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The Business of Language
¡Vamos! Latin and Lusophone Festival July 7th-16th
Vamos cites itself as "10 explosive days celebrating international Spanish & Portuguese speaking cultures, including music, literature, film, theatre, food, fashion and sport." The festival will bring together artists from all over the world and from within the region, to NewcastleGateshead for what promises to be a lively 10 days of events. Many of the events are free and include dance lessons and performances, art exhibitions, a picnic, a special season of films at the Tyneside cinema and of course plenty of Latin cocktails! To find out more about the events taking place visit the Events pages of the RLN website.
This free seminar is aimed at businesses in the region who have an interest in working in international markets. A range of speakers will give short presentations about the benefits that using a language service provider can bring to your company. There will also be demonstrations of exciting new products on offer to businesses in the region. This is your chance to come along and see how your business can access these services, and why they would be of benefit to you. There will also be a networking opportunity with drinks and nibbles provided. To register your interest in this event please contact Alex Jimenez via email; info@blackfin-translation.com or telephone on 0191 206 4071.
European Day of Languages - 26th September
Celebrating linguistic diversity, plurilingualism, lifelong language learning.
 Throughout Europe, hundreds of activities celebrating language diversity and promoting language learning will be held on 26 September. To see how the RLN has celebrated the European Day of Languages in past years and perhaps get some inspiration for your own events this year, visit the Events pages of the RLN website. We will update this area of the site as details of this year's events are confirmed. If you are organising an event and would like us to promote it via the RLN website, please contact Kasia Fiderkiewicz at Kasia.Fiderkiewicz@onenortheast.co.uk. Please note that free resources can be requested from CILT, the National Centre for Languages website by clicking on the following link, European Day of Languages resources. Look out for a special European Day of Languages e-newsletter in September!
Here in the North East over 20% of businesses are losing money due to a lack of language skills and cultural awareness. To make matters worse the number of students taking languages is currently in decline. We need to make students aware that they will be more of an asset to their employer if they can offer a language skill. The Vocational Languages Network has been set up by the North East's key players to:
· Identify how businesses can support the effective delivery of vocational languages in schools · Establish business links/linguists to support in schools · Identify work-related learning opportunities and activities in MFL · Develop clearer HE/FE progression and career paths · Provide teachers and employers with more info on vocational qualifications for languages If your business could support the work of the VLN in anyway, whether you can offer up some time to get involved with an event or, or share your knowledge of working with languages, please contact Jo Lyons at North Tyneside EBP (Education Business Partnership) via email Joanna.Lyons@northtyneside.gov.uk or telephone on 0191 200 1567.  BLIS Professionals - Featured ProfessionalThe Featured professional for the Summer edition of our e-newsletter is Yves Ferrer of YFTranslations. Yves tells us his story below.
 "The business was started from the ground up but with a lot of support from professional organisations in the North East, BLIS Professionals in particular! The demand was patchy at first and it took a while to establish a solid client base and a network of resources; but a combination of word of mouth recommendations and advertising through various media, not least the RLN NE, has ensured that YFTranslations is now on the local map.
The main strength of YFTranslations is in the in-depth knowledge of technical fields -aeronautics, automotive, industrial, etc...-; this, allied to a willingness to ask questions (one person never knows enough!) and to engage in dialogue with the client, means that the end product is of high quality. Indeed, most of the clients are repeat clients!
Interpreting on-site is the other string to YFTranslations bow. This aspect of the work can be anything ad hoc for a morning or afternoon at the client's premises, or it can indeed be for bookings spreading over several weeks for specialist purposes. The work can be extremely demanding and exhausting but the satisfaction of seeing two engineers nodding in unison "Got the message!" is immense..."
A little bit of England in Korea A partnership between the North East Assembly and a province in Korea means opportunities for people from North East England to have a unique experience and promote better cultural understanding between the two regions.
Entrepreneurial Koreans are determined to learn English in a world that is becoming increasingly globalized. In a bid to overcome the barriers of English as a second language, they are establishing English-only 'villages' in one province where local people can immerse themselves in the customs, as well as the language, of the English.
It is hoped that people from the North East will go and work in the 'English Villages' and help to improve the cultural understanding between the two regions. To find out more about the initiative read the article on the RLN Website.
Student Award 2006 - North East success! The RLN featured a competition ran by the LLAS (Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies) in the December issue of our e-newsletter. We are pleased to announce that a student based in the North East is a runner up in the competition! Congratulations to Sarah Hetherington at Durham University. Sarah won a prize of £50 for her essay written about her experience and expectations of her language course.The LLAS is a publicly funded service, providing UK-wide support and services for higher education in Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. For further information visit their website at www.llas.ac.uk.
Lingu@net - Language learners get free web supportA new EU-sponsored website is launched this month to help adults who want to improve their language skills. Lingu@net Europa - a multilingual site in its own right - helps learners understand their strengths and weaknesses and points them towards ways to learn. It guides them in a choice of over 3,500 on-line learning resources, gives advice on overcoming common problems, and provides motivational tips. Those who want to practise the language they are learning can find key pals for e-mail exchanges, read and post weblogs, take part in live chat with other learners or even go into virtual worlds where they can learn the language.
Isabella Moore, Director of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, said 'Helping adults to improve their language skills is vital if we are to benefit economically and culturally from what the EU offers. We know that adults of all ages are keen to learn languages but that only a small proportion are able to attend courses. The Lingu@net Europa site will supplement adult classes and other national and local provision, and I am sure both learners and professionals will welcome it as a source of encouragement and advice'. World Cup 2006 - German Language and CultureThe World cup is still with us for another few days, and whether you have loved or loathed the summer of football the BBC has a number of world cup features relating to language and culture. Why not try learning some German phrases? You could could also attempt to guess the football headline in German, or take a quiz to see if your language and cultural knowledge of Germany would see you through a visit to the world cup finals.
The BBC also has a great 'Holiday quick fix' section, with useful holiday phrases in 36 languages. You can download the phrases as mp3 files or to your mobile. Visit the BBC languages website via the following link.
Excuse my French!Excuse my French! is a major new BBC2 TV series accompanied by a course book and DVDs. The series sees three celebrities sent to Southern France and challenged to learn the language in a month. The results show that anyone can learn French - you don't have to be fluent to make it worthwhile! The book and DVDs will be published in August and the first episode of Excuse my French will be broadcast on Tuesday 19th July at 9pm on BBC2.
RLN NEThe Languages Data section of the RLN website has been updated. You can find a new report on migrant workers in the North East and the latest information on the nationality and country of birth of the North East population.
We have also added two new cultural guides to the website. You can now find out what 'Blat' refers to in Russian business dealings and where informal meetings may be held in Turkey...
CompetitionCongratulations to our winners from the last issue, Anne Smith and Judith Adams. There is no quiz this time, but look out for our special European Day of Languages newsletter in September when we will have a special EDL 06 quiz!
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