2nd December 2022
RCC joins 12,000 TY students nationwide celebrating #ThinkLanguages 2022
#ThinkLanguages 2022 was bigger than ever and brought a celebration of languages and cultures to 150 schools nationwide on 21st November. Transition year students right across the country have been preparing for the event for weeks, and with the help of the Languages Connect team, they spent the day immersing themselves in languages and cultures from across the world. Through a combination of supports for TY students, Modern Foreign Languages teachers brought foreign languages to life in their schools.
Now in its fifth year, the Languages Connect flagship event has grown in popularity and there were more than double the number of schools taking part in 2022 compared to last year’s event. With the new localised school format , #ThinkLanguages is now held nationally with students and their teachers asked to ‘Think Global, Act Local’ and explore the languages spoken by those in their school and local community, as well as further afield. The events are tailor-made by each school. The students enjoyed getting a chance to take ownership of their own event.
A pre-recorded opening ceremony and 25 pre-recorded online workshops in a variety of languages and levels of ability were provided to all registered schools. Everything from Portuguese and Capoeira, Chinese, Japanese, Danish, Arabic Belly Dancing and Russian and Ballet were enjoyed on the day.
Live workshops included Arabic with Mr Hounat, Latvian with Daniela and Italian cuisine with Marina and Marco.
As an awareness raising campaign, facilitated by Post-Primary Languages Ireland, Languages Connect aims to highlight the personal, social, professional and economic benefits of language learning. Students taking part in #ThinkLanguages are encouraged to think about the global work opportunities, as well as the wider circle of friends and the richer life experiences that foreign language skills can offer them. They are also encouraged to appreciate diversity of languages spoken both globally and locally within their own school.
Thanks to Ms Shanley, Ms Dennigan, Ms Hoare and Mr Mannion for coordinating this event.
