Blogs:
You might have already realised that Saturday 22 August is the start of Book Week in Australia – this prompted the name of our 2026 LTAT biennial Conference: Symphony of Languages.
The Academic Committee is excited to announce that Andrea Truckenbrot is the Keynote Speaker for our 2026 LTAT Conference, at the Launceston Conference Centre. Her session is entitled Symphony of Stories: using picture story books at all levels in Languages Education.
Andrea will also be running a workshop on the day.
Alison von Dietze will be running a Plenary Session on Harmony in the Australian Curriculum version 9 for ALL languages.
Don’t miss out on the Poster session – it’ll be a little like going to a Market Place to find out about the stories used in programs and the ideas and pedagogy used around them [book sharing]. It might even include some costumes!
What else?? There have been discussions with ELLA, Bu Kathy or some of her teacher colleagues could present, although maybe online to avoid travel. Goethe Institut, Netzwerk and Japan Foundation are locked in, and a je ne sais quoi for French.
If you are interested in presenting something, our CALL FOR PAPERS is still open until Sunday, 19 April, 2026 [that’s the first weekend of Term 1 holidays]
SO… that’s the news!
WHAT can you do to be there?
1. Register yourself or your school’s languages teachers for https://ltat.asn.au/index.php/membership. LTAT membership by the END TERM 1, 17 April, 2026
2. One of the bonuses of membership is the savings for Conference
3. You can apply to your local LTAT branch for financial support to attend, but you MUST be an LTAT member.
4. AT this stage, EARLY BIRD PRICES: Members $170 – Non-members $255 - Student teachers $50
5. NB EARLY BIRD closes before the end of Term 2
6. NON-Early Bird: Members $210, Non-members $295
7. There is a small extra charge for this as we use TRY BOOKING for registration – this is not available yet.
8. Teachers who have Languages Grants from DECYP – you can use some of those funds to participate in PL – this is the best way to meet other languages teachers and share ideas, etc.
A wise MLTAT legend once told me “No other learning area has to justify its existence like Languages do.”
These words have been very true. Part of being a Languages teacher is constantly justifying your learning area. Advocacy becomes a part of the role, and it can sometimes be tricky to manage when you are between multiple schools and age levels. Please note, the idea of this list is to generate some useful tips, don’t try and do them all. No-one needs burn-out!
Getting started as a specialist languages teacher can be a busy experience, especially when you don’t have a classroom. Here are some of our tried and tested tips for getting started.
Read more: Tips for getting started as a primary itinerant languages teacher
