friend in another language and see how they respond!
  • Try/cook some food from another culture that has always intrigued you
  • Have a look at the resources we’ve linked to above!

Happy celebrating! Bonne fêtes! ¡Felices Fiestas! Schöne Ferien!

Prismatic Jane Eyre Schools Project: Resources

The Prismatic Jane Eyre Schools Project (2021–2022) has now come to a close. This was an AHRC-funded joint project between the University of Oxford and the Stephen Spender Trust.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Jane-eyre-1024x244.jpg
Image taken from the Stephen Spender Trust website

On 30 September 2021 — International Translation Day — the nationwide competition was launched. Entrants were asked to compose a poem in a language other than English inspired by a selected passage from Jane Eyre. The competition accepted submissions in any language, and 136 entries were received in 26 languages — including Sindarin, a form of Elvish devised by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Up to 100 entries to the competition have been included in an anthology, which will be published online and in print in September 2022.

The Project drew on translation as an educational tool to explore how Charlotte Brontë’s classic novel has been translated since its publication in 1847 and how its plots and themes can be used as a springboard for new creative works. It comprised of three core activities: a series of translation workshops; a nation-wide translation competition (as mentioned above); and a bank of resources for teachers and pupils.  

The bank of resources aims to allow more young people to enjoy creative translation activities based on Jane Eyre. Initially developed to support entries to the competition, these resources now provide a lasting legacy for the Project.  

Three types of resources are available: 

  1. A handout that outlines an approach to creating a poem from a passage of prose (all languages) 
  2. PowerPoint workshops for teachers to deliver in school with accompanying worksheets (Arabic, French, Polish, Spanish) 
  3. Pupil-led activity worksheets (Arabic, French, Polish, Spanish). 

The Project’s resources are available here and here. To accompany these resources, we’ve created a short video explaining what creative translation is, and why it’s important. The video is available to view below.  

Prismatic Jane Eyre: Translators’ Video

MFL Teachers’ Mailing List Prize Draw

MFL Teachers! There’s still time to sign up to our mailing list for a chance to win £100 worth of vouchers for your school!

Here in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, one of our goals this year is to improve our reach and develop links with more MFL teachers and schools across the country. We would love for more teachers and pupils to get involved in the MFL activities and events we run throughout the school year, in the hope of encouraging more and more pupils to continue with their language learning to GCSE and beyond.

Photo by Nastya Dulhiier on Unsplash

With this aim in mind, we have decided to run a prize draw for new sign ups to our mailing list! All new contacts will be automatically entered into our prize draw for new sign ups, which offers the chance to win £100 worth of vouchers for their MFL department. The form for new sign ups can be found here.

In addition, if you refer an MFL colleague to our mailing list, you will be automatically entered into our ‘referrers’ prize draw, also for £100 worth of vouchers for your department! Your colleague(s) just needs to mention your name and school while signing up, and we will take care of the rest. Therefore, we would be very grateful if you could also spread the word far and wide to your colleagues, teacher friends, and networks! (Do make sure to remind colleagues to include your details when signing up so you can be entered into our ‘referrers’ prize draw.)

A few extra details: Multiple MFL Teachers from the same school can sign up as new contacts or recommend colleagues (in order to be entered into our ‘referrers’ prize draw), to increase a school’s chance of winning. Please note, however, that the same school cannot win both prize draws. In the unlikely case that teachers from the same school are selected for both prizes, the second prize will be redrawn.

The deadline to enter the prize draw is 10am on Tuesday 20th September. We will be announcing the winners of both draws at our annual MFL Teachers’ Conference, taking place on 23-24 September. Winners will be notified via email the week commencing 26 September.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk if you have any questions or concerns.

We look forward to welcoming lots of you to our ever-growing network of wonderful MFL teachers!

SPANISH FLASH FICTION 2022: THE HIGHLY COMMENDED ENTRIES (Y12-13, PART 2)

Following the publication of the winning and runner up entries, we are excited to present the first set of highly commended entries for the Year 12-13 category of this year’s Spanish Flash Fiction competition!

A huge well done to all our highly commended entrants! Without further ado, ¡venga, vamos!

