Almost there

I've learned how to create a podcast using Audacity and it was so dead easy! I was able to figure it out really quickly. I've talked to Vicky, who has chosen a book to read in Greek, and we're going to complete the podcast on Monday afternoon. Once it's ready, I'll upload it to the wiki page and my project will be finished!

I've made some changes to my wiki page, based on the feedback I got on Wednesday. I think it looks a bit better, but it's not as easy to navigate as I would like. However, for a first attempt at a wiki, I feel pretty good about it.

I've really enjoyed the New Learning class, as I've had to investigate the use of technology in the classroom and consolidate my understandings and beliefs about it. It's been great and I've improved my skills in a number of areas.

I'm going to create my teacher's tips now and that should be it! I have to get ready for Beijing next week...leaving Tuesday night.

Collecting information

I've been listening to a lot of podcasted books, trying to get ideas of how to best make the podcast sound. I'm also using Mem Fox, an Australian children's author for inspiration. Mem also wrote "Reading Magic", one of the best books I've read about the importance of sharing books with children of all ages. In "Reading Magic", Mem devotes an entire chapter to the art of reading aloud. It's brilliant and should be a must read for every parent and teacher out there! Check out an excerpt from "Reading Magic" online and listen to Mem read aloud!

New resources

Once again got lost in the myriad of the internet. Spent a lot of time searching for podcasts available for free download. I was able to find a few new sites, which offer podcasts for children, either for free or for purchase. Also found a number of e-books in German, which could solve my copyright problem.
I'm now at the stage where I have to make the podcast, upload it to the wiki, and then create some teacher materials to support it. My goal is to finish all of this in the next two weeks, before I leave for the IB workshop in China at Western Academy Beijing. I'm looking forward to the trip to Beijing! It's been a few years since I've been there, so it'll be good to see how the city has changed and how it's preparing for the 2008 Olympics.

Been a long time!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but this doesn't mean that I haven't been busy and working on my multilingual podcasts. Since coming back from Perth, I've had loads on, and loads to do, but I've made some progress.
One thing I've been doing is spending quite a bit of time on facebook. I started out a slow and skeptical user, but in the last two weeks, and especially in the last few days when I've been sick with tonsillitis, I've spent a lot more time on it. It's a great site and a great way to keep in touch with people, especially when friends and family are spread all over the world!
I've identified two readers, a native German speaker, and a native Greek speaker.
In German, I would like "Wo Die Wilde Kerle Wohnen" ("Where The Wild Things Are") read and in Greek, a fairy tale, such as "Little Red Riding Hood" or "Cinderella".
I'm still working out exactly HOW to create a podcast, but that is a short term goal for the next week or so. I don't think it's going to be very complicated. Once I've created the podcast, I'm going to create lesson plans/ideas for teachers to use/adapt for their classes. I'm going to try with either (or both if I'm ambitious!) German and Greek to get started, and then hopefully, add other languages in the future.
I carried out a language survey at Mowbray, and we have over 20 different mother tongues! No one thought the number was so high until we started talking to the kids about their native languages. This is why my multilingual podcasts are so important.
I've found a very interesting article on podcasting.
Now I'm going to get started on my own podcast 101!

Progress Update

In the last week, I've made some progress on getting information to create multilingual podcasts. I've found a number of children's literature books in languages other than English at the LOTE Bookshop in Ascot Vale. I have also found a number of native speakers of Greek, German, and Spanish to read. I'm exploring how to create podcasts, using My Podcast as a guide.

In the next few weeks, I plan to create the podcasts, upload them to our class wiki page, and then to create materials for monolingual teachers to use to foster the mother tongues of their students.

I'm off to Perth tomorrow for an IB workshop at Scotch College. I'm looking forward to going out there, as this will be my first time in WA.

LOTE Bookshop

If you're in Melbourne and are looking for resources in languages other than English the LOTE Bookshop in Ascot Vale is a great place to start. They have resources in many languages and can source materials from overseas as well.

Bilingual Perceptions

I need to recount this story-it's a true, personal account of being bilingual in Melbourne. My husband, a bilingual (German/English speaker) who has lived and worked in 8 countries over the last ten years and who fully functions in both languages told me the following story last night.
He was recently promoted to take over the management of a project, and went into his local cafe for his daily vanilla latte. The barista greeted him with a jovial, "Good Morning Boss! How ya goin?" My husband replied, "Oh, so you've heard already. News travels fast." The barista, not missing a beat, answered, "Yeah, but couldn't they at least have found someone who speaks English?"

