Celebrating multilingual Leeds

Hundreds of people have tried a new language for the first time as part of Leeds Language Week, a University-led initiative to celebrate the city's linguistic diversity.

In a city where more than 170 languages are spoken, academics and students at the University of Leeds have worked with the local community to promote Leeds' rich tapestry of cultures in a week-long programme from 11-15 November.

Led by Bettina Hermoso-Gómez and Sofia Martinho in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, Leeds Language Week encouraged children and adults alike to embrace languages other than English.

This event isn't just about language learning - it's about creating real connections that have a lasting impact on the lives of people in Leeds.

The most widely spoken non-UK language in Leeds is Polish, with over 8,000 Leeds residents using it as their main language, closely followed by Arabic, with significant communities speaking Romanian, Urdu, Panjabi, and Portuguese.

The programme included competitions in creative writing and international photography, activities to celebrate African languages and talks on topics such as Spanish popular music and Heritage Languages, reaching a total of more than 1,000 people in Yorkshire.

One of the most popular activities were the language taster sessions for all ages in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian, delivered by University of Leeds academics and partners, where over 400 people enjoyed trying out a new language for the first time. Around 300 additional secondary school pupils are set to take part in further taster sessions in the coming weeks.

Sofia Martinho, Associate Professor of Portuguese and Director of the Camões Centre for Portuguese Language, said: "Leeds Language Week is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the diverse languages and cultures that make our region so vibrant. This event isn't just about language learning - it's about creating real connections that have a lasting impact on the lives of people in Leeds.

"By bringing researchers off campus and into the heart of our communities, we're able to share and grow together in a truly collaborative spirit. It's inspiring for us as researchers to see the enthusiasm and insights that community members bring, reflecting the multicultural richness of Leeds and showing how language can unite us all."

Leeds Libraries also opened their doors to dual language story and rhyme sessions, inviting families and children to enjoy stories and nursery rhymes in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Polish, which were attended by more than 100 people.

Leeds Language Week has been an opportunity for all of us to discover not only our connections to the global world but to celebrate the rich cultural tapestry of the languages spoken within our community.

Schools across Yorkshire took part in the multilingual poetry competition, Mother Tongue, Other Tongue, created as a Laureate Education Project by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, for 8-18-year-olds. The 'Mother Tongue' section challenged students to write a commentary in English on a poem in their first language. The judges said they were impressed with the variety of poems for the 'Other Tongue' section with submissions in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese, Welsh, Hungarian and Polish among other languages.

The 'Mother Tongue, Other Tongue' submissions will be shared in a digital anthology in the coming weeks.

Bettina Hermoso-Gómez, Lecturer in Spanish and Director of Routes into Languages Yorkshire and Humberside, said: "Leeds Language Week has been an opportunity for all of us to discover not only our connections to the global world but to celebrate the rich cultural tapestry of the languages spoken within our community and embrace the diverse range of international communities that live, work and study in Leeds. The range of activities featured gave plenty of opportunities to experience culture, language learning and multilingualism to anyone who wanted to be involved!"

Top image caption: Sofia Martinho delivers a taster session in Portuguese at Ossett Academy. Credit: Ossett Academy.

For media enquiries, please contact Mia Saunders in the University of Leeds press office on [email protected].

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