The results of the 2017 SBS National Languages Competition are out! Four winners across the country from four age categories were awarded at a ceremony at SBS yesterday, with special guests including the Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training, and competition judge and famed Eurovision singer Isaiah.
The winning videos celebrate the wonder of language and diversity with Percy Page from Shorncliffe State School QLD speaking Mandarin, Eirini Vergaki from Melbourne sharing the beauty of Greek language, Anjali D’Cunha from Sydney using IKEA to introduce Swedish culture, and Celina Bugara from Victoria telling her dream to be an interpreter.
The competition encourages students across Australia, who are learning a language other than English, to submit a 30 second video in their language summarizing, “What learning a language means to me?” The 2017 competition was launched this July.
In the spirit of the competition, we asked staff around the office to sum up what learning a language means to them and here are the results:
Sarah Migliorino, Account Director “Learning Italian for me was important because it was a way for me to be able to communicate with and get to know my grandfather who spoke Italian and very little English”.
Josh Rebolledo, Project Officer of DiverseWerks: “Since learning Spanish have been able to emotionally connect on a deeper level with my Chilean heritage and culture. While learning the Japanese language I could understand more about the diverse cultures, societies and world views of Japan in a way I can’t in just English.”