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.
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.
To celebrate the coming International Students Day, we, The Language Centre and Queen’s International Student Society (QISS), would like to host a special Tandem Language Exchange event and welcome all international and home students to join the celebration. Staff members are also welcome!
Date: Friday 17/11/2023 Time: 13:00-15:00 Venue: Auditorium, The McClay Library
On the day participants will be able to attend information sessions on the TLE programme and QISS activities, greeting and meeting key members from QISS and Student Experience Team, as well as networking with each other for language partnership and friendship development.
Feel free to bring along your QUB colleagues and friends. Tea and coffee with light refreshments will be served.
For more information and registration, scan the QR code above, or visit TLE page. To view other language and cultural events, please visit Cultural Diversity at Queen’s.
Calling all students and staff members who are keen to boost language exchanges!
Following the initial Tandem Language Exchange (TLE) meeting last Friday (13/10), the second TLE meeting is set for this Friday (20/10) from 1 pm to 3 pm, at the Auditorium, McClay Library.
All welcome and bring your friends/colleagues along! If you have not registered for the TLE programme yet, please remember to sign up for it before coming to attend, which will facilitate your access onsite.
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.
The date of 5 May was officially established in 2009 by the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) – an intergovernmental organization that has been in official partnership with UNESCO since 2000, and which brings together peoples with the Portuguese language as one of the foundations of their specific identity – to celebrate the Portuguese language and Lusophone cultures. In 2019, the 40th session of UNESCO’s General Conference decided to proclaim 5 May of each year as “World Portuguese Language Day”.
On this special day, Isabella Souza McLaughlin, a graduate intern at Queen’s Global Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions, shared with us her thoughts and feelings of having a Portuguese-speaking identity.
English version
May 5th is World Portuguese Language Day. The Portuguese language is widespread with speakers across all continents and is an official language in nine countries, including Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Timor Leste, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cabo Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe. Additionally, Portuguese is the most widely spoken language in the southern hemisphere.
My name is Isabella and I am Irish-Brazilian. Being Brazilian, speaking Portuguese is part of my daily life. Speaking Portuguese allows me to communicate with my family and friends in Brazil, watch Brazilian movies, read books and listen to Brazilian music. Not only that, speaking Portuguese further helps me learn and understand other languages as Portuguese is rooted in Latin, alongside Italian, Spanish and French. If you listen closely, you may hear similar words spoken in these languages.
How can you get involved in World Portuguese Language Day? Here are some examples:
1. Learn the language: Here at Queen’s University Belfast, the Language Centre has classes in Portuguese (European) and Portuguese (Brazilian). You will be surprised to discover how many words you already know in Portuguese! Such as: Olá, tchau, cobra, açaí, mosquito, samba.
2. Visit a Portuguese-speaking country: If you visit Brazil, with its beautiful nature and delicious food, you will be enchanted by Brazilian culture.
3. Watch movies and listen to music from Portuguese-speaking countries.
Portuguese version
5 de maio Dia Mundial da Língua Portuguesa. O português é uma das línguas que se expandiu no período colonial europeu. Hoje é a língua oficial de 9 países divididos entre Europa, América, África e Ásia.
O maior expoente em termos de extensão territorial e número de falantes é o Brasil. Além disso, é a língua mais falada no hemisfério sul. Porém, o idioma tem status oficial em Angola, Moçambique, Guiné-Bissau, Timor Leste, Guiné Equatorial, Macau, Cabo Verde e São Tomé e Príncipe.
Meu nome é Isabella, sou natural da Irlanda, filha de mãe brasileira e portanto o português faz parte do meu dia a dia, pois em casa minha mãe fala português, também meus tios do Brasil e amigos. Gosto de ler livros, assistir filmes e ouvir música brasileira. Falar português ajuda muito a aprender e entender outros idiomas, pois tem origem no latim, italiano, espanhol e francês, se prestar atenção veremos muita semelhança em palavras nesses idiomas.
Portanto comemorar esse Dia Mundial da Língua Portuguesa é aprender e se surpreender com as palavras conhecidas como: olá, tchau, cobra, açaí, mosquito, samba… Visitar o Brasil com sua beleza natural e sua culinária deliciosa é encantar-se não só com as palavras é também conhecer através de filmes e músicas a riqueza de um país encantador.
