1st prize

Mrs Livingstone’s P6 class in Balnain Primary School, Glen Urquhart wins an iPad, a Radio Lingua Language Workshop and a licence to one of our language courses.

2nd prize

Mr McPherson’s P7 class in Dalmilling Primary School, Ayr wins a Radio Lingua Language Workshop and a licence to one of our language courses.

3rd prize

Mrs Robertson’s P7 class in Kincaidston Primary School, Ayr wins one our language courses.

Congratulations to all our winners and thanks to all schools who took part in the competition and to everyone who has been listening to Festive Phrases each day.

The answers to the competition are as follows:

1. Icelandic – Jól looks like Jul in Swedish, Danish and Norwegian

2. Czech

3. Hawaiian

4. Finnish – any time you see double ää the chances are it’s Finnish!

5. Korean – only Korean uses this kind of script

We’ll be in touch very soon with the winning schools and prizes will be delivered in January 2011.

Throughout the month of December, Radio Lingua is releasing daily Festive Phrase lessons in which pupils can learn to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy New Year” in 24 languages. The daily videos feature native speakers and provide additional background information on where the language is spoken and the number of speakers of that language.

We are delighted to announce our competition in which one lucky class will win an iPad, and there are lots of Radio Lingua goodies to give away too. The competition is being organised in conjunction with XMA, an Apple Solutions Expert in Education.

How do you enter?

Our Festive Phrases series includes festive greetings from around the world in 24 languages. The following five phrases are not included in our episodes, and we’d like you to identify the languages. We’re sure that by combining what you’ve learned in the Festive Phrases series along with some web research you’ll be able to identify these languages easily!

To enter the competition, please complete our faxback form – download the pdf form here. Alternatively you can enter by email: send your entries to info@radiolinguaschools.com. Please include a contact name, class teacher or class name, school, address, telephone number, fax number and email address. The closing date for the competition is 12:30pm on Monday 20th December. Winners will be announced on Tuesday 21st December here on our website.

What about the prizes?

• First prize: an Apple iPad (16gb wifi model), a free Radio Lingua Schools language workshop and a one year licence for a language course from the Radio Lingua catalogue.
• Second prize: a free Radio Lingua Schools language workshop and a one year licence for a language course from the Radio Lingua catalogue.
• Third prize: one year licence for a language course from the Radio Lingua catalogue.

Who can enter?

This competition is open to P4-P7 classes in primary schools in Scotland only. Entry to the competition is restricted to one entry per class or group of pupils. Multiple entries from individual schools are allowed, but must be submitted on separate entry forms. If you have any questions about the competition, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Competition rules

1. Competition is open to P4-P7 classes in primary schools in Scotland only and entry to the competition is restricted to one entry per class or group of pupils.
2. Multiple entries from individual schools must be submitted on separate entry forms.
3. Automated entries, bulk entries or third party entries will be disqualified.
4. Winners will be chosen at random from all correct and valid entries.
5. Winners will be contacted by email or by telephone and winners will be posted on our website.
6. The Judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
7. The competition will run from Friday 10 December until 12:30pm on Monday 20th December.
8. Radio Lingua Ltd is compliant with the data protection act. Our policy is such that we will not pass on your details to any third party.
9. Radio Lingua Ltd reserves the right to cancel or alter or amend the competition at any stage.

If you’re ready to start opening the Advent Calendar, please click here.

We’re also launching a festive competition: prizes include Radio Lingua language courses, a free creative language workshop (click for some examples) and an iPad. This competition is being run in conjunction with Apple Solution Expert in Education XMA. Further details of how to enter the competition will be available in the next few days. Please check back to find out how you can win an iPad for your classroom.

Please note that this competition is restricted to Scottish primary and special schools.

All products are available as 1-year site licences and offer an optional add-on pupil home licence which provides access to the materials for pupils.

The catalogue also provides details of the Radio Lingua Academy CPD option, and our innovative language workshops which combine digital creativity with language-learning and allow young people to develop their confidence in using the language they’re learning through a range of creative activities.

