Fostering a love for languages at York St John University Community Language School
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