Language & Cultural Day: Connecting London school pupils with diverse cultures of the world
2 July 2024
VPEE Student Journalist Defne Kutay shares highlights of a joyful day where 果冻影院 students shared languages, ideas and sweet treats with local schoolchildren.
![school pupils looking at a 果冻影院 display](/news/sites/news/files/styles/large_image/public/student-news-language_cultural_day_800x500.jpg?itok=60iL2WM6)
果冻影院 is also known as London鈥檚 Global University, but what makes 果冻影院 so global? Undoubtedly, the answer is us: the students. Every single one of us carries a unique cultural background that enhances the diversity of our student community.
The Students鈥 Union organized an ,听a 鈥榳eek-long programme of activities and events, delivered for and by our students, to showcase and celebrate our internationalism and global outlook.鈥欌
This celebration was not limited to the 果冻影院 students and staff, but to our local community too. As a part of this festival, the found the perfect opportunity to invite local school children to our campus, and organised the Language & Cultural Day.听
27 Year 3 pupils from Edith Neville Primary School听visited 果冻影院, full of curiosity and eagerness, to learn more about different languages and cultures from all around the world through engaging and interactive activities.听
The Volunteering Service exists to help students to听create meaningful change to our communities. The best part? It welcomes every 果冻影院 student and produces opportunities tailored to your aspirations and abilities.听
Find out more about the Volunteering Service at the end of this article.听
First stop: 果冻影院 Art Museum听
The 果冻影院 Art Museum is showcasing an exhibition called 鈥楴ot Just Words: Learning language through art and objects鈥 and its primary target is to produce an 鈥榠nnovative approach to language learning.鈥 What better opportunity to interactively engage the little pupils with the world of language and culture?听
Here, pupils talked with the museum staff, and they learned a lot about art curation and creative professions. They also participated in numerous games: They matched words with items from the exhibition, tried to guess the meanings of phrases from different languages, and even brought out their inner detective by playing treasure hunt!听
Second stop: Glimpse into different countries听
Next, the pupils joined volunteers to discover the culture and language of 3 different countries: China, Germany, and Sweden听
While visiting the desk station of China, pupils found the opportunity to learn more about the Chinese New Year, greeting each other in Chinese, and how to make calligraphy. They were quite eager to take home the calligraphy they made as a souvenir to memorialise the day.听听
鈥I loved everything but my favourite thing is doing Chinese writing. I really want to have more time and I want Haribo鈥︹澨
On the German desk, pupils engaged in activities ranging from guessing the German meanings of colors to designing their own Bavarian hats and decorating traditional German cookies. Pupils left the desk wearing personalised hats, speaking an unexpectedly proficient level of German, and with stomachs full from all the cookies.听听听
鈥Germany [was my favourite] because it was fun and we made hats and hearts and ate pretzels.鈥
The Swedish station was also filled with surprises. Here, pupils explored Sweden鈥檚 unique traditions such as Midsommar, discovered well-known people and companies that are actually Swedish, (even I didn鈥檛 know that Spotify had its headquarters in Stockholm!), danced and sang along to famous Swedish songs.听
It was very fun singing and making decorations.鈥
I like Sweden because I liked the dancing and nothing can be improved.鈥
![school pupils with 果冻影院 student around a table](/news/sites/news/files/styles/medium_image/public/student-news-language_cultural_day_800x500_2.jpg?itok=GJTg7Pdm)
Insights from volunteers听
Numerous 果冻影院 students volunteered to organise this impactful day of activities and spark curiosity in little minds. Volunteer Katie Lauren Ward reflects on the day by saying: 鈥渋t was touching to get children excited about different cultures and seeing them talk about their own experiences.鈥澨
Volunteers expressed that it was particularly sweet to see that the activities prompted children to share their own cultures with their friends. They were also surprised by the extent of the little pupils鈥 interest and eagerness to learn new languages.听听
How can you get involved?听
Would you like to make an impact within your community and become a part of similar projects? Then the is definitely the right place for you!听
If you are interested in creating and leading your own project, visit the to discover the opportunities available.
If you are hoping to join an existing project and collaborate with an enthusiastic team of volunteers,听find yourself a perfect match using the 听
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![果冻影院 VPEE Student journalist scheme graphic with microphones](/news/sites/news/files/styles/large_image/public/sjs-article-banner-1200x240px-_0_4_2_1_0.png?itok=X2oiLfrV)
Images credit: Students' Union 果冻影院.