Meet the Changemakers
International Mother Language Day
Join us for an afternoon of activities, workshops, and family fun exploring different languages and cultures to mark International Mother Language Day. Drop in between 12pm and 4pm to discover new and different ideas and get involved in free creative workshops and activities for all ages.
Manchester Museum’s Top Floor is a space for learning, connecting, and inspiring change, and Meet the Changemakers is our quarterly event that gives you the chance to meet the communities, charities, activists, and artists shaping a more sustainable and fair future for Manchester.
Full schedule and groups to be announced soon. During the day we will be hosting a number of free language workshops with limited capacity that require pre-registration. These include:
1-hour Cantonese introduction workshop for beginners, 11am-12pm (age 14+)
Cantonese is predominantly spoken in Guangzhou, also known as Canton and Hong Kong. In Manchester, over 8,000 East Asian speakers use a Chinese language, with Cantonese being the most prevalent.
Cantonese utilizes tone contours to differentiate words, with the number of tones depending on the final type. Traditionally, Cantonese is said to have nine tones. This workshop will acquaint you with the nine tones of Cantonese through interactive games and theatrical elements.
1-hour Mandarin introduction workshop for beginners, 2-3pm (age 14+)
The beginner workshop covers fundamental knowledge of Pinyin, an understanding of Chinese character structure, basic Chinese character writing, common daily greetings, and more. Participants may also have the opportunity to try writing with a calligraphy brush.
1-hour Hong Kong Sign Language introduction workshop for beginners taught by a Hong Kong Deaf tutor living in Manchester, 3-4pm (age 14+)
Hong Kong Sign Language is used by the Deaf community in Hong Kong. It is a visual-gestural language with its own grammar. Despite facing significant marginalization due to language barriers, primary user of Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) will be introduced to this language in the workshop. Participants will also learn about Deaf culture and the minority group residing in Manchester.
