Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) has signed a Letter of Co-operation Intent with the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban). The two bodies will work together to develop the understanding of the Chinese language and culture in Scotland. LTS will establish a number of Confucius Classrooms which will be dedicated to promoting the learning […]

Every two weeks on average, one of the 6,500 languages of the world vanishes with the death of its last elderly speakers, taking with it a wealth of cultural knowledge, experts say.
The Reuters website reports that, at a recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur, linguistic experts said the United States, Canada and Australia were the worse off, […]

A 10-year-old schoolboy has mastered 10 languages - and is busy learning his 11th, reports the Guardian website. As well as English, Arpan Sharma speaks Hindi, picked up from his parents, and has learned Spanish, Italian, German and French at school.
The primary school pupil has also taught himself to speak Thai, Swahili, Mandarin and Polish […]

Boosting young people’s enthusiasm for language learning has been identified as a priority for new networks of languages teachers in England.
This report on the CILT website says that almost half of the 355 Strategic Learning Networks (SLNs) working to improve language teaching and learning at Key Stage 3 have decided to focus on motivating learners […]

A formerly dyslexic taxi driver claims he has created a revolutionary system of learning Irish and other languages. The Smart Learning program patented by Pat Howe in conjunction with Dublin City University features an audio CD and pocket-sized memory cards.
Read this story on the Irish Times website.
Mr Howe (57), from Palmerstown, Dublin, claims the colour-coded […]

The head of the advisory body that oversees language policy in Quebec says it would be unethical for the government to impose the need to learn French on immigrants, reports the CBC news website.

As part of the Glasgow 2014 bid to host the Commonwealth Games, various resources have been produced for use with primary and secondary schools. The resources can be downloaded from the Glasgow 2014 website. The winning bid will be announced at a special ceremony on Friday 9 November with Glasgow and Abuja in Nigeria as […]

The draft outcomes for Curriculum for Excellence in modern foreign languages have been published.
You can read more in the MFLE’S Curriculum for Excellence section.
As well as our information on the draft outcomes and experiences and how you can use the MFLE to help embed them in your teaching, you can now ask our experts - Brian Templeton […]

Deutsch am Wochenende
Saturday, 17.11.2007, 10:00-16:30
Goethe-Institut, 3 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6AX
Fee: £55
Tel.: +44 141 332 25 55 language@glasgow.goethe.org
This course offers the chance to immerse yourself in the German language. The emphasis will be on spoken interaction, vocabulary consolidation and pronunciation as well as current developments in German society. Enrolment by 5 November.
Find out more: http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/gla/lrn/deu/int/en2476095.htm
Theatre […]

CILT, the National Centre for Languages, welcomes the announcement this week of a Diploma in Languages to be available to young people from September 2011.
A press release on the CILT website says:
‘The case for improving the position of languages in Key Stage 4 and through into higher education and employment is incontestable, and a subject-based […]