Ever wondered how to pronounce Irish names like Caoimhe, Tadhg, or Saoirse? Join The Language Centre for a fun and interactive Irish Language Taster Session designed to help international students and staff (as well as local attendees) get to grips with the unique sounds of Irish names!
Date: Wednesday, 2nd April 2025 Time: 13:00 AM – 14:00 Venue: Auditorium, McClay Library, QUB Entry: free, but spaces are limited! Secure your spot now.
Whether you’re an international student, staff member, or simply curious about the Irish language, this session will help you understand and confidently pronounce Irish names, deepening your appreciation of Ireland’s rich linguistic heritage.
Happy International Nowruz Day to all those who celebrate!
“Afghan people say Nawruz and Iranian people say Nowruz, which doesn’t make any difference. It’s mainly because of our accent.”
Zahra Rahimi
Zahra Rahimi, a Queen’s alumnus with MSc in Advanced Food Safety, has just sent us the festive greeting and directed us to the cultures of practice from her personal perspective.
Today marks the first day of our new year in the solar calendar, which many of us celebrate as Nawruz—meaning “New Day.” It’s a time of renewal, joy, and fresh beginnings.
I just wanted to take a moment to send you a note and share our warmest New Year wishes with you! May this year bring you happiness, good health, and success in everything you do.
What is Nowruz/Nawruz?
Nowruz, meaning the ‘new day’, has its spelling varying from country to country, marking the first day of spring (usually occurs on 21 March) and celebrated as the beginning of the new year by more than 300 million people across the globe, with over 3,000-year-long tradition of celebrations in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and other regions.
Nowruz is a rite dating back to at least the 6th century BCE, marking the new year and ushering in spring. Variously known as Novruz, Nowrouz, Nooruz, Navruz, Nauroz or Nevruz, this historic rite is observed on 21 March in many countries along the Silk Roads, including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
If you would like to learn more about the Nowruz/Nawruz culture, you are welcome to join the Iranian Association of Queen’s University celebration event coming on next Wednesday 26th March.
On Monday, 2nd December, Queen’s students (including graduates and visiting students), alumni, and staff came together to celebrate International Volunteer Day with an engaging information session aimed at encouraging greater participation in the Cultural Diversity at Queen’s scheme.
Part of the participants attended the end-of-session group photo.
The event opened with a welcome address by Suyi Yang, the Student Union (SU) Officer for Equality and Diversity, who introduced the SU’s volunteering programs and hosted a lively Q&A session to address participants’ questions.
Ms. Dan Zhou, a Queen’s alumna and Marketing graduate, shared her inspiring journey as an international student taking on voluntary work during her studies. She highlighted the diverse events and activities she supported and reflected on the invaluable soft skills she developed through her volunteer work, particularly in intercultural settings. Dan’s volunteering experience played a pivotal role in her entrepreneurial success, helping her establish her local Belfast-based business, Eco Fresh Food.
Dan (right in picture) was sharing her experience as a volunteer when at Queen’s.
Dr. Liang Wang followed with an overview of the Cultural Diversity at Queen’s scheme. He encouraged students and staff to contribute to upcoming initiatives designed to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion within the Queen’s community. To illustrate, Dr. Wang shared examples from previous Chinese New Year celebrations, offering participants inspiration for their involvement in the upcoming Year of the Snake celebrations.
The informal networking session provided a platform for attendees to exchange ideas, brainstorm, and even outline a few provisional proposals for future cultural events.
Participants enjoyed hot finger foods provided by The Language Centre and refreshments generously sponsored by Ms. Dan Zhou.
The event was a lively celebration of the Queen’s community’s collaborative spirit, fostering connections and generating enthusiasm for making cultural diversity a central part of campus life.
Every year on 5th December, the United Nations celebrates its Volunteers Programme, recognizing “the power of collective humanity to drive positive change through volunteerism.”
At The Language Centre at Queen’s, we take pride in offering volunteering opportunities for students and staff to contribute to our Cultural Diversity scheme. Each year, we collaborate with passionate individuals to develop initiatives that celebrate and enrich the University’s cultural diversity. Learn more about our efforts at Cultural Diversity at Queen’s page.
To mark this special occasion, we warmly invite you to join us for an information session celebrating International Volunteer Day. This session will feature updates on our programme with upcoming events, and new opportunities for voluntary involvement.
Event Details: Date: Monday 2nd December 2024 Time: 12:00 – 15:00 Venue: The Auditorium, McClay Library
The event is free, but booking is required on a first-come, first-serve basis. A light lunch will be provided. Feel free to bring along colleagues and friends who may be interested in attending. We look forward to celebrating with you and exploring how we can make a positive impact together!
Scan the QR code above or click the button below to register.
Holi, or the festival of colours, is a religious occasion considered the second biggest Hindu festival after Diwali, generally celebrated by people from the north of India. It marks the beginning of spring after a long winter and signifies the triumph of good over evil. To those who celebrate, may your Holi be full of colour, love and happiness!
While we would like to hear how the celebration is to take place in Queen’s community this year, we want to invite you to read the post from Ying, on her last year’s experience of joining this celebration with her Indian friends at Queen’s.
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.
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.
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.
Date: Wednesday, 2nd April 2025
Time: 13:00 AM – 14:00
Venue: Auditorium, McClay Library, QUB
Entry: free, but spaces are limited! Secure your spot now.
