Young Australians are being encouraged to enter the SBS National Languages Competition open to all Australians learning a language including English and Auslan.
The nationwide competition is open to students from the age of four and encourages people to send a drawing or writing that shows how learning a language has made a difference to a student's life.
Encouraging language learning and language retention in Australia, and in recognition of the United Nations’ International Year of Indigenous languages, SBS today announced the launch of the SBS National Languages Competition 2019. In its fourth year, the nationwide competition is open to Australians of all ages who are learning a language, including English and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of Audio and Language Content, said: “SBS Radio is proud to organise this competition to celebrate and encourage language diversity and cross-cultural understanding in Australia.
“Language retention is linked to cultural identity and increases a sense of belonging in Australia. We look forward to receiving thousands of beautiful stories of language learning, which reflect our cultural and linguistic diversity.”
From today, Monday 26 August until Friday 27 September 2019, entrants can submit their stories at sbs.com.au/nlc19 – with either a drawing or a written entry answering the question: “How does learning a language make a world of difference to you?”
Entrants will be categorised into five groups: Junior Primary (Aged 4-7); Primary (Aged 8-12); Junior High School (Aged 13-15); Senior High School (Aged 16-18); Open (Aged 18+). Participants aged 4 – 12 are required to upload a drawing along with a short caption, while participants aged 13+ are required to submit a written entry (up to 100 words).
The competition will award five major prizes, one for each age category, who will receive an iPad Pro and AirPods. The winners will be judged on their clarity, creativity and uniqueness and will be invited to an awards ceremony in November 2019 to be held at SBS in Sydney. In addition, each Monday during the competition period, there will be a weekly random draw from the entries received, to win an Apple watch.
The SBS National Languages Competition 2019 is supported by Community Languages Australia and First Languages Australia and sponsored by the Australian National University.
