Languages For All

By Haider Janjua

Bonjour!!
Comment ça va? Moi, ça va bien.

I have always been interested in learning about different cultures and love travelling. And how great is it if you can speak the language too + you can also use it as a secret language (for that you will have to force your friends to learn as well).  So as I told you earlier about the wonderland that is the countless emails we get, I came to know about Languages for all.

So if you want to learn a language but you don’t have unrestricted module choice in your course and you haven’t already enrolled in a language module, you can learn a new language without any extra charges. Yes you heard it right, ABSOLUTELY FREE! This is a great thing for engineering students who normally don’t get module choices + it also increases employment chances.

French

The languages that can be learned are French, German, Italian, Arabic, Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. These language modules are provided by Modern Languages Teaching Centre (MLTC). Staff and members of public can also study these. There are different levels of study, so you can either continue with a previously studied language or start from the beginning. Registration event takes place in the 1^st week of the 1^st semester (try to get there early because if you get late there is a huge queue and you might not be able to choose your preferred language). You can either choose to study for 1 semester or register for both. There is also registration through E-Mail links in 2^nd semester so you don’t have to worry if you didn’t choose both semesters during the 1^st semester. There is a two hour class every week followed by a one hour lab. You can choose from different time slots; the only requirement is that the lab hour should be after the class. Some classes are late in the evenings so you don’t have to worry if you are not free during the day.

Another great thing is you don’t have to sit for the exam if you don’t want to. You can still have it HEAR accredited. But there are some requirements: you have to attend at least 70% of the classes and there are 2 essential home works each semester that you have to do. In addition to these, there is an independent study record (2 listening and 2 reading exercises) that you have to submit by week 11 of every semester.

Revision Time

The pace is quite fast and you do have to work extra other than the classes. But by the end you will not only able to learn a new language and learn about new culture through it, you also get to meet students from different courses and even able to eavesdrop during the boring bus rides!!

So if you are interested in giving language a go you can go to the following website and get further information. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/mltc

À bientôt! Au Revoir!

World Week in Sheffield?!

Written by: Saylee Jangam

Last Week at the University of Sheffield there was World Week, a week organized by the International Students’ Committee to celebrate the international diversity in Sheffield. The following is my experience of the World Parade that took place to mark the beginning of World Week on 15^th November, 2014.

World Week began ceremoniously with the ever popular World Parade that happens every year starting at the Students Union. Over 150 students participated this year and gathered outside the Students Union on the chilly morning of Saturday, 15^th November. As a fresher, the World Parade, I had heard, was something not to be missed so although it was drizzling and far too foggy for my liking, I headed outside to join this celebration and I am so glad I did because I had such a great time!

Once at the SU, I picked up the Hong Kong flag as it was the first thing I spotted amongst the other flags laid onto the welcome desk of the International Languages Festival that was happening the same day (for which I volunteered to face paint – more on that later haha). And once my friends had picked out their flags, we walked outside to join the others in order to start our parade to the Winter Gardens in the city centre.

After a brief photo session, we started our walk and to my surprise, a fellow IEA was playing the ‘Dhol’ – an Indian drum-like instrument. And what does one do when the Dhol is played, you ask? Bhangra*, of course!  

Walking through the city centre as part of such a big group was definitely interesting. We had a lot of people looking our way and some even taking pictures. Once at the winter gardens, we had another photo session (there can never be too many of these!) and soon after, I came back to the SU for the Languages festival after a quick lunch in the city centre.

The International Languages festival was a two-day event over the weekend where students volunteered to teach a language as part of World Week, and other students came to learn. They had a total of about 30 different languages being taught that weekend which I found very impressive. I was volunteering to face paint in the Activities Zone of the SU so this is what I did when students came out of classes for a break or if committee members of the ISC (International Students’ Committee) wanted to get their faces painted as well. I mostly painted flags to go with the theme but at one point, was asked to paint an elephant too. 

I met so many new people during the World Parade as well as the Languages festival and honestly had a brilliant time. To make things even better, they had Masala Chai at Coffee Revolution for the entire week! Now I can proudly say that I have checked off ‘World Parade’ from my to-do list at Uni.

Have a look at the few highlights! :)

*Bhangra – an energetic form of Indian dance.