Native Language @ ISB

Community Resources

August 11, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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Sign Up for Panther Native Language Academy

Welcome to the 2022-23 school year! Registration is now open for after-school programs, including Panther Native Language Academy!

Schedules for PNLA classes will be set after registration and payment, and tailored to fit the participants’ schedules. 

For help with registration, please join us in the Chevron Theater at 8:00am on Tuesday, August 16th for a short presentation on how to use the new CCA registration platform.

For information about Panther Native Language Academy, please come to our booth in MPB 1-3 between 9:00am and 12 noon on Saturday, August 20th during the Panther Activities & Athletics Fair. The MPB is at the top of the Zigzag.

Please also feel free to email questions anytime! PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th

Here’s to a language-rich school year!

June 16, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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“Tug on” Languages Between School Years

The vacation between school years is an opportunity to practice languages . . . by visiting home countries, reading books for pleasure, speaking with loved ones, and more. How will your family “tug on” languages during ISB’s upcoming vacation? 

줄다리기 at an ES Korean party for the International Day of Multilingualism, March 2022. Teacher: Young Ae Jung

Touwtrekken at an ES/MS/HS Dutch celebration of Koningsdag, April 2022. Teacher (not pictured): Kees Meinders

April 18, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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View Parent Workshop on Translanguaging

On Tuesday morning, March 29, 2022, ISB welcomed Dr. Laura Ascenzi-Moreno and Dr. Cecilia M. Espinosa, authors of the book Rooted in Strength, to join us remotely for a Parent Education session about translanguaging. They explored the questions What is translanguaging? and What does it mean for my family? They also responded to questions from ISB parents.

Their one-hour session is now available as a video! Here are details about the session and the speakers. What questions do you have about translanguaging?

 

March 14, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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ISB Language Snapshots, Semester 2, 2021-22

What languages might you hear on ISB’s campus these days? Here is a snapshot based on student data for Semester 2, 2021-22 (click image to enlarge).

Note: This graph shows the number of students for whom each language is listed as Student Language in PowerSchool. The data is incomplete, as multilingual students could report only one Student Language, and some families did not report a language.

Below is one more snapshot, of how many ISB households are likely to be multilingual. The green portion, just less than 20 percent, represents families for whom English is listed as Student Language, Parent 1 Language, and Parent 2 Language in PowerSchool. The blue portion represents all families for whom that is not the case.

Since English is a common language at school, it may come as a surprise that most ISB households are not monolingual, English-speaking households. This graph makes that reality visible.

To check on your family’s language data in PowerSchool, contact us anytime: 

nativelanguage@isb.ac.th

March 4, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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Sign Up for Parent Workshop on Translanguaging!

Click image above to enlarge.

On Tuesday, March 29, from 8-9 a.m., ISB is delighted to welcome Dr. Cecilia Espinosa and Dr. Laura Ascenzi-Moreno to lead a parent workshop called Translanguaging: Why is this an important topic for my family? 

Drs. Espinosa and Ascenzi-Moreno are the authors of Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers and Writers. In this one-hour workshop, they will introduce the concept of translanguaging to ISB parents. 

Please join us! Parents of students in PreK through Grade 12 are welcome. Please register here and a Zoom link will be sent to you.

To read more about this session and both speakers, please find more details here.   

See you online on March 29!

March 2, 2022
by ISB Native Language Programs
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Payment for PNLA Semester 2 Now Open

Thanks to all who signed up for Panther Native Language Academy (PNLA) Semester 2! The Panther Activities payment window is now open.

Below: PK2 Thai class, taught by Dr. Pimolpun (Jib) Burapharat (far below) with assistant Khun Viyada (Tuu) Kunakorn. 

December 17, 2021
by ISB Native Language Programs
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Happy Holidays from Panther Native Language Academy

Happy Holidays to you and yours from Panther Native Language Academy! 

See if you can spot virtual Dutch and Hebrew classes, taught by Kees Meinders and Oren Rubin, in the video here. A photo from an in-person Mandarin class, taught by Zhouying Wang since mid-November, is above.

Sign-up for Semester 2 PNLA classes will open in January. Most classes will start on January 24, two weeks into the semester, when an update to COVID-19 safety measures is expected. [Update, 14 January: most PNLA classes will now start on January 31.]

Here’s to a language-rich Winter Holiday!

October 25, 2021
by ISB Native Language Programs
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A Translanguaging Field Trip

Today, ISB faculty took a “translanguaging field trip” to schools around the world with Tonya Gilchrist of Erin Kent Consulting, as part of a Professional Development Day.

Did you know that translanguaging means leveraging all of students’ languages for learning? Here is an article by Gilchrist that says more—and involves cake! 🍰

Here are more posts on this blog about translanguaging at ISB.

September 4, 2021
by ISB Native Language Programs
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Hidden Multilinguals

Greetings! Here at ISB, we often send information about Panther Native Language Academy (PNLA) classes to ISB families we know are multilingual. But we sometimes miss “hidden multilinguals” whose native/near-native language(s) we don’t know. Examples:
  • Korean student who attended school in French in Africa
  • American students who acquired Spanish in Chile and Peru
  • Thai student who studied Chinese intensively at prior school
Are your child(ren) “hidden multilinguals” who might benefit from PNLA? If so, please contact us! PantherNativeLanguageAcademy@isb.ac.th
 
 
More details about native/near-native language classes at ISB are here.