LangFest 2019
Montreal, Canada. 2019 08 23-25
2019-08-23 08:00:00
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"EARN" YOUR TICKET
Press Release - Spring 2019
University of Montreal

A high quality event in an ideal venue in Montreal with interesting presentations.

Maureen Millward - Author at Mo's Language Learning Journey
Maureen-Millward

If you love languages and want to connect with learners from around the world, Langfest is the place to be!

Kerstin Cable - FluentLanguage
kerstin_cable_1

It was a great evening! LangFest is my favorite polyglot event!

Peter Carroll - Participant
peter_carroll

Attending LangFest was a great chance to finally meet all of the wonderful members of the language community and hear well-researched talks from a group of speakers with diverse backgrounds and expertise.

Shannon Kennedy - Eurolinguiste
Shannon_Kennedy

I can truly say I’ve made friends for life from attending LangFest – friends who share a common passion of mine: languages!

Lindsay Williams - Lindsay Does Languages
lindsay_williams

In such a multilingual city such as Montreal, the topic of language identity is key. The organizers did a great job arranging activities for us to socialize and see the city.

Suzanna Zaraysky - Create Your World Books
Suzanna Zaraysky

The talks covered a wide range of topics, from the origins of language, to local dialects and individual languages, language learning technologies, and the experience of being bilingual or multilingual.

Ulrike Rettig - Games For Language
Ulrke Rettig

It was great to meet friends I know from other polyglot events, to meet people I know from their blogs, videos and/or websites and to make new friends.

Simon Ager - Founder of Omniglot
Simon_Ager

Montreal was the perfect city to hold a language festival because of its bilingualism and also multiculturalism.

Melanie Moore - Mango Languages
melanie_moore
ABOUT

About

WHAT IS LANGFEST?

LangFest, along with the world-renowned Jazz Festival and Just For Laughs Festival, gather a unique and diverse crowd to Montreal. As North America’s hotspot for linguists, LangFest promises participants an unforgettable week immersed in languages. Activities include: conference talks by internationally and locally acclaimed language experts, tours of Montreal and other social activities.

WHEN AND WHERE?

August 23 – 25, 2019 at University of Montreal, Pavillon Jean-Brillant, 3200, rue Jean-Brillant, Montréal.

WHO?

LangFest welcomes learners, from far and wide, of every fluency and enthusiasts alike. Participants are introduced to celebrity language gurus, qualified educators, state-of-the-art companies, entrepreneurs and, most importantly, other fellow language lovers. Members have access to cutting-edge tools, technologies and information to inspire, advance goals and make new friends. A magnet for polyglots, LangFest also promises many great opportunities for multilingual talents or other like-minded aficionados to mingle and to exchange ideas, creating valuable networks and lasting friendships along the way.

SPONSORS

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Tickets

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SPEAKERS

SpeakersMore speakers will be announced soon.

David Peterson

David Peterson

Language Creator

David Peterson is a language creator and author. He’s created languages for many television shows and films, among them HBO’s Game of Thrones, the CW’s The 100, Syfy’s Defiance, and Netflix’s Bright. He’s the author of “Living Language Dothraki” and “The Art of Language Invention”. He has BAs in English and Linguistics from UC Berkeley (2003), and an MA in Linguistics from UC San Diego (2005).

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Marc-Okrand

Marc Okrand

Linguist

Marc Okrand devised the dialogue and coached the actors speaking the Klingon language heard in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Star Trek Into Darkness. He also created the Atlantean language heard in the animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire. The Klingon language he developed has continued to be used in the later Star Trek TV series. In addition, he created Vulcan, Romulan, Kelpien, and other languages for several Star Trek films and TV series. He is the author of The Klingon Dictionary, The Klingon Way: A Warrior’s Guide, and Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, and is an associate producer of the documentary Conlanging: The Art of Crafting Tongues. He has a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

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StanAleong

Stanley Aléong

I’ve taught linguistics at various universities and published a number of academic papers on the vocabulary of French. I then moved on to IT (Information Science) in which I also published four books on operating systems. Lately I have come back to linguistics and the teaching of French, English and Spanish.

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BigBong

BigBong (Bong Sou)

BigBong

BigBong is a social media influencer focusing on audiovisual entertainment related to culture and languages. His YouTube channel is mostly known for the videos of accents from different countries. However, he has also started teaching courses in both French and Japanese for Absolute Beginners with an emphasis on spoken language.

He is also an actor taking part in a variety of projects. For instance, he is one of the two main characters from the web series FRAJALICAN directed by Mark Hachem. His approach when teaching, tutoring and coaching is inspired by acting exercises from theatre.

In terms of academic background, Bong Sou holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Montreal in Canada, a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Sorbonne Paris Cité University in France and he was an exchange student at Seoul National University in South Korea.

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Frank Bonkowski

Frank Bonkowski

Cégep de Saint-Laurent

Frank Bonkowski, PhD, has been teaching and creating ESL materials for over 30 years. Reach him at frank@frankbonkowski.com.

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Léo Bourdon

Léo Bourdon

Tesseract Strategies

Léo Bourdon is a dynamic person known for his community engagement for several years. He was born in Cornwall, Ontario from a Franco-Ontarian family. On his mother’s side, Léo is a direct descendant from the first colonists of Windsor-Detroit when they settled the region in 1701. After a hiatus in Quebec, Léo’s family moved back to Ontario where he got reacquainted with the francophone community. By working to preserve the French language, Léo got interested in learning other languages and although he doesn’t consider himself a ‘polyglot’ yet, he made the link between culture and languages throughout his experiences. After working for several francophone non-profit organisations, Léo now calls Ottawa his home and has lived there for the past 20 years.

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Nella Buffmire

Nella Buffmire

Buffmire Coaching & Tutoring

Nella Buffmire has taught Spanish and English as a second language for 13 years. She completed her Master’s Degree in Southern Spain. After moving to Austin, Texas she started an academic and language coaching business. She has been able to provide language coaching and instruction in a variety of educational formats. Nella has worked as a social worker and crisis counselor with multiple non-profits throughout Texas, New York and Spain. The skills required in these positions have allowed her to develop and teach self-care techniques. Her focus is to instruct her students in an environment that encourages and fosters positive feelings about learning a language.

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Zachary Burkett

Zachary Burkett

Software Engineer

Being a software engineer and a language lover has many interesting crossovers in the modern world. I’m a machine learning hobbyist, and have been fascinated with making computers understand and use language. Developer of Amikumu, traveler, lifetime learner.

