Happy Friday! What a bustling first week of language courses! We hope you’ve all had a great start to your language learning journey.
For QUB students and staff, don’t forget that if you’re looking for additional or alternative practice opportunities, you can join the Tandem Language Exchange programme to find a language partner.
It’s easy — just sign up, match up, and meet up! Visit TLE page (https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/lc/learning-support/tle/) or scan the QR code in the image for more information and to register. Our next event is scheduled for Friday 18th October, from 1:30 to 2:30 PM at the Auditorium, McClay Library.
Irish Language and Cultural Celebrations @Queen’s Ceiliúradh Teanga agus Cultúrtha @Ollscoil na Ríona
The Language Centre team are delighted to invite you to join us in celebrating SEACHTAIN NA GAEILGE 2024. All events below are open to all QUB students and staff and are free to attend. If you would like to attend any of these events, please do register so that we can monitor registration numbers.
Tuesday 5th March: 12.30pm-1.30pm
Our Tráth na gCeist/Quiz gets Seachtain na Gaeilge underway here at Queen’s. Questions will be General Knowledge and will be asked as Gaeilge/in Irish. Teams will be provided with an Irish speaker, if required. Places are limited, so please book early.
Wednesday 6th March: 10.00am Scoil an Droichid will celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge with us, as they visit the QFT to enjoy the Irish Language version of ‘Puffin Rock And The New Friends’.
Wednesday 6th March: 2.30pm Acclaimed Irish Language film, Tarrac, comes to the QFT as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024. This film is subtitled in English and is Rated 15. Seating is limited, so please book early.
Thursday 7th March: 12.30pm-1.45pm Dr. Fionntán de Brún, Professor of Modern Irish in Maynooth University and Award-winning Creative Writer, guides us on a bilingual walk & talk around Queen’s and the surrounding area, exploring the history behind our local place names.
Tuesday 12th March: 12.30pm-1.30pm Yoga Instructor, Nuala Ní Scolláin, guides us through a Yoga class…in Irish! Suitable for all levels of Yoga and Irish! Very limited spaces.
Wednesday 13th March: 1.00pm-2.00pm We are teaming up with Queen’s Campus Run during University Wellbeing Week for a Run/Walk…in Irish! Get your steps and your ‘cúpla focal’ in one go! Choose your own distance…and pace!
Thursday 14th March: All day (9.00am-4.00pm) ‘Comhrá-thon’ is a day-long conversation…in Irish! We invite you to join us as we keep the conversation flowing throughout the day @Junction Café.
‘Comhrá-thon’ will conclude with our ‘Ciorcal Comhrá’, where we invite everyone for refreshments, music, and chat as Gaeilge/in Irish!
Email mark.harte@qub.ac.uk with your preferred 30-minute slot and the names of those taking part.
This annual observance, which takes place on 21st February every year, is a celebration of cultural and linguistic diversity.
This afternoon, our Language Centre team joined the celebration of multilingualism at the launch of a new Staff Network for Promoting Linguistic Diversity & Minority Languages. This well-attended event is a wonderful celebration of a belief in the power of language to connect people. Preserving, respecting and learning languages is so important for building tolerance and empathy in our divided world.
Language – A Bridge; Not a Barrier!
Don’t forget that registration opens for our Spring term courses on 1st March, via our Language Centre Website.
The Language Centre 2nd semester classes kick off today Monday 15th and wish all the learners a great start!
Tandem Language Exchange activities restart from this Wednesday 17th January. All Queen’s students and staff members are welcome to attend TLE events throughout the academic year, whether they sign up for the language courses or not.
For those who sign up for both, it can be complementary way to develop your language skills with a potential language partner, with whom you can work with a buddy from another culture for mutual support. For those who are unable to attend a language class, perhaps joining our TLE will be a viable option for you to keep your flame of enthusiasm burn.
As the world commemorates World Arabic Language Day on December 18th, we are pleased to have Wejdan, a PhD student who speaks Arabic as her native language, to reflect on the richness of the Arabic language.
My name is Wejdan, and as a proud Saudi, the Arabic language is a source of identity, which serves as a foundation of Saudi culture and heritage. Arabic is poetic and has been cherished for centuries, with a rich literature, science, philosophy, and religion history. It is a language that exhibits diversity in dialects and accents across Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is home to several dialects, reflecting the country’s diverse geography and cultural heritage, making Saudi Arabia so vibrant and captivating.
You will notice a palm-shaped bookmark in the photo. This palm is a symbol deeply rooted in my culture, representing generosity and hospitality. It serves as a reminder of the values we hold dear as Saudis and the warm welcome we extend to others.
In my pursuit of embracing cultural diversity and expanding my language skills, I have recently joined the Language Center activities. I am excited to start this journey, exploring other languages like Japanese. The book in the photo above is an Arabic handbook to learning the Japanese language, exemplifying the bridge between cultures and the pursuit of knowledge.