Needless to say, my husband was dumbstruck, as am I, at this statement. When perceptions like those exist about multilingualism in 2007 Australia, where are we headed??

Peter Hellier becomes bilingual!

For those of you in Australia, this You Tube link shows Peter Hellier speaking Italian. It's a nice plug for the importance of multilingualism.

Multilingual Resources #2

The Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross Cultural Communication (RUMACCC) at the University of Melbourne is a great resource for promoting multilingualism.

The Languages and Multicultural Education Resource Centre is a specialist resource centre supporting school curriculum development and programes in LOTE, ESL, Koorie and Aboriginal languages, Multicultural, antiracism, and human rights education, Civics and citzenship, and Studies of Asia.

UNESCO's webpage on cultural and linguistic diversity in education gives an overview of language policies, mother tongue maintenance and support, and their position on the multilingual internet. It's an interesting source of information.

As I continue to explore the use of podcasting to maintain and foster mother tongue development, I will add more resources and information to my blog.

Multilingual Resources #1

Over my years of teaching and working as a workshop leader for the IBO, I have gathered a number of websites, articles, and resources which I have found useful. I'll add to this list in upcoming posts, but I thought it would be a good idea to get started now.

One of the most important researchers in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is Dr. Jim Cummins from Canada. His website is a fantastic resource and includes articles like, "Bilingual Children's Mother Tongues: Why It Is Important for Education".

Multilingual Matters is a publishing company which concentrates on all areas of language learning and acquisition.

Bilingual Options provide services to families and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Bilingual Options is here in Melbourne.

TCK's or "Third Culture Kids" are those children who spend a good portion of their childhood or young adult life growing up in a culture(s) that is not their parents and who develop a relationship to both cultures. TCKs are often the children of diplomats, business executives, international school teachers, missionaries, or servicemen and women. I've included this link here because I'm particularly interested in TCKs and their journeys. Having worked in international schools, I taught TCKs. My children will be TCKs because they will have parents from mixed backgrounds. I am American, my husband is German, and we currently live in Australia, with our future plans being to return to Asia. Our children will certainly be TCKs and will need to learn how to negotiate and operate in more than one language and more than one culture.

Multilingualism Seminar

I went to a multilingualism seminar on Sunday 12 August at the University of Melbourne. The Research Unit for Multilingualism and Cross-Cultural Communication hosted the event. There were 5, one-hour lectures to choose from. I attended "Issues in Raising Children Bilingually", "Practical Suggestions for Helping Your Child Learn Your Language" and "Family Movies, Blogging, and New Communication Media in Raising Children Bilingually". All three seminars were fantastic and offered helpful and practical ways for parents to raise their children multilingually, which is of personal interest to me, as my husband is a native German speaker. The last session on new media was fantastic and showed a number of ways in which a bilingual family is using new technologies to foster their children's mother tongues. The use of blogging, email, keypals, and DVDs was inspiring and offered so many awesome ideas. I got very excited by the possibilities and with this, my first foray into blogging, figure I can try it out and see how it works. The lecturer didn't mention the use of podcasting as a way to foster mother tongue maintenance and development. I plan to contact him and see what he thinks of my idea of using podcasts to help foster the mother tongues of my students.

Introduction

As part of my Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education degree at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, I am taking a course called, "New Learning". In this course, we are exploring new technologies and the pedagogical applications to teaching and learning. You can check out our class wiki and learn about the areas that we are all investigating.

I have decided to explore the use of podcasting in languages other than English in order to support the mother tongue development of children who do not speak English as their first language. I would like to podcast popular children's literature, translated into different languages so that children can access these stories in their mother tongues. I feel it is vital for schools and communities to support these children's efforts to maintain their mother tongues.

My interest in this area grew out of my work with the International Baccalaureate Organization and my current position at Mowbray College in Caroline Springs, Australia.

I need to investigate the copyright issues related to podcasting. I plan to look into this in the next week, so check back for updates.

As I learn more and work towards my goal, I will update my blog, at least once a week.