FOHLC Europe Blog

An interview with Drs Indu Vibha Meddegama and Maja Skender-Lizatovic, founders of the Community Language School at York St John University in England By Aga Pędrak When thinking about community-based heritage language schools (supplementary or complementary schools), what we usually imagine is a school that operates outside the mainstream school hours, for example during the weekends or afternoons, and provides mother tongue classes to young migrant generations. In addition to heritage language classes, complementary schools often offer cultural events, extra-curricular classes, seasonal celebrations, history, and geography lessons, and sometimes they also introduce religious education – all of these through the means of the heritage language. According to the National Resource Centre for Supplementary Education ( NRCSE ), there are approximately 3,000-5,000 supplementary schools operating in England. As they exist outside the formal educational system, these schools usually work tigh

By Jim Anderso n,  Goldsmiths University of London, with schools and universities across the world Community based heritage language schools often experience difficulty in engaging students in studying the HL, especially once they go beyond primary age. There may be a feeling that the language does not connect with their lived experience or with real world issues. The link to culture may feel artificial and unchanging. There may be little opportunity for students to invest themselves emotionally in their learning or to feel the excitement of genuine meaning-making.   Addressing the needs of HL learners The international Critical Connections project, launched in 2012, seeks to address the above issue by involving young people in creating short bi/multi-lingual digital stories around issues which matter to them such as the environment.  It is innovative in bringing together learners of heritage as well as foreign languages in community based as well as mainstream settings in differ

By HLE Network  This is a re-posting of an interview published on HLE Network's website on February 3, 2023 An interview with  Dr. Miglena Hristozova, deputy chairwoman of the  Initiative für Mehrsprachigkeit und interkulturelle Bildung  (IMIB) in Freiburg, Germany. Her organization recently received the Freiburg Integration Award 2022 for their pioneer work in the field of multilingualism.

By Sabine Little and Aga Pedrak FOHLC Europe , or Forum of Heritage Language Coalitions in Europe, is an exciting new collaboration between several organizations involved with heritage language education in Europe. With the FOHLC Europe steering group being geographically dispersed, it is not often that we get a chance to meet face to face, so it was a rare pleasure when Aga Pedrak from Ireland and Sabine Little from England got a chance to meet up at Nottingham Trent University’s roundtable on “Engaging with Language and Heritage” in March 2023 . The one-day conference was organised as part of the university’s Knowledge Exchange programme, an opportunity to bridge the gap between academia and other organisations, to learn from each other, and to create knowledge together. The event included attendees from museums and libraries, NGOs, storytellers, and, of course, academics.  The concept of language and heritage was, unsurprisingly, interpreted in many different ways. Intangible cultur

By FOHLC Europe As an initiative aiming to support the maintenance, development, and promotion of heritage language education in Europe, we hope to use this platform to share FOHLC’s news as well as post about recent developments and ongoing projects happening locally and internationally. You can read about FOHLC Europe here: https://www.hlenet.org/fohlc-europe   While creating this space for thought and reflection on heritage language education, we hope to collaborate with you, the practitioners, researchers, heritage language professionals, schools, and organisations operating across Europe. No matter how small or large your project is, it is always worth showcasing it. Together we can learn from one another, find inspiration, discuss ideas, share experiences, and reach a wider audience! We are happy to post your story of participating in/running a heritage language program or of organising/attending relevant events in any geographical location across Europe. Please contact us should