In a community with students from over 80 countries, holding a Language Celebration Week is an opportunity to bring the students and staff together to share their own cultural identity while making the most of being part of a truly global community. Indeed, it also provides everyone with a chance to learn about, understand and appreciate the remarkable diversity of languages and dialects spoken by other members of our community. During the College’s Language Diversity Week, from January 16-22, students took part in a variety of activities, such as language-based games and language-learning challenges. They also challenged themselves to speak as little English as possible on No / Low English Day while enjoying learning more about the different languages and dialects spoken by their peers.
One evening was dedicated to the celebration of music from around the world. Students and teachers alike were thrilled to experience a variety of different sounds and styles. One of the highlights of the week was the workshop led by Sophie Hughes, a local literary translator. Using a translation from Italian into English by the Poetry Translation Centre as a “guide”, College students were able to translate the poem by the Eritrean-Italian poet Ribka Sibhatu into their own languages and dialects. This was an invaluable opportunity for them to learn about literary translation and an inspiring and meaningful opportunity to reflect about the nuances of individual languages and explore the beauty of poetry in a new and meaningful way.
