Putney teacher honoured in new memorial fund to help schools compete in national Junior Language Challenge

Organisers of the uTalk Junior Language Challenge have announced the launch of the Laetitia Collender Memorial Fund, a special bursary set up in memory of a popular teacher from Putney in West London who was a passionate supporter of the national language competition. The Junior Language Challenge (JLC) is an annual competition for primary school … Read more

Why children should learn a second language

The Scottish Government has committed to every child learning a second language at the age of 5. Alongside this, they’ll learn an additional language in P5, which means children will know 3 languages by the time they leave school. It’s called the 1+2 policy and we think it’s a great pledge, as there are so many reasons why … Read more

Junior Language Challenge – 2016 here we come…

The Junior Language Challenge 2015 may be over, but we’re already thinking about next year’s competition. In 2016, we’d love to double the number of children taking part from 1,100 to 2,200, and raise even more money for our brilliant charity, onebillion. Every year, we’re blown away by the enthusiasm and commitment shown by children, parents … Read more

Teenage Kicks: why language students aren’t listening

Today we welcome back language teacher Kelly, with some advice on engaging teenagers in language learning. Have you tried thinking outside the box with students? Tell us about it in the comments… Another Brick In The Wall Musicians have been flogging this particular dead horse for years: stop treating teenagers like an alien species that we … Read more

Languages for the future: the top ten

A recent report by the British Council has laid out the ten most important languages for the UK’s future, in political, economic, educational and cultural terms. According to the report, the ten most important languages, in order, are: Spanish, Arabic, French, Mandarin, German, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Japanese. I read this list with a … Read more