Nýr bæklingur / New brochure

Third Korean Cultural Festival held in Gerðuberg

The 3rd Korean Culture Festival in Iceland, held on November 23, 2024, was an exciting celebration of Korean traditions and modern influences. Móðurmál supported the festival, which brought together attendees from diverse backgrounds, fostering cultural exchange and strengthening ties with the Korean community in Iceland. The event featured a Taekwondo exhibition by Mudo Gym, dynamic K-pop dance performances and a random dance game by K-ICE Crew, and beautiful Korean folk songs performed by Múltíkúltíkórinn with a violin accompaniment. There was also a bilingual reading of the children’s book “Einmanalegasta hús í heiminum” by Y. G. Esjan in both Korean and Icelandic.

Various booths offered traditional Korean food, travel information, K-pop merchandise, and a photo area. Attendees had the chance to try on traditional Korean clothing at the Hanbok exhibition and participate in interactive activities such as K-pop dance and Korean calligraphy.
This festival provided a wonderful opportunity for attendees to immerse themselves in Korean culture and enjoy a variety of performances and activities. It was a memorable event that brought together people from diverse backgrounds to celebrate and appreciate Korean traditions.

Dönsum saman og höfum gaman! Balkan dances in Gerðuberg

Veska Jónsdóttir held a balkan dance event in Gerðuberg on December 7th 2024 in cooperation with Gerðuberg and Móðurmál, the association on bilingualism. When people in the Balkans gather to celebrate, dancing is an integral aspect of the festivities. Dancing breaks out spontaneously, sometimes accompanied by musicians, but when they are not there, people simply sing the songs to which they dance.

Most of the Balkan dances are “ring dances” (horo), although they are danced in a semi-circle rather than a ring. Music is at the heart of the dancers’ fascination with Balkan dances. In addition to the familiar 2/4, 3/4 and 4/4 rhythms, the Balkan countries also use many complex rhythms which are fun and challenging to dance to, such as 5/8, 7/8, 9/16, or even combinations of two different rhythms in the same dance.
Balkan dance steps range from very simple walking steps, to very complex dances with fast, intricate steps.

The hand holds for Balkan dances include simple “V” hold, in which you join hands with your neighbour, with hands held down at your side, and the “W” hold, in which hands are joined at about shoulder height with elbows bent. Balkan dances may also use belt holds, front or back basket holds, shoulder holds, traditional couple dance formations, or no handholds at all.
This was a fun event and we hope to organize dance events more often.

Serbian Culture Days in Reyjavík

The Serbian Cultural Center in Iceland held its fourth Serbian Culture Days in Reykjavík recently. The grand theme was theatre, and the program was varied and eventful and had something in store for all ages. Due to unforeseen circumstances all events were combined and held on November 24th. The events were well frequented and all in all over 300 people attended the festival. The program started at Fellaskóli with a drama workshop for children and the family play Virus telefonitis, and continued at Háskólabíó with a great program. Initially, a film was shown in which students from the Serbian school participated. Actors from the Teateić theatre company in Belgrad performed a masterpiece by the well-known Serbian author Branislav Nušić, and they performed two of his well-known plays. The program ended with light refreshments in Serbian-style cuisine and a chat with all the guests. The Serbian Cultural Center in Iceland thanks all its sponsors, including the Serbian Outreach Fund, Móðurmál, Reykjavíkurborg, Háskólabíó and Fellaskóli.

2024 FOHLC Europe Conference for heritage language teachers

Traditionally, Móðurmál – the Association on Bilingualism has co-organized an annual conference for heritage language teachers. This year´s theme was:

Rethinking incentives: how to bolster the motivation of students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders in heritage language education

Over 250 registrations from over 40 countries, representing more than 50 heritage languages, show the continuous interest of families and immigrant teachers to sustain and promote heritage language education of children.

The program and information about keynote speakers, workshop leaders, and the pecha-kucha session are to be found here: fohlc2024. General information, history of FOHLC Europe and its other activities are described in detail on its website: FOHLC Europe | HLE Network

Slovak heritage language school in Iceland celebrates 10th anniversary

Slovak society SKÍS, or Slovak for Children in Iceland, celebrated its 10th anniversary today in Hólabrekkuskóli. Among guests were the Slovak ambassador in Oslo Mr Roman Bužek, and the Slovak honorary consul in Iceland, Mr. Runólfur Oddsson, who both welcome and support Slovak heritage language teaching in Iceland and in general. Other guests were Ms Kristína Domáňová, one of the founders of the Slovak school, Ms Olga Kaciánová, the Slovak teacher, parents and children in the school.

Móðurmál receives book donation

The author Bergljót Baldursdóttir visited the last meeting of Móðurmál with an amazing gift intended for the children attending classes in Móðurmál. She gifted each of them the book “Von be don” which she authored. Móðurmál thanks her very much for this kind donation!

“Von be Don” is a children’s book about words and language. The goal is to educate children on the importance of language, the power of words, and the versatility of communication between languages.

Heimsmarkmið Sameinuðu þjóðanna – mál okkar allra

Samtökin Móðurmál fékk styrk frá Þróunarsjóði innflytjendamála fyrir verkefnið Heimsmarkmið sameinuðu þjóðanna – mál okkar allra.

Verkefnið er unnið með nemendum í 5. og 6. bekk í Fellaskóla. Börnin hafa fengið kynningu á Heimsmarkmiðunum og valið markmið til að vinna dýpra með á skapandi hátt.

Afrakstur vinnunnar er meðal annars uppskerusýning barnanna sem opnar í Borgarbókasafni í Gerðubergi föstudaginn 6.sept. kl.12.00. Þá er fjölskyldum boðið að koma til að eiga góða stund á bókasafninu með börnunum og njóta og fagna fallegu verka þeirra, sem þau hafa lagt mikla vinnu í.

Þar sem Heimsmarkmiðin eru til á mörgum tungumálum er hægt að skoða þau bæði á íslensku og öðrum tungumálum fyrir þá sem skilja þannig innihaldið betur. Á sýningunni verða Heimsmarkmiðin sýnileg á 35 tungumálum.

Sameiginlega samtalið í ferlinu fer fram á íslensku, því við verðum öll að geta talað saman um mikilvæg málefni á íslensku.

Kennsluhugmyndir undir yfirskriftinni “Heimsmarkmið sameinuðu þjóðanna – mál okkar allra” verða að finna á vef Samtakanna Móðurmáls seinna í haust.

Allir eru velkomnir og sýningin stendur til laugardags 14. september.