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Kerstin Cable

Kerstin Cable

Fluent Language

Kerstin is a native German speaker and comes from the beautiful Moselle valley. She studied 6 languages in Germany and then packed them up and moved England, where she has added 3 more so far including her most recent language crush, Welsh.  Kerstin runs www.fluentlanguage.co.uk. Over the last 5 years, she has built her reputation as an advocate of independent and creative language learning, created retreats, coaching packages and courses, been featured in the Guardian, the Cut, and on BBC Radio, and worked tirelessly to change how the world sees language learning. She is the host of the Fluent Show podcast, and author of the guides Language Habit Toolkit, Fluency Made Achievable and The Vocab Cookbook.

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Kai L. Chan

Kai L. Chan

Dr Kai L. Chan is a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD. Previously he was a special adviser to the UAE federal government on competitiveness and statistics, where he focused on that country’s positioning on global performance indices. Prior to his stint in the UAE, Dr Chan served as an associate and the in-house economist for a consumer finance merchant banking firm in Manhattan. Before that, he worked in the Singapore office of a global management consulting firm. Chan’s expertise/research cover education, income distribution, migration, government & policy, and performance measurement. He is the creator of the Power Language Index, Gender Progress Index, and Intelligence Capital Index. Dr Chan holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and PhD from Princeton University. Kai grew up in Toronto, Canada, but currently resides in Montreal. He speaks English, French, Cantonese, Mandarin and German, and is currently learning Russian.

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Antoine Clerc-Renaud

Antoine Clerc-Renaud

Author / Editor

Antoine Clerc-Renaud is an editor, author and video game journalist. He focuses on the history of this medium. He has written–and co-written–five books on this subject.

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James Corl

James Corl

James Corl is a language loving, polyglot teenager. Starting with Italian when he was 12, he has since gone on to learn French (B2), Spanish (B2), and Chinese (A2), in addition to his native English. James is a tireless advocate of greater understanding between the international language learning community and academia, believing that both have unique perspectives that can help all learners throughout the world. He became the first (and only) student to present at the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers’ (NYSAFLT) Annual Conference in 2017, where he gave a presentation titled “Say Goodbye to Shy: A Student’s Perspective in the Classroom”, which outlined his independent language learning alongside his learning in the traditional classroom. He has also written articles for some of the most prestigious blogs in language learning, such as Fluent in 3 Months, I Will Teach You A Language, and more.

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Paul DuCett

Paul DuCett

Bard High School Early College

Paul has studied languages for over forty years and has taught for over thirty. A graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont (USA) in Russian and classical languages in 1982, Paul worked accompanying American tour groups to the then Soviet Union and China from 1983-1988. In 1988 Paul received a master’s in Teaching English as a Second Language from Hunter College, City University of New York. Since then, Paul has continued to study and teach languages in various types of classrooms and to various segments of the public. In 1993 Paul received a Fulbright award to teach English at the Linguistic University in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Since 2004, Paul has taught languages at Bard High School Early College in New York City. Paul earned a master’s in Spanish language and culture from the University of Salamanca, Spain, in 2008. Paul presented at LangFest in 2017.

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Audrey Grier

Audrey Grier

ESL Teacher

Audrey Grier is an ESL teacher with 14 years of experience teaching adult immigrants from around the world, both in Denver, Colorado and Paterson, New Jersey, USA. She has a Masters Degree in ESL Curriculum and Instruction from Kean University. Elementary school French class was the spark for her love of languages. The Spanish language became a defining part of her life through friendships, music, and travel during college. Learning new phrases and communicating in various languages, continues to bring her joy as she connects with new people.

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profile pic - Mark Hachem

Mark Hachem

Mark Hachem is an actor, director, YouTuber and social media influencer, who merges his love of culture and language with the world of entertainment, to bring laughter, inspire, and bring people together from around the world and celebrate diversity.

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Karl Haloj

Karl Haloj

Doctor of Modern Languages

A world-traveling, polyglot linguist, Dr. Haloj has been involved in virtually every facet of the “language profession” for over three decades. He earned his Doctorate of Modern Languages (DML) at Middlebury College. His areas of expertise include Romance, Celtic and Iroquoian languages; language acquisition; language pedagogy; and critical discourse analysis. But his love of language and cultures often leads him well beyond the limits of his own specialities, thereby giving him the opportunity to keep learning and to renew his vision of the world through “beginner’s eyes”.

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Jonathan Huggins

Jonathan Huggins

Huggins International

Jonathan is an American English teacher, polyglot, and founder of the 30-Day Speaking Challenge, which motivates language learners to develop a daily habit of speaking their target language(s). He speaks English, Spanish, French, Russian, German, and Italian at various levels. He has lived and taught in France for 6 years and Mexico for the last 10, where he currently works as a TOEFL prep coach and raises his two trilingual children.

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Steve Kaufmann

Steve Kaufmann

Co-Founder, LingQ

Steve Kaufmann is a graduate of L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris, France (1966), and a former Canadian Diplomat and forest industry executive. He is co-founder (with his son Mark), of LingQ.com, an online language learning system, and community. Steve speaks more than 15 languages, has written a book called The Way of the Linguist, A Language Learning Odyssey, has a blog called The Linguist on Language, and a youtube channel under the name of lingosteve.

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Kirsipuu

David Kirsipuu

David is a Canadian linguist, polyglot and worlds creator who takes a particular interest in language history and in the pronunciation of our world’s languages, created or not. He particularly likes the Nguni languages of South Africa, and the Kartvelian, Turkic and Indigenous languages, mostly of North America.

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CarolineLegouix

Caroline Legouix

Writer and writing workshop host

Originally from France, Caroline Legouix has been living in Quebec for about twenty years. She studied English Language and Civilization, then Psychology and Academic and Career Advising. After having worked in different fields, such as advisor in career management at École Polytechnique de Montréal, she now dedicates herself to writing. She has published a collection of short stories and a novel. Some of her short stories have been published in magazines as well as in a textbook for teaching French as a second language. She shares her interest in the French language and for writing by hosting writing workshops. She speaks English, regrets having forgotten German and Romanian (which she studied at school and university), and has some knowledge of Spanish, Japanese, and Serbian. She would like her books to be translated into English and Esperanto.

