Tuesday Jan 13th, 20th and 27th at 3pm

“I’ve listened to the first Language Jewel and I’m not going to wait until this time next week to listen to the next one! It’s a really interesting documentary and you’ve arranged the interviews in a seamless manner.”- Dr Deirdre Kirwan, Principal , Scoil Bhríde Cailíní

Language Jewels is a three part series which follows the experience of Scoil Bhríde Cailíní, a primary school based in Blanchardstown that has passed in a short period of time from being a “typical” English speaking primary school, to host more than 40 languages in its classrooms. Join producer Ignacio Irigoien as he follows the journey of the school and looks at the involvement of the school in the Modern Languages in Primary Schools Initiative. We hear the opinions of scholars that have studied the issue of language integration in the classroom, looking at best practices in other countries and the advantages and disadvantages of early language integration from the perspective of the 2002 Barcelona Council, calling for the “teaching of at least two non-native languages from a very early age” and the fact that for many years, the European Commission has stressed the importance of multilingual education.

Produced and edited by Ignacio Irigoien for Near FM. The series is made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Sound and Vision scheme.