European Day of Languages: Our Favourite Day of the Year!
Although the 26th September falls on a Sunday this year, European Day of Languages is a great way to celebrate both the languages learnt in school, and those spoken by children at home. This year especially Walk with Amal is a great focus point for fostering an international celebration.
How to plan your celebration
European Day of Languages is a fabulous reason to set aside some time for a celebration of languages in your school. Whether you make it a half day or full day celebration, it is a really good reason to expand MFL learning from just what happens in class, and to celebrate the home languages of students.
A good way to make it feel like a real celebration is to involve a tried and tested favourite – food! You could get the kitchen staff involved, or just grab some croissants and pain au chocolat for an easier option.
Take full advantage of the return of the assembly and use the opportunity to sing a song. This year we have a new Sea Shanty song which you can find on the VLE, but there are loads more options from our past years’ celebrations.
Resources to help
If you’ve not already, Network members should take a look at our Seasonal Specials page on the VLE, where you can find a whole section of resources for European Day of Languages. This year’s theme focuses on Amal, and features activities and videos to fit with this.
Greetings are a really accessible way to introduce new languages for this day of celebration – under the 2019 section here, you will find resources detailing an international physical greetings activity, as well as one of our old favourites the Greetings Garden.
Our VLE also features a Try Another Language section, with nine different languages for your pupils to have a go at. Featuring basic language and audio support, this is a great resource which is perfect for this celebration.
The main thing to take from European Day of Languages is that language learning is fun! Use it as a chance for your pupils to get creative, and as always, please share what you all make with us on Twitter @network_primary.