What's happening?

The October Forum Update showed some of the great things people and organisations in the Canberra region are doing about promoting languages and their teaching and learning.

What has happened since then?  Please let us know by leaving a comment below. This information can then be incorporated into future Forum Updates.

ACT Languages Policy Discussions

The ACT Government has released a discussion paper on developing an ACT Languages Policy and is seeking your views.

They are inviting comments on what the community believes should be covered in an ACT Languages Policy by 28 February 2011.

The Languages Forum is planning to hold a Languages Forum meeting to discuss our reaction to the various aspects of the policy early in 2011.

Languages and Canberra's Centenary Celebrations

Many people have voiced enthusiastic support for the idea of constructing a statue, mural, or mosaic in central Canberra to celebrate the multilingual nature of Canberra during our 100 years celebrations in 2013.  This would be a powerful symbol of the important role of languages in our past (including Aboriginal languages of course), today, and for the future of Canberra as a cosmopolitan international city and national capital. This idea was inspired by a fantastic languages statue in Vancouver Canada. 

Ideas for the project have included

• a mosaic with the words ‘Long live Canberra - it is my home’ written in all the languages that are spoken and represented by residents in Canberra
• a competition for the design, including which phrase would be translated into the various languages  
• a tiled area people could walk over and see their language represented: schools could contribute tiles they have made and have a firing for the artwork
• a simple message recorded by speakers of the many languages living in Canberra, these recordings then played at random when triggered by a passer-by.
• an interactive sound installation like those in Sydney by Paul Carter
• linking the monument with activities around International Mother Language Day (21 February) or International Peace Day or Harmony Day (both in September)
•  incorporating the ability to change the recorded message each year - thus involving people again and again and also keeping the message and the languages used to transmit it interesting and relevant. 

Your thoughts on this project welcome!!