Date of press release: 26 October 2007
Who are the language student ambassadors?
Language Student Ambassadors are university students who have a passion for languages and are keen to help break down some of the barriers that young people face with Foreign Language Learning. Some of you may have experience of using your languages in the workplace, and some of you may also be speakers of community languages.
What is the role of a language student ambassador?
The role of the language student ambassador is essentially to enlighten students on the benefits of language learning and how this can have a huge impact on their lives and careers. You can offer support in different ways, for example:
- General presentations in assembly or in the classroom
- Inspiring Year 9s to consider taking languages for their GCSE options
- Talking to year groups in years 9 - 13 about careers in languages and studying languages at University
- Assisting with workshops as part of your languages – related activities
What is a consortium?
There will be a Routes into Languages consortium working in all the nine regions of England and these were set up after funding was allocated as a result of the Dearing review, June 2007. The Dearing review recognised a decline in language take up and each of the regional consortia have been given the task to reverse this decline through a carefully selected programme of activities. Each consortium is a collaboration of a number of universities, schools and colleges within that particular region.
What is it like working as part of a consortium?
Working as part of a consortium means you will meet other language student ambassadors from around the region and not just from your university. There will also be a national training event you can attend which will be aimed at language student ambassadors. The result of this will be wider networking, richer experience and a more diverse group of ambassadors.
What should you do next?
Contact your local regional consortium to discuss becoming a language student ambassador and any further questions you may have.
