Students get a special taste for languages

Linguists from Blackpool Sixth Form at the UCLan Day of Languages

Pupils from across Preston and Chorley joined college and secondary school pupils from all over at a special languages day staged in Preston.

The city’s University of Central Lancashire hosted a European Day of Languages event.

More than 150 pupils came to the university to meet international students from countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Japan to sample their  cultures.

Languages Day: Parkland High pupils Parklands - L-R: Josh Scarff, Emily Holtom, Amy Jackson, Rhys Rothwell

The pupils were able to take part in some of the nations’ traditions, and also sampled some of their food, as well as trying out a multitude of languages.

Students from UCLan talked about their experiences of studying abroad, and what they learnt on their travels.

The event has been held for the past 10 years and senior lecturer from the School of Languages and Global Studies Silke Engelbart once again organised the event.

Silke said: “We’ve been running this day for well over a decade now, and we’ve had a lot of success with it.

“The visiting schools seem to take a lot from the experience, including valuable knowledge about other cultures and possible routes for them in their  education.

“We hope that we can continue to inspire the children to feel more confident about improving their skills in other languages.

“The UCLan students who help out with this event always do a brilliant job of engaging with the schoolchildren, and really enjoy sharing their food, stories and traditions from their native countries.”