Jan Lewandowski

The Language Show at Olympia (31st Oct)

The Language Show does not necessarily attract teachers from the Primary sector as it also features secondary, higher and business recruitment.  Nevertheless, as a regular visitor, I’ve noticed that gradually more exhibitors are offering resources for Primary.

Here is a selection (in alphabetical order) of just some of the exhibitors and resources that I came across; for a full list visit ……

The Basque Government had a stand; they have language brochures and badges are available which might be useful for Spanish/multi-lingual/language days or European Day of Languages.

BBC Active

The Primary French course Primary French is Fun 1 - Let’s Begin (age 7-11) has been updated with a new section to bring it into line with the QCA scheme of work.  It may be useful for all those schools who are busy finding resources to fit the scheme of work; it might save reinventing the wheel!  To be published very soon.

Beelingua

I was delighted to see that Val Thornber has a new resource about to be published which will replace ‘Little Tales of the Unexpected’

GrowStoryGrow is to be published in March and seems to tick an awful lot of boxes.  I chatted with Valerie Thornber, the author, for some time; this resource must have been a marathon effort and a real labour of love.  Here’s the summary from the Language Show catalogue:

‘GrowStoryGrow is our new multilingual, multi-themed, multi-skilled, multi-levelled and multi-storied website.  It is very simple to use: choose a language (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Urdu, Mandarin, Arabic), choose a story (The Plant Cycle, The Solar System, The Tudors), choose a level (there are four) and go.’

This resource could work on sorts of levels, nit least to complement the QCA SOW.  Watch this space for more information as it becomes available.

Bilingual Games

This company, which I think is new, is offering Français Snap which might be useful for odd moments outside normal lesson times or for wet play activities etc.  I’ve asked for samples to check the resource out for myself and to evaluate it for the classroom.

Brilliant Publications

I’ve been familiar with the resources produced by Brilliant Publications for a long time now; they have a broad catalogue of publications in French, German, Spanish and Italian, most of which are suitable for non-specialists in KS2.  They are one of the few publishers who have produced specific material for KS1; ‘J’aime parler’ and ‘J’aime chanter’  are useful and not too expensive.  They also avoid using the same material which you might want to use in KS2.

Chinese Made Easy

CME Books Europe are the producers of Chinese Made Easy for Kids series.
Sorry to say I know no Chinese but find the language and culture fascinating. The company can also supply posters, flashcards, DVDs, word cards and reward stickers; all of which might be useful for language days / European Day of Languages.

The Consejería De Educacíon

The Consejería  is becoming more geared up to Primary languages and provides online and CPD support resources, a good song CD, posters etc.  I’ve always found them very helpful, particularly for some of my festivals workshops.  The URL is certainly not the most catchy or obvious!  Here’s a contact name if that helps: isabel.mateos@mepsyd.es

European Schoolbooks Ltd

Had a very big stand at the Language Show where it was possible to browse an extensive collection of story books for KS2 MFL.  Most were for French still, but there was also an increased range for Spanish (for which there is a big demand) and other languages.  I’m a regular visitor at the European Bookshop (part of European Schoolbooks) in Warwick St., just off Regent St., in London; well worth a visit if you are in town.  European Schoolbooks seems to have pretty much cornered the market in importing foreign language story books for KS2; they also stock the titles and CDs etc that complements the Catherine Cheater schemes of work and the Jolie Ronde schemes of work for French and Spanish.

Some teachers don’t seem to realise that the books will complement most other schemes of work, and in particular the ‘Mon Ane’ DVD is a useful resource for anyone teaching French and is actually produced by Folimage.

I really recommend that teachers have a good look at story books before they buy to check that the language level is appropriate for their classes and for their own personal language level; buying books ‘cold’ can be very expensive.

I’ve run workshops in ‘Stories and Big Books’ and will be doing so again at the Comenius East Conference on 26th November.

More to follow ………………

On the 14^th of June, the ALL London meeting will be taking place at the Gœthe Institute. You can download a flyer here. I’ll be doing a half-hour session. The title is a bit of a secret just yet but suffice it to say that I shall be incorporating lost of hands on activities: doing, making and generally joining in. ALL is beginning to take a more active role in Primary languages and the Association has just brought out a Primary Box for Key Stage 1. I’m often asked about suitable resources for Key Stage 1 so I’m looking forward to having a look. I’m going to ask Helen Myers, this year’s President of ALL, if we can have an example of the Primary Box on display at the event.

