Hi, guys! Long time no post; I’ve been all wrapped up in uni and work and living in a new city… But I’m back! And with an interesting post this time around, because I spent a lot of this weekend at the Language Show Live in London!
What is the Language Show Live?
So this was only something that really came across my radar March of this year, basically because I’ve not been in the UK the last four times it’s been on. Basically, it’s an expo that takes place in October (in London) and March (in Glasgow) every year, and it’s a place where language learners and teachers can go to see new language learning products, talk to different companies, attend seminars and language classes… There’s so much to do!
I went on Friday morning and had a wander around–in hindsight, I should have taken some time to plan ahead because there is so much there–but it was amazing.
And I got all this stuff!
So much #swag from this event #LSL16 #lslive @LanguageShow @FlashSticks @BritishCouncil pic.twitter.com/Vj6jQhcUTt
— Charlotte 🍁🎃 (@luna_moonsilver) October 14, 2016
I met some of the guys from FlashSticks and we had a chat about their new app and how they’re going to add BSL (!!!) to it eventually. I chatted to Jonny from One Third Stories about their books–they’ve got German ones, too–and got the chance to see a mock-up (it looks really good, by the way). I also headed over to the uTalk stand, found out they have two (two!) apps now, and so downloaded the new one. I have yet to use it, but the free info is always good for the basics.
I also bagged a bunch of different free stuff: a Korean book about food from the King Sejong Institute stand (if I start learning Korean now, it’s not my fault), a bunch of leaflets from the Japan Foundation stand (including information about the Minato platform, a free online course to learn Japanese) and a whole lot of things from everywhere else.
I also took a bunch of pens. Language events are always good for pens.
On Sunday I was at the event, too, though mostly for translation seminars (which I’ll talk about on the other blog on Thursday/Friday), but I also had the chance to do one of the language tasters – for Hindi!
Time for some fun 🤗 @LanguageShow #LSL16 pic.twitter.com/QvKrg2zOPj
— Charlotte 🍁🎃 (@luna_moonsilver) October 16, 2016
I’ve never really looked at Hindi before, so it was so much fun–we learnt three different ways to introduce ourselves (when meeting Hindus, Muslims, or Sikhs), then how to say our names, our occupations and where we were from. We got some information about the city lit language courses after that, too; they offer loads of different languages, including Scottish and Irish Gaelic, and Welsh!
So, the takeaway is: I had a really good time. I wish I’d had more time to spend there, especially on Saturday (I had to work), but I still got a lot out of the few hours I had. I’m not going to be going to the show in Glasgow (all those assignments in March, boo!), but I have every intention of coming back down to London next October–if I’m not still here then–and visiting a second time!
Let me know if you were at the show this weekend, too! I know a few people I follow on Twitter were there, but I didn’t see that many in person (plus I look nothing like my profile pic anymore, so I’m tricky to spot…). If you went, how did you find it? If you didn’t, and you can, you should try and attend next year. It’s so much fun! 😀