College hosts foreign languages seminar

The sixth form centre was the host for the large event after it became the hub for the North West Centre for Languages and Cultures (NWCLC) in partnership with Pembroke College, Oxford University.

The aim is to inspire budding linguists to pursue modern foreign languages at degree level and beyond.

Throughout the academic year, interested students will be able to access a creative and intellectually stimulating course of events hosted by experts in the field. As well as developing subject knowledge for those studying a language, the course aims to introduce students to a range of languages they are unlikely to have encountered previously, and to improve understanding of the utility of language skills in career development and intercultural appreciation.

At the launch event, the 90 students participated in their choice of two language workshops, delivered by researchers from Lancaster University and the University of Manchester. Students could opt to examine how the cultures of different countries are expressed through their music; Spanish students looked at contemporary Latin American music, whilst French students examined Edith Piaf and popular music in France.

There were also a range of workshops on offer to display how the world of languages opens up at degree level – some students had a taste of Chinese, Italian or Russian!

The students came together for a concluding lecture delivered by Eva Schultze-Berndt, professor of linguistics at Manchester University about some of the rarest of the estimated 6,500 languages spoken in the world, including little-known languages of Australia, Africa, and Papua New Guinea.