If you’re looking for European Day of Languages ideas, use this resource to explore and celebrate the multicultural and multilingual nature of Europe…
Europe is, and always has been, a truly global continent with an incredible cultural and linguistic diversity. Use this resource from Pearson to explore the huge impact of the Arabic language and culture on Spain and the Spanish language, dating back to the 10th century.
Students can use the included worksheet to match Spanish words to their Arabic origin word and their English translation.
They will then need to match French slang phrases to the standard French phrase and its English translation. The French phrases use French slang originating in Arabic.
The final task involves quotes from real-life graffiti in German, showing examples of Kiezdeutcsh (a type of slang German, influenced by other languages such as Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic). Can your students use their knowledge of German and other languages (including slang) to work out or guess the meaning?
European Day of Languages ideas
Also included in the download is a European Day of Languages PowerPoint, featuring a range of pick and mix activities to help you celebrate language diversity.
Dip into the pick and mix language activities as starters, stand-alone activities or for a whole lesson. Some activities may also be suitable for flipped learning or homework.
All answers are provided after each activity. Keep track of student scores if you want to find and reward an overall class winner.
As part of its work to shine a light on the complete and often complicated history behind the growth of languages, Pearson has partnered with leading language educators and leaders to address ‘diversifying the MFL curriculum’.
