Festival of European Languages
Birdie Newcomb
European Festival in 9 Days
Belle Isle is hosting a Festival of European Languages, September 26,
from 8am to 2pm SLT, celebrating cultural diversity. The centerpiece
of the Festival is a huge map of Europe, which gives visitors
landmarks to a number of language/cultural sites (including Esperanto
and Basque). Which ones you get depend on where you happen to be
standing on the map. Birdie Newcomb, one of the organizers of the
Festival, calls this the "Eavesdrop School of Languages" approach,
encouraging students or the curious to go beyond the classroom,
encountering real people in situations where one may overhear
conversations, and, eventually, participate in another language.
In addition, speakers on language and edtech tools hold forth at
Belle Isle's Harbor Theater. At the Pavilion and the Events center,
one can see
activities celebrating cultural uniquenesses - ethnic music, dancing,
and, at 6pm GMT, a fashion show of traditional costumes and SL
designer styles. At the vendor booths around the grounds, one might
find language courses, edtech tools, multi-lingual translators,
informational displays, and cultural tchachkes (souvenirs) to take
home.
The Festival schedule runs from 4pm to 10pm GMT (8am to 2pm SLT), so
that Europe and America can both join in. The SLURL is (Belle Isle,
128, 128, 25). For more information, IM Festival organizers Maxie
Schneider or Birdie Newcomb.
A Rough Guide to Festival Events
8am SLT (4pm London) Welcoming
9am/5pm Russian/Baltic states/Finnish
10am/6pm Eastern Europe/Greek
11am/7pm Italian/German/Scandinavian
12 noon/8pm French/Belgian/Dutch/
1pm/9pm English/Spanish/Portuguese
Email: birdie....@gmail.com.