Think Languages


The Challenge

CA significant opportunity for Ireland to excel on the global stage was identified giving way to Ireland’s Strategy for Foreign Languages in Education, which was published by the Irish Government in December 2017; our client, Post-Primary Languages Ireland were tasked with its implementation.

“How do you get teenagers to think differently about taking up foreign languages for their Leaving Cert?”

The Solution

During our initial strategy sessions, all traditional advertising approaches were on the table however the closer we looked at this audience, the more apparent it became that a shared experience with their peer group held more potential to get these students thinking differently about foreign languages than any other medium.

At Dublin’s Convention Centre Dublin we staged Think Languages which saw over 3,000 transition year students across 50 schools share a learning experience that stretched beyond academia and into the realms of culture and arts. We wanted to show students where a language can take you by bringing other cultural experiences and societies into the programme.

Everything from French for the Fashion Industry, Chinese Calligraphy, Linguistics, Interpretation, Taekwondo and Japanese origami helped bring these languages to life for all the students. We staged inspirational talks, a large exhibition for many third level language departments, foreign embassy staff, Irish government bodies and an international food experience for the students to enjoy.

Result

78% of attendees said that the event changed their opinion about the value of foreign languages in the real world