Author: gustavorernesto

New Mandarin-English preschool opens in south London

One of the first few Mandarin-English immersion schools in Britain officially opened in south London, joining the continuing zeal here and beyond for learning Mandarin.

Petts Wood Mandarin-English Preschool, which opened Friday at Bromley in southeastern suburb of London, is also the very first Mandarin immersion preschool founded in partnership with a church in Britain, according to the school website.

Learn more about this topic by reading on Xinhuanet.

After reading “Learning an L2 in a troubled world” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

East Africa: Kiswahili Goes to School in South Africa

South Africa has become the first southern African country to offer Kiswahili as an optional subject in schools, raising hopes for the growth of the language considered the lingua franca of East Africa.

Kiswahili will be taught along with French, German and Mandarin. The government plans to roll out the teaching in 90 schools.

It is the first African language from outside southern Africa to be offered in schools. Already, South Africa has reached out to Kenya and Tanzania to recruit teachers of the language. Learn more about this topic by reading on AllAfrica.

Thousands of young Syrians opt to learn Russian at school

DAMASCUS (Reuters) – Omar al-Tawil, a 15-year-old school boy in Damascus, is one of 24,000 Syrian youngsters now learning Russian at school after the country added the language of the government’s most powerful ally to the curriculum.

Many young people in Syria, where Moscow intervened in 2015 to help President Bashir al-Assad win back territory, are eager to study Russian in order to travel to Russia or work in Russian companies they expect to appear in Syria in the future. Learn more about this topic by reading on EgyptIndependent.

Free “Language Learning with Netflix” extension makes studying Japanese almost too easy

Back when I was studying Japanese in the ancient days of the early 2000s, we had two options to find shows with Japanese subtitles: import them for exorbitant prices, or try your luck at Chinatown where bootleg DVDs sometimes came with them.

And while the Japanese dubs of Seinfeld and Star Trek that I poured my meager earnings into were funny, and the bootleg DVDs that crapped out halfway through were what I deserved, they were both pretty disappointing. I would’ve loved a way to watch a bunch of different shows with Japanese subtitles, for a reasonable price. Learn more about this topic by reading on SoraNews24.

Nigeria’s local languages as endangered species

Twenty nine Nigerian minor languages have become extinct, while another 29 are in danger of extinction. Three Nigeria’s major languages -Yoruba, Igbo, and Ishekiri are also endangered, according to studies by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and views expressed by language teachers, and linguists. Learn more about this topic by reading on PMNewsNigeria.

Immersive learning

One of the first few Chinese-English immersion schools in Britain officially opened in south London, joining the continuing zeal there and beyond for learning Chinese.

Petts Wood Mandarin-English Preschool, which opened Friday at Bromley in southeastern suburb of London, is also the very first Chinese immersion preschool founded in partnership with a church in Britain, according to the school website. Learn more about this topic by reading on GlobalTimes.

West Nipissing council undertakes a major overhaul of its bilingualism by-law

Big changes are coming to the Municipality of West Nipissing and its bilingualism by-law. By June all municipal forms for the public will be made available in both English and French. The municipality’s website will also be redesigned by June and will contain information in both official languages. Other things like news releases, social media posts, public notices as well as advertising and marketing will be done in both languages. The change is the result of a complaint from Denis Labelle who told the municipality there are areas of the current by-law that are not being followed. Learn more about this topic by reading on MyWestNipissingNow.