Exhibition: Not Just Words: Learning languages through art and objects

‘Not Just Words: Learning languages through art and objects’ is an interactive showcase in the UCL Art Museum, inviting visitors to engage with the many modern and ancient languages taught at UCL using works from the collection. An invitation to be curious and get talking, this showcase presents an innovative approach to language learning at UCL that takes artworks and objects from the Museum as a starting point.

Have you ever wondered how new trends emerge in children’s names, or which languages can be easier to learn for English speakers and why?

Explore this showcase to enjoy a growing video library of language tasters produced by UCL tutors from a range of faculties and discover surprising facts about language, culture and how the two are intertwined.

Initially conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic by tutors at UCL’s School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS), the language taster videos on display were produced to support and promote language awareness and multi-lingualism beyond the university. The series has since expanded to other faculties across the university with new languages like Finnish, Mandarin and Ancient Greek joining the project. A special display of plaster casts on loan from the Petrie Museum also celebrates the ongoing role of objects in ancient language learning at UCL.

Keep an eye out for a series of lunchtime language taster sessions led by UCL language tutors happening in the Museum, where visitors can come along and learn about a new language or test their existing knowledge.