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Vladis Lim

Vladis Lim

Vladis Lim, born in Moscow, Russia, has had a tendency, since his teenage years, to acquire notions of new foreign languages through his numerous international encounters and passion for world’s cinema, music and cuisine. Settling in Montreal in 2013, he has been a journalist for a Francophone African media outlet since 2015. An engineering school graduate in France, with additional training in economics and sociology, he is interested in international relations and economic, political and cultural exchanges between Asian and African countries. He speaks Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Swahili and Indonesian, and is learning around ten other languages such as Mandarin, Wolof and Tamil.

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Allison Litten

Allison Litten

French teacher, Marion Cross School

Allison currently teaches French at the Marion Cross School in Norwich, VT, and is passionate about providing her students of all ages with comprehensible input. She relishes the opportunity of working with multiple age groups and loves her students and having fun, playing with stuffies, and encouraging circumlocution. This school year Allison is teaching kindergarten and first, second, fourth, and sixth grades. She loves to share with other teachers and blogs about her classroom experiences and ideas at cicanteach.com. Allison holds a BA from Williams College and MAs from Middlebury College and the University of Mississippi. She served as Co-President of the Vermont Foreign Language Association (VFLA) from 2012-2018 and was named VFLA Teacher of the Year in 2019.

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Lori Lucas

Lori Lucas

Lori Lucas is originally from Chicago where she was exposed to Yiddish and studied French. She lived for many years in Brussels, Belgium where she taught AP/IB English literature and composition at the International School of Brussels before moving to Boulder, Colorado where she now resides and teaches Jewish-American Fiction and Shakespeare at the University of Colorado. Lori has a passion for art, travel, language and literature. Her volume poetry entitled Chiaroscuro is in its 4th printing.

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Gretchen McCulloch

Gretchen McCulloch

Internet Linguist

Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist and the author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language. She is the Resident Linguist at Wired and the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics. She lives in Montreal, but also on the internet.

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Julie Morin

Julie Morin

Communications advisor, Language Portal Division, Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada / Government of Canada

Julie Morin is a communications advisor at the Translation Bureau’s Language Portal of Canada. She has over 12 years’ experience in the field: she graduated from the University of Sherbrooke in 2008 with a degree in communication, writing and multimedia, and has been a French certified editor since 2016. Julie is enthusiastic about giving people the tools they need to improve their communication at school and work. A seasoned speaker, she joined Toastmasters over 10 years ago to develop presentation techniques for connecting with audience members. Before becoming a proud member of the Language Portal, Julie made daily use of the site’s resources in her role as French revision team leader in a federal organization. She therefore knows the Portal’s writing tools better than anyone and will show you which resources you need to communicate effectively in a Canadian context. Get your questions ready!

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Maria Ortega Garcia

María Ortega García

Creative Spanish Language and Culture Teacher

María, global traveler and self-employed business woman, is a trained, certified, and experienced teacher and DELE examiner, and certified SIELE exam trainer with a degree in Arts and a masters in Scenery Arts. She is a Spanish grammar expert who loves exploring creativity, culture, art, and self-expression in the target language as a way to connect the brain knowledge with heart knowledge.

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ElisaPolese

Elisa Polese

Speak from day 1 with Elisa

Elisa is a professional multilingual teacher and language enthusiast. She teaches Italian, German, English, Spanish, Russian, French, Dutch, Catalan, Portuguese, Greek, Hindi, Arabic and Esperanto. She is specialised in multilingual teaching and helps students learn several languages at the same time and speak them from day one without mixing them up. She is the author of book ‘Multilingual learning: how to become fluent in multiple languages’. She is a certified language examiner and holds two BAs in Translation and Interpreting, an MA in International Communication and an MA in Didactics. Elisa organises workshops and webinars where you can start speaking one or more languages from the very first moment and have your first conversation after just a few minutes. She also teaches online and is a multilingual mentor and coach and can help you improve your language skills quickly. In addition, Elisa is one of the organisers of the Polyglot Gathering. Check out her books and videos on her website http://www.speakfromdayonewithelisa.com or her Facebook page @Speakfromdayonewithelisa and subscribe to her YouTube channel PassionForLanguages.

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Marc Pomerleau

Marc Pomerleau

Translation studies academic

Marc Pomerleau is a certified translator and university lecturer. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Latin American studies and a graduate diploma in translation from McGill University, he obtained a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in translation studies from Université de Montreal. His research focuses on language issues in the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America, most notably on Romance languages, minority languages, the history of translation and the relationship between language, power and politics. A lecturer at Université de Montréal and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), he teaches translation, editing, translation theory and introductory classes to foreign languages and cultures. His working languages are French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Catalan, and he has studied a dozen other languages, including Arabic, Creole, Galician and Italian.

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Alexandra Racek

Alexandra Racek

Speech-language therapist

Alexandra is a trained speech-language pathologist who taught Deaf high school students during the school year. She is passionate about learning languages and has a special interest in sign languages. Curious about everything, Alexandra is constantly striving to learn about different topics.

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Azren Raju

Azren Raju

Azren the Language Nerd

Azren, also known as “Polyglot Azren” and “Azren the Language Nerd” is passionate about learning languages. He currently speaks 5 languages and has a goal of speaking 8 at an advanced level by the age of 45. He documents his progress and shares advice for language learners on his podcast “The Language Learning Show” and on all major social media platforms. In his free time, Azren loves to travel and watch superhero movies. As for his work, our fellow polyglot runs the Language Nerds community in Calgary, Canada which provides opportunities for Calgarians to learn French, Spanish, and/or Mandarin.

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Roy Suzanne

Suzanne Roy

Vice-president of the Quebec Esperanto Society

A language and travel enthusiast, Suzanne Roy has used several languages over the years, including Spanish, German, Italian, Turkish and Portuguese. A self-taught woman, she loves sharing her passions. She has thus taught French, English, Spanish, and more recently Esperanto, which became her main language when traveling. Music, bridge and medical jargon are also languages she makes regular use of.

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Phaedra Royle

Phaedra Royle

Professor at University of Montreal

Phaedra Royle, Ph.D., is a certified professor at the École d’orthophonie et d’audiologie (School of Speech Pathology and Audiology) at the University of Montreal as well as a member of the Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM). Her research revolves around the topics of psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, language development disorders, language acquisition, morphology (the structure of words), and the treatment of sentences in French.