Happy Tamil New Year to our QUB Tamil Society and those who celebrate it at Queen’s and elsewhere!
The Tamil Society is a newly ratified Society at Queen’s and they are eager to help a wider audience of students and staff members to get to know their unique culture. Hema from the Society has enthusiastically introduced the Tamil New Year celebration to us.
Tamil Society at the QUB Qulture Roadshow 2023. Image credit: Liang Wang
Tamil New Year, also known as Puthandu (“Puthu” – new; “Andu” – year), is celebrated by Tamils across the world. Falling around the 14th or 15th of April every year, it is a festival not just limited to the Indian subcontinent but is widely celebrated in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, and more. It marks the beginning of the Tamil calendar year and is considered an auspicious occasion when we pay respect to our elders seeking their blessing to mark a new cycle for good fortune and prosperity. On the day, we use the greeting ‘Puthandu Nalvalthukal” which literally translates to “Happy New Year”. Homes are cleaned and preparations are made for the event on the previous day.
There is an important custom that is part of the traditional celebration which is “Kani”. This is where various items such as fruits, betel leaves, gold jewellery, money, flowers and a mirror are arranged on a tray in the prayer room. This is the first thing members of the household will look at when they wake up the next day so as to bring auspiciousness and prosperity for the new year.
Image credit: Hema
Traditionally, on New Year day priests in temple will prepare “Maruthu Neer” which is water that has been boiled with various fragrant herbs, flowers, and leaves. This water is then placed on heads of all family members during their bath. This ritual is believed to wash away all the negative energies from the previous year and bring in positive energy for the new one. After taking the bath, the New Year is celebrated by wearing new clothes, and particularly traditional Tamil clothes. The entrance of houses is decorated with mango leaves and kolams (made of powdered rice flour). We also offer prayers to God and our ancestors seeking blessings for a prosperous year ahead.
As with all festivals, food always plays an integral part in Tamil New Year. A hearty vegetarian feast is traditionally prepared, alongside a very important dish – Mangai Pachadi – a dish made with raw mango. This dish is believed to represent “Arusuvai” or a variety of tastes (e.g. sweet, astringent, sour, bitter and spicy) to represent a new year that should be filled with all tastes or flavors of life.
In a world that is so fast paced and impermanent, Tamil New Year is a time for new beginnings and hope. It is an occasion to forget the past and look forward to a brighter future. The traditions and customs associated with the festival not only bring joy and happiness but also foster unity and harmony amongst family and friends.
We would also like to send our best wishes to those who are celebrating their New Years (Bengali / Cambodian / Hindu / Lao / Myanmar / Nepali / Thai) on/around the same day.
You are welcome to write posts on your own cultures and contribute them to our celebrating Cultural Diversity at Queen’s for sharing.
Bonjour! Did you know today, the 20th March, is the UN French Language Day? Joyeuse journée de la langue Française !
On this special day, Manon Merle, a French student doing Politics at Queen’s School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, shared with us her experience of coming to study at Queen’s with her language exchange needs.
I am Manon, a French native speaker studying at Queen’s as an Erasmus student. And there are quite a few Erasmus students from France like me studying on campus! We are very eager to get to know you!
In my home university in France I study political science and am going to apply for a master in the ecological transition. I have decided to study abroad in Belfast mostly to improve my skills in English, to discover new people, a new city, a new culture and a new educational system. Many other French students have the same idea as I have, and we hope to contribute to Queen’s as a vibrant French-speaking community. As I hope this experience here to help me with my English, I recently signed up for the Tandem Language Exchange programme. So, I’ll be happy to promote my native language as well as to learn other languages from you!
To learn French (or the other languages) with us Language Centre, visit www.qub.ac.uk/lc (or scan the QR code) and sign up for the classes which will commence week beginning Monday 24 April 2023.
To find a language partner for language exchange, visit Tandem Language Exchange (TLE) programme. The coming TLE session is scheduled on Wed 22 March between 11:00 and 12:00 at the Training Room 2, McClay Library.