Let us appreciate the power and beauty of the Arabic language together. World Arabic Language Day is such a chance to promote cross-cultural exchange and understanding.
Learn Arabic, attend cultural events, discover traditional arts and crafts, and interact with Arab people.
Sign up for a Language Centre course
Click here to visit the Language Centre website for more course information and registration.
Registration will close on Thursday 11 January at 5pm and classes will commence week beginning Monday 15 January. We recommend that you register early to avoid disappointment.
On Monday 4th December, one day before the International Volunteer Day (5th December), The Language Centre invited students and staff members to join in the celebration of the day, with a particular information session on the Queen’s Chinese New Year Celebration programme for 2024.
Students and staff members, international and domestic, are all welcome to join us and be more engaged in the preparation for the development and delivery of events and activities that can bring together to enrich our proposed programme. The CNY Celebration Programme, as part of the overall Celebrating Cultural Diversity at Queen’s scheme, currently contains a number of events in collaboration with the iRISE (BAME and International Staff Network), The Graduate School, The Student Experience Team, and the Chinese Student Society at Queen’s.
We are pleased to make it inclusive as such and extend our welcomes to new partners and contributors. In particular, we are pleased that Chinese Student Society has made tremendous effort to bring the branded CNY Gala back to the stage (Saturday 3rd February), and that the Student Experience Team and the Graduate School are joining forces in facilitating the student-led CNY Fair (Thursday 8th February). Please mark the dates in your calendar and keep an eye on our further updates in the future.
We particularly welcome students and staff members to volunteer at our events, in a variety of forms including being an assistant, a performer, a host, a speaker, etc. Two student volunteers, Xinxin WANG and Tianpeng YAO, were also invited to share their experience of volunteering both at Queen’s, including serving last year’s CNY celebrations, and else where. They encouraged all new comers to embrace such a brilliant opportunity to not only enrich their life experience but also enhance their soft skills such as team work and coordinating ability, apart from their academic study and literacy.
How to join us?
For those who are interested in being part of our programme preparation team, please sign up via scanning the QR code or clicking the button below. We aim to discuss with you regarding your proposed ideas and plans of contribution to the Programme.
“The International Day of Friendship was proclaimed in 2011 by the UN General Assembly with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.
The resolution places emphasis on involving young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.”
At Queen’s, we have seen friendship developing in many ways, one of which is through joining our Tandem Language Exchange (TLE) programme. As Luisa, a German student in exchange of her language for Mandarin Chinese with Lingzhu, said, “What started off as a language partnership soon turned into a real friendship and apart from learning German and Chinese we also go running together and spend time as friends.”
While it is quiet on campus during the summer break, those who are keen to develop their language skills through TLE can still maintain their language partnership onsite or online. The new round of TLE events will begin after the new academic year starts, so enjoy your summer time (and with old friends) and be prepared to look for new language partners starting from October 2023.
This event also celebrates the mid-summer season with a taste of the cultures that Queen’s students and staff members brought together. Light lunch will be provided.
Date: Thursday 22nd June 2023 Time: 12:00 – 14:00 Venue: Junction area, Main Site Tower / Peter Froggatt Centre, QUB
On Thursday 22 June, Queen’s staff and students came together for a social and wellbeing event, jointly organised by the Language Centre and Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network.
The event included traditional Chinese music on the guzheng, a Taiji martial arts demonstration, as well as various stalls showcasing calligraphy (Persian and Chinese), Indonesian culture, Chinese games, and the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival.
You are all most welcome to join us on Thursday 25th May at 12 noon in The Harty Room, QUB School of Music, when we will be joined by celebrated musician, Eric Bibb. During this lunchtime concert, Eric will perform a number of his popular songs as well as sharing stories from his experiences of playing music and collaborating with other musicians from across the globe.
Eric will be interviewed by Thomas Smith, from the Language Centre at Queen’s. This musical event falls at the beginning of UNESCO Africa week, 2023 and Eric will also be reflecting on the influence of his time in Africa recording and collaborating with local musicians.
This promises to be a wonderful event, and with limited availability, we encourage anyone that is keen to attend to register now in order to avoid disappointment.
This event is free to attend. To register to attend this event, please complete the following form.
To celebrate this special Day (21st May), The Language Centre and The Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network would like to invite you to view our posts and reports in the past months on a variety of events that were hosted at Queen’s, broadly with the theme of cultural diversity being shined out.
To help us celebrate cultural diversity as inclusive as possible, you are welcome to let us know the various festivals or days of cultural significance to your native culture that are not yet added to the calendar by completing the survey form embedded.
The coming TLE session will be on Wed 24th May, at the Training Room 2, McClay Library. Queen’s students and staff members who are looking to get some language practice and intercultural exchange are very welcome to attend it. Sign up now if you have not done so yet.
