They joined well known comedian Kilian Sundermann who blew up after a series of viral videos
Irish comedian Kilian Sundermann was in the University of Limerick today celebrating how to have fun with languages with over 160 Transition Year students.
Lots of activities including a language and culture escape room, a music and dance workshop and a big quiz were also on offer at the #ThinkLanguages event, organised by UL’s School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics.
The event was funded by the Languages Connect initiative which is part of the national strategy to promote foreign language learning in Ireland.
Comedian Killian Sundermann, who rose to prominence with his viral sketches, was in UL to take part in workshops with students where they were taught how to develop their own short sketches and videos.
Many of Sundermann’s videos and sketches are based on observations of different cultures, mostly drawn from his own experience of being Irish and German.
“We’re so excited to see a comedian. Learning to make videos will be great fun,” said one of the participants.
While the majority of students study German and French at secondary school, the #ThinkLanguages event also explored Japanese and Arabic. Two separate workshops taught students key phrases, and about the different cultures and backgrounds of the languages.
Some 160 students were be in attendance from Kerry, Laois, and Tipperary.
Speaking about the day Transition Year students from Borrisokane said what interculture meant to them. They said,
“Connecting everyone. Respecting our different cultures and understanding through their languages.”
The #ThinkLanguages event also saw the national launch of a national ‘Culture Shocked’ illustration competition for Transition Year students by Dr Florence Le Baron-Earle, University Teacher in French and Technology at University of Limerick. Culture Shocked! is a compilation of fifty original comics celebrating cultural diversity and depicting authentic testimonies of cultural misunderstandings with humour. Inspired by the artwork, the competition invites TY students and their schools to share their own story of culture shock either with hand-drawn or digital illustrations. More details here.