Bridges: Children, Languages, World

Bridges: Children, Languages, World Offering free classes that promote exposure to less commonly taught languages and cultures.

IU's Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University partnering with Morgenstern Books for a Global Storytime...
10/10/2025

IU's Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University partnering with Morgenstern Books for a Global Storytime Series! Join us this Saturday and meet our storyteller from the Indiana University African Studies Program who will share expertise on music, Akan naming culture, and stories too!

Thank you to the IU School of Ed for graciously providing the books in this series - which will continue monthly on 2nd Saturdays at 10:00am through the end of 2025!

IU's National Resource Centers are delighted to be partnering with Morgenstern Books for a Global Storytime Series! The ...
09/24/2025

IU's National Resource Centers are delighted to be partnering with Morgenstern Books for a Global Storytime Series! The first event is this Saturday, Sept. 27th at 6pm in their children's corner.

Join the Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University and our volunteer storyteller from the Indiana University African Studies Program who will share expertise Nigeria/Yoruba as well as a fun activity for children of all ages!

📆Mark your calendars! All future Global Storytimes will run the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10-11am at Morgensterns through the end of this year.

03/01/2025

Spring 2025 Bridges courses in local schools:

Russian at University Elementary
Portuguese at Childs Elementary
Swahili at Fairview Elementary School
Chinese, Persian, and modern Greek at Harmony School

THANKS TO OUR IU STUDENT VOLUNTEERS FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE!

Dear Parents! Join the Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University for the last session of our series: "...
12/02/2024

Dear Parents! Join the Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University for the last session of our series: "Stories from Around the World" which takes place this Wednesday, December 4th from 5:30-6:30pm at the Southwest Branch of the MCPL in Bloomington, IN. More info here: https://calendar.mcpl.info/event/11733409.

These sessions will explore sustainable development goals through international stories and interactive play. For children ages 4-9, each story time in this series will focus on a different part of the world and include picture book readings, cultural craft activities, and more! As part of each session, children will learn how these stories keep us globally minded when thinking about making the world a better place.



Presented for free in partnership with:
Monroe County Public Library (Indiana)
Indiana University - School of Education
Center for the Study of Global Change - Indiana University

10/09/2024

Fall semester 2024 lineup of less-commonly taught languages offered by Bridges volunteer instructors in area elementary schools:

Chinese, Persian, and Greek at Harmony
Russian at University
Swahili at Fairview
Turkish at Highland Park

Happy Holi, everyone! Yesterday, the Hindi Club at celebrated the Indian Festival of Colors, also known as Holi. Stude...
03/08/2023

Happy Holi, everyone! Yesterday, the Hindi Club at celebrated the Indian Festival of Colors, also known as Holi. Students chased each other after school around the Templeton Courtyard, smearing and tossing brightly-colored powder on each other, and sharing many laughs.

The event was organized by IU student Thomas Smith in cooperation with Templeton Elementary School. Both Thomas and fellow IU student Hannah Walia, lead the Hindi Club this semester. (Hannah regretted being unable to attend due to a class conflict.)

Thank you to all involved for making the afternoon such a memorable event!

03/04/2023

Bridges recently renewed our longstanding relationship with to offer 10 weeks of instruction in Swahili language and culture. On most Thursdays, from February through April, lower elementary students (“The Cadets”), have the opportunity to learn Swahili from native speakers Hardyson Nghakamo (sitting in the video) and Micah Kiplagat (standing). Hardyson and Micah are both Fulbright Scholars, and are from Tanzania and Kenya, respectively. They use songs and interactive games to enliven lessons and bring East African cultures to life.

This was the scene recently at as elementary students practiced writing Chinese characters. Students play games and jo...
03/04/2023

This was the scene recently at as elementary students practiced writing Chinese characters. Students play games and join in interactive activities to practice speaking Mandarin Chinese in weekly 45-minute lessons led by IU students Fallon Hare, Gini Jeffries, Sam Syroney, and Sarah Brown.

In addition to the elementary program, Bridges is also offering for the first time a combined Mandarin class for middle-high school students at Harmony School.

This afternoon, Bridges concluded our fall offering of languages for children in grades K-6. We look forward to returnin...
11/19/2022

This afternoon, Bridges concluded our fall offering of languages for children in grades K-6. We look forward to returning in February to offer classes in the following languages: Mandarin Chinese, Modern Greek, Persian, Russian, Hindi, Portuguese, Swahili, and Turkish. Stay tuned for future updates, or email [email protected] with questions.

This past Friday, students at learned their colors in Mandarin Chinese with their laoshi (teacher), IU student Maxime ...
11/17/2022

This past Friday, students at learned their colors in Mandarin Chinese with their laoshi (teacher), IU student Maxime Werk. They practiced saying the colors they like and dislike and culminated the lesson with a game of Twister… in Mandarin! Fei Chang Hao! (Wonderful!)

Their final lesson for this semester is this Friday with classes resuming in early February.

Students from were hard at work on Thursday reviewing numbers and learning names for classroom objects in their fifth ...
11/12/2022

Students from were hard at work on Thursday reviewing numbers and learning names for classroom objects in their fifth week of Swahili class. The class is taught by two Fulbright Scholars at IU, Hardyson Nghakamo and Micah Kipchumba Kiplagat.

Bridges continues instruction in Swahili, Persian, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Turkish for one more week, wrapping up our 6-week fall term on November 18th. We look forward to offering an expanded list of languages beginning in February!

Bridges instructors just concluded their third week of instruction in seldom-taught languages such as Russian and Mandar...
10/30/2022

Bridges instructors just concluded their third week of instruction in seldom-taught languages such as Russian and Mandarin Chinese to Bloomington students in grades K - 6. Our university student volunteer teachers use games, songs, and other activities to engage students and bring new sounds and sights to life. Pictured here are Russian instructor Lu Berta and Chinese instructor Maxime Werk. To learn more about Bridges, email [email protected].

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355 N Eagleson Avenue
Bloomington, IN
47405

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