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Anja Spilker

Anja Spilker

Born and raised in Germany, “Anja from Alemania” left her home country 10 years ago to work, live and study in various countries. She is the founder and CEO of ZALOA Languages, a language institute that works with native speakers from all over the world. The headquarters are based in Mexico where Anja lives since 2014. After having tested the efficiency of language learning combined with fitness workouts, in 2018 Anja launched together with her team the YouTube channel “Burn&Learn Languages” that shows how to practice German vocabulary whilst doing physical exercises.

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Ninaatig Staats Pangowish

Ninaatig Staats Pangowish

Ninaatig Staats Pangowish teaches Anishinaabemowin at Wandering Spirit School in the TDSB. He also teaches community members at The Native Canadian Center of Toronto. He has formerly taught classes at York University. He has recently started Ninaatigoons Learning to do translations, provide consultancy on learning Anishinaabemowin and start more community based programming. Ninaatig is devoted to the revitalization fo Anishinaabemowin. He studied linguistics at McMaster, before pursuing an immersion program in Anishinaabemowin at Kenjigewin-Teg. He went on to obtain his B.Ed from Nipissing in order to teach language. In September, in will pursue his M.Ed focusing on incorporting cultural practices to deliever better outcomes for students. Ninaatig is thankful for this opportunity to share his love for Anishinaabemowin at LangFest.

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Anna Takahashi

Anna Takahashi

Kinéson

Born in France to a German mother and a Japanese father, Anna grew up speaking French, German and Japanese. She has been exploring body language and the fascination relationship between your movements, your sound, your breath, your brain, your learning, your creativity and your stress management skills for more than 25 years. In 2012, she created Kinéson, a “yoga of the mind and voice,” which offers a complete experience of what nourishes her practice (Gaiayoga, vowel chanting, Brain Gym®, integrated and archetypal movements, Jin Shin Jyutsu®, Hatha Yoga, Pneumacorps® relaxation and breath reeducation and Body Mind Centering). She teaches in France, Germany, Japan and in Montreal in four languages–French, German, Italian and Japanese. The simple yet effective exercises she practices all day long also help her in her day job as a specialized translator of personal development and wellness books (more than 50 books).

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Emmanuel Ternon

Emmanuel Ternon

Dr. Emmanuel Ternon is a software engineer turned polyglot with a passion for Chinese characters. An avid traveller, he has lived in four different countries (France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan) and currently speaks 10 languages, including three from East Asia (Japanese, Korean and Mandarin Chinese). Dr. Ternon recently published the book “Traditional Chinese Characters: A Translingual Writing System” (ISBN 978-1-729-16447-1) to raise awareness about the fact that Chinese characters (especially in their traditional forms) are the key to efficiently learning multiple East Asian languages because they make it possible to write a large portion of the vocabularies of these languages the exact same way. By combining his software development skills with his knowledge of East Asian languages, Dr. Ternon aims to create a variety of software tools useful for people learning or working with these languages.

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Léa Tirard-Hersant

Léa Tirard-Hersant

With her teaching motto “Pour apprendre à parler, il faut parler !” (“To learn how to talk, you have to talk!”) Léa is an advocate of experiential learning. She holds a Master’s degree from la Sorbonne university in Linguistics and she has taught more than 5000 hours of online lessons since her debut in 2013. Léa recently formed a team of linguists and developers and together they launched the Staircase, “A Home for Language Learners” with language courses and tutors available for French and Spanish lessons. A linguist at heart, she will be with us at LangFest for sharing her latest academic research.

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Nicholas Walker

Nicholas Walker

Ahuntsic College

Nicholas Walker teaches ESL at Ahuntsic College and has received awards for his teaching (AQPC Award, 2019), his leadership in Education (Sesquicentennial Pin, 2017), and for his Actively Engaged series of ESL textbooks (TESL Canada Innovation Award, 2017). Nicholas holds an M.A. in Applied Linguistics (2009), a TESL Certificate (2002), and a B.A. in Literature (1995), all earned at Concordia University. He began developing textbooks in South Korea, where he taught for 5 years, and currently spends his free time writing textbooks for his self-publishing operation Bokomaru Publications, serving the ESL Coordination Subcommittee for the Province of Quebec, speaking at conferences, and developing new features for his popular grammar checker website VirtualWritingTutor.com. You can learn more about him here: blog.VirtualWritingTutor.com.

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Jade Wu

Jade Jia Ying Wu

Inspirlang

Jade Jia Ying Wu completed her Teaching Certificate Program in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and TCSOL (Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages) from Teachers College, Columbia University and Beijing Language and Culture University in 2016. She has taught Chinese in classrooms of various sizes and to students of all ages, in both the U.S. and China. Jade was born and raised in Guangdong, China, where Cantonese is one of the main dialects. She moved to Michigan at the age of 13 and spent most of her young adulthood living in New York City. Experiencing both Chinese and American cultures, she was often confused yet fascinated by the differences between them. She is also the author of Learn to Speak Cantonese I: A Beginner’s Guide to Mastering Conversational Cantonese and Learn to Speak Mandarin I. In her free time, Jade also enjoys learning other languages such as Spanish, Vietnamese and Korean.

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Tetsu Yung

Tetsu Yung

AskTetsu.com

Tetsu Yung was raised in a multilingual/multicultural setting, which allowed him to be exposed to 5 languages by the age of 6 and 10 languages by the age of 20. Today, Tetsu is fluent in English, French, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. However, as the father of 3 children, aged 7, 5 and 2, Tetsu’s mission now is not to learn more languages, but to raise his kids to become multilingual just like himself. He is the author of the eBook “Pampers to Polyglots: 7 ideas for raising multilinguals like me”.

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LangFest 2019 team

Team LangFest 2019

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Social Activities

Social Activities

Download the Social Activities Pamphlet (PDF)
20 AUG (Tuesday)
19:00 — 22:00
3435 Boul. Saint-Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2X 2T6
Mundo Lingo at La P’tite Grenouille (language and cultural exchange)
3435 Boul. Saint-Laurent, Montréal, QC, H2X 2T6
21 AUG (Wednesday)
10:00 — 14:00
10:00: Meeting at Metro Berri-UQAM (Exit St-Denis)
Quartier Latin walking tour
10:00: Meeting at Metro Berri-UQAM (Exit St-Denis)
15:00 — 18:00
15:00: Métro Place d'Armes
Visit of a Montréal Museum (10-20$ per person depending on the group and the bundle)
15:00: Métro Place d'Armes
19:00 —22:00 (sunny weather)
701, Côte de la Place d’Armes, 8th floor, Old Montreal
Friendly get-together on the terrace of Hotel Place d’Armes
701, Côte de la Place d’Armes, 8th floor, Old Montreal
19:00 — 22:00 (In case of rain)
701, Côte de la Place d’Armes, Main Floor, Old Montreal
Friendly get-together at Brasserie 701
701, Côte de la Place d’Armes, Main Floor, Old Montreal
22 AUG (Thursday)
08:30 — 09:45
357 Rue de Castelnau E, Montréal, QC H2R 1P8 Métro de Castelneau (Blue line)
Pain dans les voiles (Coffee/Bread)
357 Rue de Castelnau E, Montréal, QC H2R 1P8 Métro de Castelneau (Blue line)
10:00 — 14:00
10:00: Meeting at Jean-Talon metro station
Visit the Jean-Talon Market and Little Italy | (Lunch - Jarry Park)
10:00: Meeting at Jean-Talon metro station
15:00 — 18:00
15:00: Meeting at Place d'Armes metro station
Old Port and downtown walking tour
15:00: Meeting at Place d'Armes metro station
19:00 — 22:00
1412 Rue Sainte-Élisabeth, Montréal, QC H2X 1L4 Métro - Berri UQAM (5-minute walk)
Friendly get-together at the Ste-Elisabeth pub
1412 Rue Sainte-Élisabeth, Montréal, QC H2X 1L4 Métro - Berri UQAM (5-minute walk)
25 AUG (SUNDAY)
18:00 — 21:30
17:30 Meeting in the main auditorium of University of Montreal
Picnic and language exchange at Parc Jeanne-Mance (Mont-Royal)
17:30 Meeting in the main auditorium of University of Montreal
Schedule

Schedule

 
23 AUG (FRIDAY)
10:00 — 18:00
Registration
13:00 — 13:45
Room 1a (B-2285)
Opening Ceremony
Room 1a (B-2285)
Team LangFest 2019LangFest 2019 team
13:45 — 14:00
Break
14:00 — 14:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
The scientific and not-so-scientific reasons for starting as early as possible in raising multilingual children (EN)

(in English)
As soon as they were born, Tetsu Yung had been raising his 3 children in multiple languages (English, French, Japanese, Mandarin, and Spanish). In this talk, Tetsu discusses the importance of starting as early as possible in order to maximize your chances of success in raising multilingual kids. Scientific and non-scientific arguments, along with 7 years of experience with his own children, will be covered.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Tetsu YungTetsu Yung
14:00 — 14:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
African Linguistics: Importance and Perspectives (FR)

(in French)
A presentation in French of the diversity of African languages, their importance and the particularities of their use outside of the African continent, their impact in art (music, cinema, etc.), business and international politics.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Vladis LimVladis Lim
14:00 — 14:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Breton is cool! (FR)

(in French)
We’re going to have some fun learning a bit of Breton. This workshop will fundamentally be an interactive experience where you’ll have the chance to get acquainted with the beauty of this Celtic language by speaking it for yourselves. And, of course, there will also be some time left for your questions…

Room 4 (B-3315)
Karl HalojKarl Haloj
14:45 — 15:00
Break
15:00 — 15:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
Crossing the Great Divide: Bridging the Gap Between Language Learners and Academia (EN)

(in English)
Have you ever thought about the science behind language learning? Have you ever seen a journal article, viewed by thousands of academics across the world? Have you ever met a professor behind a study that dives into the minds of monolinguals and polyglots alike? For too long, independent language learners and academics in the field of linguistics and language acquisition have misunderstood one another. So, whether you are a beginner in your foreign language studies or a seasoned polyglot, this interactive seminar is for you! This workshop will discuss several resources within the academic world that can aid independent learners, such as (but not limited to) academic journals, linguistic theory, and more! In addition, skills that are crucial to making the most of this wealth of information will be taught as well.

Room 2 (B-3345)
James CorlJames Corl
15:00 — 15:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Language register and language performance (FR)

(in French)
Speaking to fellow polyglots and multilinguals, I want to revisit that age-old question “How many languages do you speak?” from the perspective of what it means to speak (and write) a language in terms of language register. Using register terms Informal – Formal and Spoken – Written, I want to demonstrate how complex and wonderful it is to perform (i.e. speak) in other languages. The presentation will be given in French, English, Spanish and bits of other languages.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Stanley AléongStanAleong
15:00 — 15:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Esperanto workshops for beginners and intermediates (EO)

(in Esperanto)
Presentation on Esperanto without using an intermediate language and using gestures, objects, and conversation. In the intermediate level workshop: word creation, dance of the correlatives, and various other games.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Suzanne RoyRoy Suzanne
15:45 — 16:15
Break
16:15 — 17:00
Room 2 (B-3345)
The Mathematics of Language Processing & Articulation (EN)

(in English)
Computers are now starting to speak, but humans have been doing it for thousands of years. What are the similarities in these systems? How is computer language processing related to human language processing? In this talk we will explore the mathematics (in a simple format which everyone can understand) of language processing, both in humans and in computers. Exploring language through these fundamentals may just open up a new world of language for you.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Zachary BurkettZachary Burkett
16:15 — 17:00
Room 3 (B-3325)
Revising your texts with the Language Portal of Canada’s tools (EN & FR)

(in French and English)
You’ve finally finished the first draft of your text. Now it’s time to revise it! But how should you go about it? Without adequate tools, it may be difficult to avoid the pitfalls of English and French grammar. Fortunately, in the reliable resources available on the Language Portal of Canada, you’ll find what you need to learn new concepts and communicate more effectively.

This website managed by the Translation Bureau offers a wide range of tools to help you find quick answers to your language questions, along with a host of quizzes and links to help you improve your knowledge.

During this bilingual presentation, you’ll become more familiar with the Portal, get tips on how to search effectively and learn a variety of self-revision techniques. Don’t miss this chance to find out how the Portal’s various tools can help you in your studies or your career.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Julie MorinJulie Morin
16:15 — 17:00
Room 4 (B-3315)
Pronunciation of Xhosa (FR)

(in French)
In this workshop, you will learn to pronounce the Xhosa language, from vowels to clicks, from particular digraphs to ejectives, while learning a few basic sentences.

Room 4 (B-3315)
David KirsipuuKirsipuu
17:00 — 17:15
Break
17:15 — 18:00
Room 2 (B-3345)
10 little secrets that will help you learn languages (and even several at the same time!) like never before! (EN)

(in English)
In this talk, I will share my best tips on language learning. Are you looking for ways to improve your study routine? Are you bored of studying without seeing the results you were hoping for? Don’t miss this opportunity to learn my special strategies, which will help you start getting results straight away and stay motivated.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Elisa PoleseElisaPolese
17:15 — 18:00
Room 3 (B-3325)
CJKV Dict - a smart dictionary for polyglots learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean and/or Vietnamese (FR)

(in French)
If you are learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean and/or Vietnamese (the so-called CJKV languages) at the same time, you have probably noticed that many words are shared among these languages. This is because these words come from Chinese and can hence all be written in Chinese characters. Therefore, to learn these languages more efficiently, it is helpful to check whether or not the same Chinese characters can be used in all four languages to express the same word. Sadly, it is often difficult to do this because the CJKV languages were subjected to reforms which simplified Chinese characters (in Chinese and Japanese) or completely removed them from the language’s writing system (in Korean and Vietnamese). To solve this problem, I developed a smart dictionary, called CJKV Dict, which automatically converts all words to traditional Chinese characters to check whether they are written the same way in all CJKV languages.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Emmanuel TernonEmmanuel Ternon
17:15 — 18:00
Room 4 (B-3315)
What is the difference between Mandarin and Cantonese and how can you transfer the knowledge from one to the other? (EN)

(in English)
Although Cantonese has been dominating the Chinatown neighborhoods in South and North American countries, more and more people came to realize that Mandarin is the official language of China and serves as a lingua franca among Chinese speakers from different regions. It is inevitable to find learners often getting into a dilemma of whether to study Mandarin or Cantonese if they choose to study Chinese.

In this workshop, I will explain to the audience what some of the similarities and differences between Mandarin and Cantonese are, and I will invite them to participate and enunciate Cantonese phrases in parallel to Mandarin phrases. Sentence patterns will also be analyzed in parallel to find out how specific terms in one dialect can be transferrable to other, although they are not mutually intelligible.

In addition to the syntax and pronunciation variations among Cantonese and Mandarin, the histories of both dialect names will also be discussed during the workshop.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Jade Jia Ying WuJade Wu
18:00 — 19:00
Break
19:00 — 21:00
Room 1a (B-2285)
Language Creators' Night (EN)

(in English)
Though constructed languages, or conlangs, are nothing new, people have been talking about them more and more, especially those that have been devised for films and TV shows. During this evening’s session, two of the more well-known creators of languages for Hollywood will talk about their work, what conlangs are, why people create them in the first place, what’s involved in creating them, and how filmmaking influences the process and even transforms the results.

Room 1a (B-2285)
Marc OkrandMarc-Okrand, David PetersonDavid Peterson
24 AUG (SATURDAY)
08:00 — 18:00
Registration
09:00 — 09:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
10 Things ESL Teachers didn't Know About Self-Publishing (EN)

(in English)
In this 45-minute presentation, best-selling author Frank Bonkowski and award-winning author Nicholas Walker will share the secrets of self-publishing in ESL. You will learn how self-publishing lets you…

• teach what you want to teach and what your students want to learn
• collaborate with smart people
• take your pedagogy to a new level
• develop skills that produce happiness
• experience abundance in the resource-starved field of education
• fund innovation that nobody else would dare fund

After hearing about how the speakers got started, you will learn some keys to success:

• protecting your copyright
• course packs and textbooks
• ghostwriters and voiceovers
• freelancers and suppliers
• hoarding, sharing, and pricing
• free tools and pro tools
• homemade and tailormade
• making money without going broke
• teachers’ motivations to buy your book instead of the big glossy alternative
• marketing and advertising

By the end of the talk, you will have two concrete methods of self-publishing on a shoestring.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Nicholas WalkerNicholas Walker, Frank BonkowskiFrank Bonkowski
09:00 — 09:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Languages and video games (FR)

(in French)
Language is particularly important in video games. Whether adapted, translated or downright invented, this aspect of video games is so crucial it creates specific jobs.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Antoine Clerc-RenaudAntoine Clerc-Renaud
09:00 — 09:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Creative Writing, Performance, and Public Speaking (Part 1 of 2) (EN)

(in English)
Do you struggle to express your true self in another language?

Do you wish you could find the right words for how you feel?

In this session, join María and Kerstin as we explore how creative writing and performance can help you express yourself authentically, find more courage to speak and elevate your communication skills.

This is a double session. In part 1, María will introduce a powerful tool that you can add to your learning routine: creative writing. No matter if you write a poem or a story, creative writing will help you express yourself better than you ever expressed yourself before.

In part 2, the stage is yours if you want it! Kerstin will teach you how to approach good performance and public speaking, even when it’s in a language you are learning. Discover how to hold your nerve and perform with impact in this interactive workshop.

Come along and rise to a new challenge with us in this inspiring session.

Room 4 (B-3315)
María Ortega GarcíaMaria Ortega Garcia, Kerstin CableKerstin Cable
09:45 — 10:00
Break
10:00 — 10:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
How to text in another language (EN)

(in English)
Language learning materials teach us how to have spoken conversations and write passages, but they don’t often teach conversational writing, even though we text all the time now. So how do you teach yourself to text like a local in another language?

Drawing on case studies including Spanish, Arabic, Indonesian, and Japanese, this talk by internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch provides both language-specific and language-general strategies for becoming fluent in internet styles.

How do different languages represent digital laughter? How do different languages make use of punctuation and other orthographic resources to convey tone of voice? How do people switch between multiple languages and writing systems online? How do you know whether the internet slang you’re learning is out of date?

Room 2 (B-3345)
Gretchen McCullochGretchen McCulloch
10:00 — 10:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Is the English language too powerful? Montreal case study (FR)

(in French)
English is the most powerful language from a global perspective (as measured by the Power Language Index). At the local level, even in places where it does not have status, English can still overwhelm the local language(s). This presents a dilemma for societies that want to participate in a globalised world yet retain and protect their local tongue. The power dynamics of Montreal are examined using the lens of the Power Language Index.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Kai L. ChanKai L. Chan
10:00 — 10:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Creative Writing, Performance, and Public Speaking (Part 2 of 2) (EN)

(in English)
Do you struggle to express your true self in another language?

Do you wish you could find the right words for how you feel?

In this session, join María and Kerstin as we explore how creative writing and performance can help you express yourself authentically, find more courage to speak and elevate your communication skills.