La libertad, por fin

Photo by Oscar Ivan Esquivel Arteaga on Unsplash

Para Esteban, la vida en la cárcel fue un alivio. Por la primera vez en su vida, no tenía responsabilidades. Sin alquiler. Sin seguro de coche. Nada de pasear al perro. Nada de problemas. Ahora, Esteban era feliz y libre. Aún más, estaba libre de Paula. Había llevado demasiados años para que él se dé cuenta del prisionero que había sido en el exterior. Y aunque la prisión fuera severa para sus amigos, Esteban conocía la verdad del adagio: las circunstancias extremas exigen medidas extremas. Además, estaría fuera en unos años, y solo él sabía dónde estaba enterrado el dinero.

Aarav Ganguli, Year 12

Photo by Darinka Kievskaya on Unsplash

Atrapada

Me persiguió por la habitación con una expresión furiosa y un comportamiento aterrador. Corrí por cada rinconcito, siempre un paso por delante de los monstruosos gritos que salían de su boca. Como si estuviera en una misión para capturar a un ladrón, continuó mirando con esa mirada de fuego. “Te atraparé”, dijo. De repente saltando sobre mí como un guepardo capturando a su presa, me levantó. Su rostro estaba contorsionado por la ira y el estrés, mirando mis ojos inocentes con los suyos llameantes.
“Toto, Estas mal comportada” y “dejalo” me regañó.
Creo que quitaré los trajes de mi lista de juguetes para masticar.


Marina Michelli-Marsden, Year 12

Photo by Jay Mantri on Unsplash

Monumento

Ninguna luz podía llegar al bosque. El sol se oscureció y luego
desapareció por completo- tan mucho que dudas de que hubiera estado
allí en absoluto. En cada árbol colosal se talló un nombre, estiramiento
alrededor del tronco como un niño extiende sus brazos alrededor de su
madre, desesperada por la seguridad que aporta. La madre naturaleza
se preocupa por ellos ahora. En este monumento a los muertos sin
duelo por las mentes humanas, sus nombres la estropean
permanentemente mientras asume la carga de su recuerdo. Otra caída;
otro crece, y los esconde.
Sus nombres la queman. Llora. Cura.

Libby Rock, Year 12

Los navíos del Mundo Nuevo 

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash

Habíamos visto fuegos en el aire, fantasmas y espíritus. Dioses benévolos siempre habían venido del agua inconmensurable. Y por eso, reímos cuando vimos los navíos, navegados por barbaros. Caras sucias, barbas largas. Piel increíblemente blanca. Una neblina de sondeo indescifrable.

Se acercaron. Un enjambre, encerrado en metal. Continuamente se tocaban sus cabezas, sus corazones y sus hombros. ¿Un lenguaje? Cuando copiamos su ademán, cayeron de rodillas y lloraron.

Repitieron algo una y otra vez.

Mis labios se contorsionaron en formas extrañas, y dije “Ah-or-a, so-is Cri-stia-nos”

Cuando vieron nuestros pendientes, oí la emisión ‘oro’.

Todavía no sabía lo que significaba.

Anna Couzens, Year 12

Photo by Espen Bierud on Unsplash

La Retirada

Con una sonrisa tenue brilla el tono ópalo de la luz de la luna, compartiendo su cielo con las estrellas llorosas, solo separados por el vacío interminable de la galaxia. Pequeñas hogueras iluminan las montañas con un resplandor infernal y atrevido, y los dedos largos de la llama exponen las caras vacías de los que huyen. Con los pies tan entumecidos como sus corazones, el dolor de su pasado brilla como lágrimas en los ojos. Agarrando sus chales y abrigos, intentan en vano, amainar el lacerante frío y batallan contra las garras de la muerte.


Matilda Lawson, Year 12

¡ Felicidades a todos!

********

MFL Teachers – don’t forget! You can:

  • Sign up to our mailing list here to get updates about our schools events and activities, and for a chance to win £100 of vouchers for your department;
  • Learn more about and book on to our MFL Teachers’ Conference (23-24 September) here.

    Any questions: contact us at schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk