Language plays a huge role in the development of personal, social and cultural identity. Children with a strong foundation in their first language often display a deeper understanding of themselves and their place within society, along with an increased sense of wellbeing and confidence.
During our annual 'Language Days' at NAIS Rotterdam we celebrate the languages taught at our school through cultural based, fun activities for all of our elementary students to enjoy.
In place of their regular language lessons on these three days, students enjoyed culture/language related activities througout the language wing; They made Delft blue plates in the Dutch classroom, Carnival masks in Italian, Calligraphy in Japanese, played the Kolechko (Bringo) game in Russian, practiced the use of chopsticks in Chinese and a gurrufío activity in Spanish.
Research indicates that having a strong mother tongue foundation leads to a much better understanding of the curriculum as well as to a more positive attitude towards school.
It’s also well known that a strong mother tongue foundation equips children with the skills they need to learn additional languages, allowing them to transfer their understanding of the structure of language to several new languages.
Language also plays a huge role in the development of personal, social and cultural identity. Children with a strong foundation in their first language often display a deeper understanding of themselves and their place within society, along with an increased sense of wellbeing and confidence.
Gaining proficiency in a new language is an ongoing journey, as is the case with developing a mother tongue. Parents’ attitude towards their own native language and towards a new language are extremely important for the child.
Tuesday 5th March: Dutch and Italian
Wednesday 6th March: Japanese and Russian
Thursday 7th March: Mandarin and Spanish
Please enjoy these photos showing the different cultural activities that were enjoyed during the 2019 Language Days at NAISR!