This is a double session. In part 1, María will introduce a powerful tool that you can add to your learning routine: creative writing. No matter if you write a poem or a story, creative writing will help you express yourself better than you ever expressed yourself before.

In part 2, the stage is yours if you want it! Kerstin will teach you how to approach good performance and public speaking, even when it’s in a language you are learning. Discover how to hold your nerve and perform with impact in this interactive workshop.

Come along and rise to a new challenge with us in this inspiring session.

Room 4 (B-3315)
María Ortega GarcíaMaria Ortega Garcia, Kerstin CableKerstin Cable
10:45 — 11:15
Break
11:15 — 12:00
Room 2 (B-3345)
Yiddish: A Living Language (EN)

(in English)
What is Yiddish? Where did it originate? Who speaks it now? Is it a dying language? Come to the presentation and discover the answers to these questions and more. What do you have to lose? Bupkes! (Nothing!)

Room 2 (B-3345)
Lori LucasLori Lucas
11:15 — 12:00
Room 3 (B-3325)
The God Particle of Linguistics (FR)

(in French)
Welcome to this discussion, where, alongside Lea, you will explore the fascinating concept of “differentiation”. This well-known linguistic concept, which dates back to the 19th century, has been neglected and deserves a better recognition for its ability to answer some key questions–how do speakers of a language understand each other? Why does a good accent MATTER? How to rap? Where does the magic of rhyming come from? Can we predict the future of a language? Join Léa to discover this mechanism and uncover the reasons why we can call it “the God particle of linguistics”.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Léa Tirard-HersantLéa Tirard-Hersant
11:15 — 12:00
Room 4 (B-3315)
Intro to Gujarati (EN)

(in English)
This presentation will introduce attendees to a language from India called Gujarati. It will cover various elements of the language such as pronunciation, alphabet, some basic phrases, and some interesting facts about the language.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Azren RajuAzren Raju
12:00 — 13:00
Lunch
12:10 — 12:55
Room 2 (B-3345)
LingQ Workshop (EN)
Room 2 (B-3345)
Steve KaufmannSteve Kaufmann
13:00 — 13:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
We can all be polyglots (EN)

(in English)
Too much language instruction is focused on learning one language: French in English Canada, English in much of the world. In fact, conditions today make it possible for everyone to learn several or even many languages. Success or failure will not depend on how many languages we learn but on how we learn.
In my presentationI will show how I went about learning a variety of languages (like Persian, Arabic, Ukrainian, and Korean), where I sourced content, and I how learned on LingQ. Presentation in English, French or other languages as needed.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Steve KaufmannSteve Kaufmann
13:00 — 13:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Parler une culture : acting a language (EN & FR)

(in French and English)
Our joint presentation concerns the impact of culture in the language. We will unravel some traits specific to certain cultures and, by extension, to the languages associated to them. Lastly, we will explain the benefits comedy (or acting) can have in language learning.

Room 3 (B-3325)
BigBong (Bong Sou)BigBong, Mark Hachemprofile pic - Mark Hachem
13:00 — 13:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Writing games: a creative way to develop your French vocabulary (FR)

(in French)
Caroline Legouix invites you to play with words and to write very short texts out of writing constraints and story triggers. After a short writing workshop experience, participants will learn a few tricks to develop their own writing games and apply them to different contexts, whether social or professional. Writing games are a creative way to mobilize and develop one’s knowledge of a given language. They enhance creativity and help with loosening up, which are crucial to learn a language. Writing constraints come in endless varieties and allow to emphasize particular aspects to be worked on: vocabulary, grammar, syntax, creativity, spontaneity, and so forth.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Caroline LegouixCarolineLegouix
14:00 — 15:30
Room 1b (B-2325)
Social activity - uTalk quiz (EN and FR)

(in English and French)

Room 1b (B-2325)
15:30 — 16:00
Break
16:00 — 17:00
Room 1b (B-2325)
Dothraki Workshop (EN)

(in English)

Room 1b (B-2325)
David PetersonDavid Peterson
17:00 — 18:30
Break
18:30 — 21:00
Stade IGA, 285 Rue Gary-Carter Montreal, Québec H2R 2W1
LangFest Dinner

$57 CAD + taxes and administrative fees
Limited seats.

Stade IGA
285 Rue Gary-Carter Montreal, Québec H2R 2W1

Stade IGA, 285 Rue Gary-Carter Montreal, Québec H2R 2W1
25 AUG (SUNDAY)
08:00 — 18:00
Registration
09:00 — 09:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
How to Make Speaking Practice a Part of Your Daily Routine (EN)

(in English)
Many people want to speak a foreign language, but not many actually practice speaking it often enough to become proficient. Most learners prefer instead to focus first on listening, reading, and writing until they feel ready enough to start speaking. In this talk, you will learn to embrace the discomfort of recording yourself speaking a little bit every day no matter what language level you are at so that you can track your progress, widen your vocabulary, improve your grammar, develop your pronunciation, and boost your confidence. The strategies and techniques you will learn are based on real results and testimonials from having organized the 30-Day Speaking Challenge for the past two and a half years.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Jonathan HugginsJonathan Huggins
09:00 — 09:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Intercomprehension between Romance languages: principles and practice (FR)

(in French)
This presentation is an introduction to the principles and the practice on cross-comprehension between related languages. Although we will mostly focus on cross-comprehension between Romance languages, we will also talk about other languages groups, like Scandinavian and Creole languages. Although most of my cross-comprehension work concentrates on the main Romance languages (French, Italian, Romanian, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese), I propose to go further from these essentials and to make an incursion into minority Romance languages like Corsican, Galician and Occitan. In particular, we will explore the history of intercomprehension as a concept and a few proposed techniques, in addition to looking at a few examples of successful applications of intercomprehension. Finally, we will provide solutions to learners who want to profit from cross-comprehension.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Marc PomerleauMarc Pomerleau
09:00 — 09:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Movie Talk: Ageless, Timeless, Priceless (EN)

(in English)
Movie Talk, or Clip Chat, is a low-prep, high-interest activity that teachers can use at all levels from pre-K to adult. It is a powerful tool and lends itself to effortless personalization. MT is an ideal way to deliver input in order to facilitate output, as it is rooted in listening comprehension. A shared experience, like watching a short movie clip, enables students and teachers to connect easily in the target language. MT clips facilitate differentiation, both in the initial viewing as well as during subsequent activities. Attendees will see ways to create successful MT classes and choose the path which best suits their teaching style and audience. Attendees will leave with access to a stockpile of movie clips and ancillary materials, as well as videos of actual classes engaged in MT activities. Additionally, they will see examples of activities and explore ways to modify them for their own classes.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Allison LittenAllison Litten
09:45 — 10:00
Break
10:00 — 10:45
Room 2 (B-3345)
Introduction to Signed Language (EN)

(in English)
There are an estimated 200 sign languages in the world today. Unlike spoken languages, which are produced with the mouth and perceived through the ears, signed languages are produced with the hands, head and body, and perceived through the eyes – or through the hands, in the case of tactile sign languages.

