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 ………………

Colleagues who are planning school visits to France may be interested to
know about the `Happy Packs’ that are available from the Eurotunnel desk
inside the Eurotunnel terminal. They contain stickers, pencil, coloured
pencils, activity book, pairs game, other games, word search and a postcard.

All of the activities are easy and suitable for KS2 age range.

All instructions are in both French and English and the pack is free of charge.
Contents and activities vary from year to year, so, with luck, the children won’t get the same pack on subsequent visits.

I have been told that it is not possible to order the packs in advance
therefore they have to be collected by children or staff on the day from the
desk. It seems a pity that teachers can’t build these packs into their
planning for the trip; nevertheless they are worth having if you can get
them and should certainly occupy the children for the length of time they
are actually in the Tunnel!

We’re getting to that stage in the year where schools are beginning to organise Language Days.You can’t have a Language Day without appropriate food and drink. I’ve mentioned before that Aldi often have foreign specialities, I’ve certainly bought Greek, Spanish and Italian in the past and I’m sure they offer other goodies.

From today, LIDL have French specialities on offer; you may have to get there quickly as the offer usually only lasts for a week and they don’t always have big stocks. Here are some of the products that I found there: croque monsieur, jambon de Bayonne, pommes noisette, tarte flambée, palets Bretons and several more. They are actually made in France so I guess they are authentic and some things are either frozen or have a long shelf life …….. well worth a look!

You just can’t help but notice that French handwriting looks different to the style of handwriting we have in this country. You may well have put this down to the type of lined paper that they have in their exercise books but there is a lot more to it than that.

Graphisme is what it is all about, a concept that is particularly difficult to explain in just a few words. Fortunately Teachers’ TV has just produced a video all about it and what’s more it is in mainly in French (with sub-titles):

www.teachers.tv/video/24021

Excellent viewing which explains a lot about the French Education system by taking you into the classroom.

Incidentally cheap French exercise books, bought in the hypermarket, make great prizes in our classrooms and children sometimes enjoy practising `French’ handwriting. You can even purchase pre-printed books of exercises which parents in France buy to help their children with graphisme.

All good for inter-cultural understanding !

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.