Vicki Mileson
The University of Nottingham has a new media society in its midst, Lingo Magazine. Serving up the opportunity to write about different languages and cultures, Lingo Magazine promises to unite cultures from around the world in the heart of the University of Nottingham. Victoria Mileson, Lingo Magazine’s Culture Editor, caught up with Niamh Woodhouse, Editor-in-Chief of Lingo Magazine, to talk about how the project started and where it’s heading.
Niamh founded Lingo Magazine a few months ago while on her year abroad in Cadiz. With the help of her committee, Lingo Magazine came to be on 15 February and together, they look forward to sharing a world of cultures and different perspectives with fellow Nottingham students.
I wanted to establish Lingo for my fellow classmates as well as future students
Victoria: How did Lingo Magazine come to be?
Niamh: It was during my year abroad that the idea of Lingo began. Erasmus is a great opportunity to meet a whole bunch of different people from around the world, as well as the UK. By talking to other language students who study at universities back home, I found that many of them write for language magazines and realised this is something we were lacking at Nottingham. So, I wanted to establish Lingo for my fellow classmates as well as future students.
V: How would you best describe Lingo Magazine?
N: Lingo is a magazine for language lovers as well as anyone who is intrigued by the world around them.
V: How can contributors get involved?
N: If you head over to our ‘Get Involved’ tab on our website or the highlight on our Instagram you’ll find all the steps along with some useful links there. We’ve got lots of tools to help our writers, including article ideas, writing frames and of course, our committee. We also have a Facebook group for contributors with updates and discussions about our next uploads.
Many have asked me whether you need to language skills to take part in the magazine, and even though we are a language focussed magazine, you don’t need to speak another language at all. You also don’t need writing experience – before I started working on Lingo, I didn’t have any experience either. We want contributors who have a passion and appreciation for the world around them!
V: How can you get involved with Lingo Magazine if you don’t want to write?
N: We aim to be a social society as well as a magazine. So, if you want to get involved but don’t fancy writing, you definitely can! Once we get up and running, we will be planning events and trips that anyone can get involved in – no matter if you are a writer or just want to join the fun!
As we are a cultural magazine, we hope to include trips to museums and galleries, as well as host film nights in different languages. We have also been in contact with the uni’s other cultural societies to organise joint socials and experience other cultures.
V: What sort of topics will Lingo Magazine cover?
N: We’ve split the magazine into four sections so we can cover as much as possible. Our culture section will include recipes from around the world, music, film and book reviews as well as articles about cultural traditions. In our current affairs section, we will be documenting global events and giving opinions on current issues. The third section is language and linguistics, where we explore topics such as why languages are the way they are and provide language learning tips. Our final section, travel, covers city guides, tales from our travels and year abroad advice.
We also designed the website with their points in mind to allow as many people to read our articles as possible
V: How are you making Lingo Magazine accessible and inclusive?
N: Our wonderful welfare team (Aidan, Bella and Jess) are making sure that the magazine is accessible by providing writers with accessibility guides. We also designed the website with their points in mind to allow as many people to read our articles as possible and are working with other cultural societies and the SU to accurately represent other cultures.
V: Where can you go to find out more about Lingo Magazine?
N: We regularly update our Instagram (@lingomag_) and for contributors, we have a Facebook group with all the info on how to get involved and submit articles.
We’ve just launched so are looking for new writers and contributors to join the team!
Vicki Mileson
Featured image courtesy of Lingo Magazine – special permission for Impact to use from Lingo Magazine.
In-article images courtesy of @lingomag_ via Instagram.com.
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