Language Competition - Expressing Yourself in Covid Times
LANGUAGE COMPETITION - EXPRESSING YOURSELF IN COVID TIMES
Speaking a foreign language with confidence is an important skill throughout in all Irish secondary schools. It is also most important in modern societies where various languages and cultures live together.
However, the impact of Covid-19 has meant that many students have had fewer opportunities to speak the languages they are learning. DCU wants to give you the opportunity to showcase how you managed to keep up with your languages through an exciting competition titled ‘Expressing yourself in Covid times’.
If you are in Transition Year and you like learning languages, this competition is for you!
At the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies at DCU, we teach Chinese, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. We know that learning languages is an exciting journey, so if you can speak any of these languages and you want to have fun, get creative and enter our competition!
This competition was made possible thanks to the support of Languages Connect.
The competition attracted more than 300 entries from 70 schools around Ireland. Students were invited to submit entries across a range of topics in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and multilingual for a chance to win prizes for Best Tik Tok story, Best video/Instagram story and Best Comic strip.
- Best Comic Strip went to Our Lady’s School in Templemore
- Students from St Raphaela's in Stillorgan took first place for Best Tik Tok story
- Students from the Convent of Mercy in Roscommon won Best Video
Runner up prizes and recognition also went to:
- Roscommon Convent of Mercy, 2nd prize Comic Strip
- Mount Sackville Secondary School Dublin, 2nd prize Tik Tok story
- Presentation Secondary School Kilkenny, 2nd prize Video
- Christ King Girl’s Secondary School Cork, 3rd prize Comic Strip
- East Glendalough School Wicklow, 3rd prize Tik Tok story
- Patrician High School Monaghan, 3rd prize Video
- First prize: You will win an iPad and your project will be showcased on DCU’s Webpage.
- Second prize: You will win a €120 voucher and a DCU hoodie.
- Third prize: You will win a €80 voucher and a DCU hoodie.
All participants will receive a Certificate, a DCU Booklet and an Application to study languages at DCU.
CATEGORIES: EXPRESSING YOURSELF IN COVID You may enter one of the following categories
Best TikTok story
TikTok is a creative space where you can share your talents. You can produce a short video and show how you have kept up with your language skills during the confinement, or you can choose to create a video on one of the topics included in the contest. TikTok is a great tool to share your thoughts in an innovative, sharp and fun way. Create a meaningful and inspiring video on your foreign language and submit it to us!
This will be a solo performance and should be no longer than 60 seconds in total. It should be recorded in landscape mode. The participants will record themselves delivering their performance.
Best video / Instagram story
With Instagram you can create a fun video, show your own created work, and capture your best ideas. You can create a unique project and produce a short video that shows how you have kept up with your language skills during the confinement, or you can choose to create a video on one of the topics included in the contest. Give visibility to your way of understanding foreign languages and cultures by sharing your thoughts in a fun way. Submit your inspiring video to us!
This will be a solo performance and should be no longer than 60 seconds in total. It should be recorded in landscape mode. The participants will record themselves delivering their performance.
Best comic strip
Why not bring your experience to life through a comic strip? Comic strips are ideal to capture your creativity and imagination. They are entertaining and can show or explain complex stories and concepts using images and dialogue. Image, text, and emotion can come together to bring your coolest ideas to life.
Create a unique project and produce a short story that shows how you have kept up with your language skills during the confinement, or you can choose to create a comic strip on one of the topics included in the contest. Give visibility to your way of understanding foreign languages and cultures by sharing your thoughts in a fun way. Submit your inspiring comic strip to us! If you prefer to draw your own comic strip, please do!!
Some software you may use is:
Here are some of the topics you can cover, although you may have a different one:
- My virtual trip to… [another country]
- My world is multilingual
- Why do I love languages?
- I grew up in a bilingual home
- My favourite recipe of [another country] the cuisine
- My favourite part of the culture [in another country]
- Translating my culture into another language
- My favourite music/dance [in another country]
- The biggest differences between cultures
- The worst social/cultural mistake I ever made!
Who: You can enter our competition if you are a student in your Transition Year. One contribution per person is welcome in Chinese, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish.
When: The contest will run from Monday April 12th 2021 to Friday April 30th 2021.
How: First fill in your entry form with your details. Then you can submit your creation to languagecompetition@dcu.ie. Please ensure that the subject of the email contains your name and surname, the category, and the language of your creation (e.g., John Logan - Tik Tok story - Japanese).
Prizes will be awarded by the end of May 2021. All contributions are individual. Only one contribution per student will be accepted.
If you have any queries please contact us at: languagecompetition@dcu.ie
Languages Connect promotes the personal, social, professional and economic benefits of foreign language skills to principals, teachers, guidance counsellors, parents, students and stakeholders in the third-level sector. The campaing is funded by the Department of Education and facilitated by Post Primary Languages Ireland, as a key objective of the Languages Connect – Ireland’s for Foreign Languages in Education 2017 – 2026. For all the latest updates, follow Languages Connect social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube or check out Languages Connect
