Explore the world of language with our interactive exhibition and workshops

Language is all around us. We use it every day to express our thoughts, feelings and opinions, to communicate with other people, to convince them of our views, make them feel better or worse, manipulate them or even insult them. Language is a powerful tool which helps us perform our actions. There are more than 6,000 different languages spoken in the world and an estimated 200 different languages are spoken in Manchester alone. It is a truly multilingual city.

Join our interactive exhibition to learn more about the world of languages, and languages of the world. Each part of the exhibition focuses on a different aspect of linguistics research and introduces you to topics like:
– Accents and dialects in the UK
– Language diversity in Manchester
– How children learn language
– How linguists support the police
– The Languages of the world
– How languages change

There will also be taster sessions in Arabic, German, Welsh, Urdu and many more languages! We are delighted to be joined by Multilingual Manchester and many other experts. Each stall will be led by a researcher or student and you will be invited to have a go.

There is no need to register for the exhibition – just come along. However if you plan to bring a large group (e.g. a school class), it would help us if you could send us a quick email in advance (sascha.stollhans@manchester.ac.uk).

In the evening there is a workshop and panel discussion for teachers of Modern Foreign Languages, PGCE students, tutors, and anyone with an interest in language education. The topic of the evening is “Bridging the gap between linguistics research and the language classroom”. How can research find its way into the classroom? What can researchers learn from Modern Foreign Languages practitioners? How can researchers and teachers work together? What can universities and schools do to promote foreign languages in the UK? What is the future of modern languages in the UK post Brexit? Please sign up for the evening workshop here.

Interactive exhibition and taster sessions open to public: 14:00-18:00
Workshop for teachers: 19:30-21:00
Follow this event on Twitter @WorldOfLang