Native Language @ ISB

What languages might you hear on ISB’s campus these days? Here is a snapshot based on student data for Semester 1, 2020-2021 (click image to enlarge).

Note: This graphic 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. To check on your child’s language data, please contact: nativelanguage@isb.ac.th

During the 2019-20 school year, five students in the HS Japanese Native II and MS Native Japanese classes published essays in the Asahi Shimbun, a premier Japanese national newspaper. The students wrote about navigating overseas moves and about their intercultural identities.

Click images below to enlarge.

Kotoha (HS) wrote about negotiating academic English and classroom discussions at international school (November 20, 2019): 

Lisa (HS) described maintaining two family languages, Japanese and Korean, with inspiration from a friend (November 26, 2019):

 

Emina (MS) called for acceptance of people with a wide variety of physical appearances in Japanese society (January 7, 2020):

 

Satomi (MS) reflected on flying to Japan to be with an ailing grandparent, who struggled to communicate (January 16, 2020):

 

Karen (MS) urged that virtual reality and artificial intelligence be used to foster intercultural empathy (January 28, 2020):

 

The students drafted and submitted their essays as part of Media and Culture units instructed by Kahoru Nakamachi. The units called for writing one’s opinion with a particular outlet, audience, purpose, and style in mind.

Students in prior years have published essays about striving and about similarities and differences between Japanese and international school. 

Comparative reflection about one’s cultures, and writing for an authentic audience, are key tasks for multilingual students and highly valued at ISB.

Many ISB families are enjoying Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone this month, thanks to the MS Faculty Read-Aloud. Did you know that this book is free online in many languages during COVID-19? 

To browse the ebook, audiobook, and print versions available in Thailand, visit Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 21 ISB Languages!

(Tip: log in to Sora first.)

Happy reading and listening!

Panthers Pounce is a school-wide May reading challenge where everyone—students, staff, and families—can join the fun in ANY language! To participate, read in any/all of your languages during May and log your reading time here. (Choose the Students or Adults box on the right side of the page.)

Happy reading in ANY language!

สวัสดีปีใหม่ค่ะ! Happy Thai New Year! In celebration of Songkran, ISB ES faculty posted a video wishing students well in four languages. Enjoy! 

Multilingualism can help us understand different cultures…which is sometimes weird. It makes travel easier…when we can travel! Middle schoolers in virtual Native Spanish with Maite Montero-Nahoum recently represented what being multilingual means to them, celebrating the International Day of Multilingualism. 

Here are videos by Gaby and Natalia (their names en español), shared with permission. Students may be stuck at home due to the novel coronavirus, but they’re having fun!

Video 1 (Gaby)

Video 2 (Natalia)

Like biodiversity, linguistic diversity is important to study and safeguard. Every year on February 21, the United Nations observes International Mother Language Day to celebrate all languages and promote multilingualism.

ISB observed #IMLD2020 with displays in both libraries, a themed prompt on the ES floor-to-ceiling chalkboard, and a video in the MS daily announcements. HS student Shea (above) read aloud in Mandarin to ES classes as part of her Global Citizenship Week internship with Nat Whitman, ES Hub. (Last year’s Hub observance featured read-alouds in Thai.)

Happy International Mother (Native) Language Day, and have a language-rich February Break!

Above: Shea, grade 10, with a table of Mandarin children’s books she prepared in the ES Hub. Below: Instructional Assistant Khun Mam with the multilingual bulletin board she made in the Main Library.

The word translanguaging comes from the Welsh trawsiethu and refers to using more than one language for teaching and learning. ISB’s multilingual student body stands to benefit from translanguaging, so educators have been exploring it at several recent professional days.

How might translanguaging look in an ISB classroom? This video by consultant Eowyn Crisfield offers a glimpse.

Crisfield has also published a journal article about translanguaging in international schools. 

What questions do you have about translanguaging?

Hello from all 67 nations represented in ISB’s Elementary School! 

These slides were shown at today’s 2019 ES Intercultural Day assembly. (For best quality, kindly download.)

The slides show a greeting in at least one language from every nation represented in the ES, according to Powerschool and ES students themselves.

The slides also show each nation’s location and an example of its art–whether music, literature, visual art, or dance. Languages and art/culture represent core aspects of identity, vital to celebrate and share.

Happy Intercultural Day!

When parents, faculty and administrators gathered for today’s Raising Multilinguals: How? workshop, they enjoyed a buffet of samosas, sushi, mangoes with sticky rice—and bilingual glossaries.

The glossaries, organized by school subject and division (elementary, middle, high) are downloadable from the Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation in Schools, New York University. They come in many ISB languages.

Bilingual glossaries can help students and families discuss schoolwork in their native tongue(s), one of many language-rich experiences discussed at Raising Multilinguals: How?.

At this workshop, presenters defined a language-rich experience as “any experience where opportunities to use language are created and nurtured.” Participants explored ways to transform everyday experiences—from discussing homework to texting to waiting in traffic—into language-rich moments. Small groups considered ways to infuse speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing into different scenarios, and they pondered ways to have conversations that nurture language growth. Finally, everyone affirmed the importance of reading aloud in one’s native language(s).

If you missed last month’s Raising Multilinguals workshop or today’s Raising Multilinguals: How? workshop, feel free to email us for information: nativelanguage@isb.ac.th

Meanwhile, do sample the bilingual glossaries online! Click on Bilingual Glossaries under Bookmarks at the right side of this blog.