Thousand of children and young people from 50 schools across the North East and UK were treated to an inspirational webinar with Pierce and Jake from Futbol Lingo on 26th March. What a fantastic way to end the live events for our 2024 Express Yourself: North East Festival of Languages, hosted by International Newcastle.
The webinar embodied all our Festival ambitions, to inspire young people to learn languages as a way to connect with other people, understand different cultures and to be able to access a world of opportunities for their future lives, education and careers. During their motivational talk, Pierce and Jake took young people on an exploration of the world of football and the importance of speaking different languages to be able to communicate within football teams and clubs, with key stakeholders and of course, the fans. Speaking 14 languages between them, they shared their journey as players, coaches, translators and teachers and provided insights into how the most successful players, coaches and teams are multilingual, adapting to different environments, cultures and situations.
Pierce and Jake helped the young audience understand that speaking other languages opens door to the widest range of opportunities within the football sector and are essential for many of the roles on the pitch, behind the scenes and in public:
- players, managers and coaches, officials, agents, scouts and sponsors
- multidisciplinary teams within clubs that contribute to the success of the team: player liaison, medical staff, nutritionists, education staff, therapists, player care, analysis, psychology, strength and conditioning, physiotherapists, drivers
- media and communications: commentators, journalists, interpreters, translators, social media
“The more you learn, the more you earn”, is a saying in football. Communicating in different languages is essential to success in football, whatever role you have.
Your language journey will be different to ours, but building your language skills will benefit you in whatever career you choose to follow and open doors to all kinds of job opportunities, travel and experiences.
Pierce Kiembi, Co-founder, Futbol Lingo
Further links and information
In the professional realm, Futbol Lingo specialises in assisting players and coaches in bridging language barriers through our Football Language (FL) App. In the educational sphere, Futbol Lingo’s mission is to provide tailored, football-themed language learning experiences within schools, colleges and universities, with the aim of igniting a passion and inspiring a generation of linguists.
- Visit the Futbol Lingo website for schools services
- Click here to download a flyer about the Futbol Lingo App and Education Offer
- Email the team at info@futbollingo.com
- Follow Futbol Lingo on social media: facebook, instagram, X (twitter), youtube and LinkedIn
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank:
- Pierce Kiembi, Mark Muddyman and Jake Butler from Futbol Lingo for working with us to provide an inspirational webinar and also their in-person workshop in Newcastle on 12th March
- All the schools and children and young people who took part in the webinar
- Declan Baharini (International Newcastle) and Sarah Edgar (Newcastle City Council, School Effectiveness) for working with Futbol Lingo to provide two amazing Festival events
- Natalie Jennings (Newcastle City Council) for hosting the webinar on Teams Live and working with us to prepare for this event