The objective of this presentation is to demystify signed languages. Common misconceptions will be discussed, as well as basic sign language structure, grammar and history.

You will discover what signed languages are, what they are not, and why you might want to consider learning one.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Alexandra RacekAlexandra Racek
10:00 — 10:45
Room 3 (B-3325)
Linguistic Abilities of Monolingual and Multilingual Children Educated in French (FR)

(in French)
There are four patterns for French verbs in the form of the past participle (-é, -i, -u and other idiosyncrasies). These forms permit the study of morphological distinctions in acquiring a language, as they exhibit regularity and productivity differences. We have tested 2010 children, both monolingual and multilingual, and a group of adult immigrants on these patterns and verified if socio-economic factors and parental education could affect the acquisition of these verbal flexions.

The participants were bilingual or multilingual at various levels (from 15-100% exposed to French), but all of them knew French verbs in the same way, with some interesting effects among child groups. French exposure at home influenced their command of verbs, while parental education has a lesser impact on it. Although multilingual children are less exposed to French, all the children are sensitive to morphological structures.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Phaedra RoylePhaedra Royle
10:00 — 10:45
Room 4 (B-3315)
Word Art (EN)

(in English)
What’s your favorite word in your first foreign language? In your fifth? Do you love to say “prosim” the way it is said by every waitress in Prague? Do you exclaim, “les clés!” like your high school French teacher? Come share the story of when and how you learned the words that hold a special place in your memory, while breaking out your creativity and colored pencils. Maybe you will obtain some new favorite words through our lively, polylingual conversation as we create a display of word art to share in the lobby with other conference-goers. Your word art will be available to take home, and materials will be supplied. Stick figures welcome.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Audrey GrierAudrey Grier
10:45 — 11:15
Break
11:15 — 12:00
Room 2 (B-3345)
The Place of Elitism (If there is one) in the Modern Democratic Language Classroom (EN)

(in English)
The words “elite” and “elitist” have a double meaning. On one hand they signify striving for the very best in an endeavor. On the other hand, these words signify exclusion and discrimination. Elite language teaching practices, I posit, are those which cater to only a small percentage of language learners — the supposed “good learners”, which focus, to a large degree, on learning (memorizing), rather than acquiring (“picking up”) a language. The question is of vital significance in language teaching: should the teacher focus on creating an elite of the “best” learners to the exclusion of those (the vast majority) who do not relish memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary and prefer — though they often do not know it — to acquire language naturally through comprehensible input? I will draw on my many years of language learning and teaching in both exclusive and less exclusive (more democratic) language teaching environments. We will explore how one may use some “elitist” practices in the modern language classroom without contributing to the destructive myth that only a select few can learn languages well.

Room 2 (B-3345)
Paul DuCettPaul DuCett
11:15 — 12:00
Room 3 (B-3325)
Minority Francophone communities in Canada (FR)

(in French)
Minority Francophone communities in Canada: from French Canadians to Franco-Canadians. Here I will explore how Francophone communities have developed in Canada, especially minority communities outside of Quebec. I would like to talk about the Acadian “Grand Dérangement” (“Great Upheaval”), the Brayon people, Franco-Manitoban communities such as Saint-Boniface, without forgetting the struggles of Franco-Ontarians, for instance relating to Regulation 17 or the Montfort hospital.

Room 3 (B-3325)
Léo BourdonLéo Bourdon
11:15 — 12:00
Room 4 (B-3315)
Language of the 8th fire (EN)

(in English)
Anishinaabemowin: once the target of genocidial policies of both USA and Canadian governments – now revitalization efforts are blooming like flowers in spring. Anishinaabemowin, and its many varities, is spoken from Alberta to Labrador and as far south as Oklahoma. Join Ninaatig as he gives us an introductory lesson and disscusses the wonderful world of Anishinaabemowin. We will learn some basic phrases and examine some incatricies of Anishinaabemowin.

Room 4 (B-3315)
Ninaatig Staats PangowishNinaatig Staats Pangowish
12:00 — 13:00
Lunch
13:00 — 14:30
Parc Jean-Brillant
Social Activity (EN & FR)

(in French and English)
This activity is a collaboration. We will focus on self-care techniques and strategies to improve language learning. The process of language acquisition can produce many kinds of stress and frustrations, triggering chemical reactions and muscular tensions that literally prevent us from listening and thinking clearly. Anna will show us how to use our breath and our body to influence our mood and improve attention quality. Anja will share her method for learning vocabulary through movement, which can be applied to any language. While practicing simple exercises that enhance muscle and cognitive memory, you will learn some basic words in Nahuatl, an indigenous language of Mexico. Finally, Nella will lead a group activity about self-compassion and community building as a priority for success in language acquisition. Participants will have an opportunity to share techniques to overcome apprehensions in language learning. We must learn to be vulnerable to connect within a community. We hope to relax the body, while stimulating the brain to maximize your Lang Fest experience. No previous workout knowledge is necessary! Everyone is welcome.

Parc Jean-Brillant
Anna TakahashiAnna Takahashi, Nella BuffmireNella Buffmire, Anja SpilkerAnja Spilker
14:30 — 15:00
Break
15:00 — 16:00
Room 1c (B-2245)
Klingon Workshop (EN)

(in English)
A basic introduction to the phonology and grammar of the Klingon language.

Room 1c (B-2245)
Marc OkrandMarc-Okrand
16:00 — 17:00
Room 1c (B-2245)
Closing Ceremony
Room 1c (B-2245)
Team LangFest 2019LangFest 2019 team
17:00— 18:00
Break
18:00 — 21:00
Jeanne-Mance Park (Mont-Royal Park)
Annual Picnic
Jeanne-Mance Park (Mont-Royal Park)
Copyright 2019 - LangFest.org