To download a copy, please use the links below:

• High resolution – 3mb
• Low resolution – 670kb

This week Radio Lingua Schools has been working with 15-16 year old students from across Scotland at the S@S Accelerate programme, part of the Strathclyde University’s Innovative Routes to Learning project. The participating students signed up for a week of language-learning activities and over the past few days have taken part in challenges and debates, learned some Italian, Japanese and Zulu, and have created multilingual radio shows in French, German and Spanish.

The students have learned how to produce podcasts using GarageBand, recording their voices, applying filters and adding jingles and sound effects. They’ve had the opportunity to practise their language skills and increase their confidence in speaking. Their podcasts can be downloaded from the links below.

Group 1 – download mp3

An celebrity chat show featuring interviews with Audrey Tautou in French and Antonio Banderas in Spanish.

Group 2 - download mp3

Comparing the relative benefits of holidaying in Madrid or Paris.

Group 3 - download mp3

Strathclyde University Radio interviews with language students about their experiences working and studying abroad.

Group 4 - download mp3

Agony Aunt Tía Dolores solves callers’ problems in a phone-in radio show.

Well done to all the students who have taken part!

The pupils spent just five to ten minutes a day working with the podcasts and over the course of the project they learned between 30 and 40 words and phrases of basic Mandarin including greetings, saying their name, asking “how are you?” and giving answers to this question, counting up to 10, talking about the fact that they’re learning Chinese and saying that they don’t understand.

At the end of the four week learning period, the classes were challenged to create their own stop motion animation during a one-day Radio Lingua Schools animation workshop, and the results of these workshops are linked to below. The pupils in each school learned the same phrases so that they would ultimately understand the animations created by the other classes.

We’d like to congratulate all of the children who participated in this project: you should all be very proud of your animation work, especially as you were working in a language which you only started learning four weeks ago!

Castlepark Primary School

• Group 1
• Group 2
• Group 3
• Group 4

Glebe Primary School

• Group 1
• Group 2
• Group 3
• Group 4
• Group 5

John Galt Primary School

• Group 1
• Group 2
• Group 3
• Group 4

Loudoun Montgomery Primary School

• Group 1
• Group 2
• Group 3
• Group 4

Euroscola days take place around 20 times each year and give the young people of Europe a chance to discuss a variety of themes including sustainable development, education, environment and citizenship. Today 21 countries are represented and there are some 520 students in the hémicycle of the European Parliament.

By way of preparation for today, the Scottish students have undertaken a series of activities which have helped to develop their confidence in speaking French. These have included language workshops, street questionnaires and a cultural and linguistic challenge. Radio Lingua Schools has supported all of these activities. It’s also been our responsibility to maintain a blog throughout the visit and parents, friends and teachers back at home have been following the visit through EuroscolaOnline.com. Earlier today each delegation was presented to the chamber by one or two students from each country. We broadcast the proceedings live from the hémicycle and parents and school friends at home in Scotland were able to join us in Strasbourg.

For further information about the work of Radio Lingua Schools in Strasbourg, see also Projet Citoyen.

In November 2009, Radio Lingua Schools supported Projet Citoyen, an East Dunbartonshire initiative which aimed to raise awareness about European citizenship. With the help of a grant from the European Parliament, a group of sixth year students spent six days in Strasbourg finding out about the work of the Parliament. Radio Lingua Schools’ role was to support the project both in terms of language input on the visit, and by helping the students to document their experiences through a blog which was maintained throughout the trip to Strasbourg.

A key feature of Projet Citoyen was that the students had to disseminate their learning to other students in their own schools, and on a wider basis. They designed a web-based video quiz aimed at younger learners (11-13 year olds), asking questions about Europe and the European Union. The The quiz was developed in conjunction with the History and Modern Studies departments in their schools, and all students contributed by providing questions. During the visit to Strasbourg, the top ten questions were chosen and three students volunteered to present the quiz, working with Radio Lingua Schools director Mark Pentleton to film the questions in various locations around Strasbourg.

The quiz is now being released on the Projet Citoyen website, and it is hoped that schools throughout the UK and further afield will find it a useful resource to help younger pupils learn about Europe. Take the quiz yourself and let us know what you think of the resource!