Welcome!

We all remember and love the verses we learnt as children from families and friends.

In this collaborative project the Association for Language Learning and Sheffield, City of Languages are inviting teachers with bi- / multilingual pupils in their classes to collect similar verses / texts in languages representing all of our communities. Counting rhymes, nursery rhymes, cautionary tales, rhymes to support play - all are welcome!

For each text we would welcome all, or any, of the following:

· A title and indication of language

· A short written version in the original language

· A version in English to help others understand

· An audio or video recording (lasting no more than 60-90 seconds) of a recitation of the text, ideally featuring children’s voices

Please make sure that anything you share does not underlie any copyright (for example, *do* share traditional playground or counting rhymes, but *do not* share the title song of a children's TV show, or a rhyme made famous through a specific modern children's book).

The collected resources will be posted on this website, as an anthology for other children, classes and teachers to enjoy and learn from.

The invitation is ongoing and will have regular deadlines until at least 2027.

This crowd-sourced collection is launched in time for the Day of Languages 2025 and you are welcome to contribute at any time before the deadline of October half-term (20 October, 2025). We will then announce the next deadline.

SUBMIT YOUR MULTILINGUAL VERSES HERE!

For any questions or concerns, please email Dr Sabine Little at the University of Sheffield: s.little@sheffield.ac.uk

More details on https://www.all-languages.org.uk/news-events/challenges-and-competitions/ (Multilingual verses)

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