Comment | 'Languages are more than words'
Every so often, a project comes along that reminds you what young people can teach the rest of us. Keele University Language Centre’s recent poster competition - run in partnership with Port Vale Football Club - was one of those moments. On the surface, it was a simple idea: ask children from across Stoke-on-Trent to design a poster saying "Welcome to Stoke-on-Trent" in German, French, Spanish, or Polish, and decorate it with drawings of things they thought were important in the local area. But once the entries started to arrive, the project became something far bigger.
More than 500 posters came in from schools all over the city, from Year 3 pupils sketching oatcakes and bottle kilns in bold felt-tip lines, to Year 7 students experimenting with digital design, blending Stoke's industrial heritage with the colours and shapes of European languages. Every single one carried a sense of pride - pride in the city, pride in learning to communicate in a new language, and pride in the idea of showcasing the city to the rest of the world.
Seven winners were eventually chosen, though it would be fair to say that choosing only seven felt almost impossible. Those winning posters were displayed at Port Vale’s ground, where supporters and members of the Port Vale Foundation were able to see and talk about the ideas depicted by these young artists.
But what struck me most about this whole project was not the competition itself, but the way it opened up a conversation that Stoke-on-Trent urgently needs. For too long, many people have quietly accepted the idea that language learning in schools is becoming less important because we can rely on Google Translate or AI tools. It is astonishing how quickly we slip into the belief that technology can do everything for us. This is a serious mistake.
Megan Bowler, author of a recent report called The Languages Crisis: Arresting Decline wrote that "there is a common misconception that Google Translate and now AI tools are making language capabilities redundant. On the contrary, the skills and intellectual values that a 'linguistic mindset' can instil are even more important in this age of rapid technological change. Close and critical analysis, oracy, cultural adaptability, creative problem-solving, precision and clarity of expression are exactly what ChatGPT struggles to replace."
Languages are not just a list of words that can be copied into a translation app. They are bridges—bridges to jobs, to friendships, to confidence, to understanding the world beyond the city’s boundaries. They are exercises in imagination and empathy. When a child writes "Willkommen in Stoke-on-Trent" next to a picture of an oatcake or a duck or draws a bottle kiln next to "Bienvenido", they are not simply making a poster. They are practising the skill of looking outward, of imagining how someone else might see their city.
This outward-looking attitude is something Stoke-on-Trent has had before, even if we sometimes forget it. Our long-standing link with the German city of Erlangen, once a lively partnership of exchanges and school visits, has begun to wake up again after years of quiet. Reviving these connections matters. It reminds us that Stoke is not an isolated place on a map, but a city with international ties, a proud global history, and communities that stretch far beyond Staffordshire.
That is what made the children's posters so refreshing. While adults argue about budgets, exam results, and whether languages have a place in the curriculum, the children simply got on with it. They chose colours, found the right spelling, practised grammar, drew oatcakes, canal boats, local celebrities and, of course the badges of their favourite football clubs. They didn't overthink it. They simply welcomed the world to their hometown.
If we want a city that is open, confident and ambitious, then encouraging young people to learn languages is one of the most practical steps we can take. It boosts employability in a labour market that increasingly expects international awareness. It helps children understand that there are multiple ways of seeing the world. And, as the poster competition proved, it sparks creativity that speaks across cultures. Stoke-on-Trent is a city with stories worth sharing - and it can share them in more than one language.
