As a lesson starter or activity consider using a video clip in one of the many home languages of your learners. That student should then come to the front of the class, play the video and ask the other students what they thought was said. Many students will recognise words and with help of the images the students work together to work out what was said. This is a great moment in which the teacher can assess students’ pre-existing knowledge. Then the student at the front plays the video for a second time and translates the script to the class who then check with what they thought was said.

When students are given the opportunity to “show off” their bilingual or multilingual abilities they will not only feel valued but will see themselves as linguistically talented!

I have added a link to an example video I used as a warmer activity for a text on the history of pizza. Have a go and guess what was said!

Euronews is a fantastic resource for short video clips in many languages. E.g.:

I just translate the key words in the target language and search on Youtube.

Pearl Harbour video in Japanese

Design and Technology video in Dutch

Art: How to create depth illusions in Portuguese