Do come along if you live and work in the London area or elswhere in the country. There will be stimulating presentations from the British Film Institute and Glynnis Rumley; with ideas adaptable for all languages and all Key Stages.

I’ve been co-writing a day course for AQA (enter Primary Languages - CPD in the subject box) which we will be presenting in June and July. It isn’t really intended for primary schools that are up and running with MFL but for those schools that have yet to start and need help and advice to get it in place for 2010. Here’s an advance flyer.

Please pass the flyer on to anyone who might be interested or contact me if you’d like further details.

I came across this little song video today from French theatre company Les2vents

If there is a problem with buffering go straight to YouTube.

My last post should, of course, have included catalan as a tag! I’ve rectified that now.

I’ve enjoyed many visits to Catalunya and although Spanish gets me by it’s always interesting to compare and contrast the two languages.

You can get a free, comprehensive and beautifully illustrated Catalan language guide called `Vocabulari en imatges‘ from the Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de la Presidencia, Secretaria de Politica Linguistica. You can download it, complete with multilingual translations, directly from the site or email spl.presidencia@gencat.net direct to obtain the paper version. Worth it!

You can also get a Catalan verb wheel, if you are so inclined, from www.llull.ca

I got my book and verb wheel from The Language Show last November, look out for yours next year.

The new Astérix film comes out soon. I really like the trailer; it has quite a bit going for it- humour, history, a bit of Latin, animal vocab, you could even explain `testudo’. This clip from Youtube has sub-titles:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PNT1LVZkNc but you will also find it on the site without.

Could be useful in class as an intro to `les bandes dessinées’ in general or to Astérix in particular.

You might be interested to know that a production of Jungle Book in French is being staged at the Shaw Theatre, London on Saturday19^th January:

`Date : samedi 19 janvier
Heure : 14h15 et 16h30
Lieu : Shaw Theatre, 100-110 Euston Road, Londres NW1 2AJ
Métro : Kings Cross - Euston
Prix : de £27.50 à £38.50
Renseignements : 0870 033 2600 ou www.theshawtheatre.com ‘

I rang earlier to check on availability and suitability and was told that there are tickets available and that the 2 matinee shows are suitable for primary children with very little French as it is `a particularly visual production’. I was also told that tickets are £25 and £30 with £5 reduction for children; as this doesn’t tally with prices above, I suggest anyone interested checks all details for themselves.

I ran a whole-school event this month with my colleague Lisa Nickell-Lean at Sutton on the Forest primary school in North Yorkshire for all Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children.

On the day we had stories, sang songs, ate French food, played games and bought ice creams.

Some children who had never done languages before got a real sense of achievement when they learnt how to buy ice creams, ready for their summer holidays - some of them even paid in Euros for the first time.

I’ve spent a few days in Brussels where I added to my collection of children’s story books at Bibliopolis which is one of my regular haunts in Brussels and where you can find the most amazing bargains sourced I imagine from bankrupt stock, publishers’ remainders, etc.

En route for home I spent a very interesting day at Ashcombe School with Helen Myers and Jenny Clark. I already knew that Ashcombe provided a high level of support for primary languages but, being curious, I wanted to see for myself exactly what they did so I went along to one of their information days. Helen Myers , very well known in MFL circles and President Elect of ALL and Jenny Clark (primary outreach teacher) were really welcoming and gave us a very thorough overview of what they do there. I was very impressed; this a model of good practice that should be shared by every SLC. We were even taken to visit some of the feeder primaries so that we could see the French teaching in action, which I thought was really generous of the schools and teachers involved.

Karen Pearce (from Newham LA) and myself are busy planning the workshop we’re going to be doing at the Primary Languages Show, organised by CILT, in Manchester (16th & 17th March 07).

We’re planning a very active, hands-on and multi-sensory approach based on a couple of well-known stories including Handa’s Surprise (La Surprise de Handa / La Sorpresa de Handa) published by Mantra Lingua with whom I have worked in some language posters for the Talking Pen. As the Mantra Lingua books are bi-lingual (French & English) I’ve actually produced some monolingual caption overlays in French and simplified it slightly so that it can be read entirely in French. Contact me if you would like me to send you a copy of my captions.