iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

RePatriation, by Ihotu Oglegba, features Nsibidi, an indigenous symbol system from southeastern Nigeria. From the recent Translation issues? exhibition by Royal College of Art Africa Society at the Africa centre, London #Nsibidi #Writing #Nigeria #Art www.africacentre.org.uk/Event/a-roya...

RePatriation: wooden sculpture artwork by Ihotu Oglegba, featuring Nsibidi symbols in the centre (an indigenous writing system from Nigeria) with animal and human figure carvings on either side.

Key to some of the Nsibidi pictograms depicted on the artwork, Repatriation

020

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Multilingual tiles on the beautiful "Head, Heart, Hands" mural of Cockpit studios, Deptford. Public art les by local artist Amber Khokhar. A celebration of community and history ❤️ cockpitstudios.org/head-heart-h... #London #Langsky #Multilingualism #Art #Craft #Diversity #Lewisham #Community

Part of a mural made with triangular tiles, featuring community languages, illustrations and poetic inscriptions. Cockpit studios, Creekside, Deptford, London.

140

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Evolution of the Phoenician alphabet - the first widespread phonetic alphabet, which inspired the Greek alphabet - explained at the excellent Byblos exhibition, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris. Writing became more democratic as a result! #lingsky #alphabet #Byblos #ima #musee #Paris #Lebanon #writing

Explanations about the evolution of the alphabet, on a wall in the Byblos exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe (April 2026). The left hand column shows the Proto-canaanian pictographs, next the corresponding Phoenician symbol, next the meaning (eg 'aleph is boeuf or ox) and the letter as it evolved in the Latin alphabet.

An explanation of the evolution of alphabetic writing, on the wall of the Byblos exhibition, Institut du Monde Arabe, paris.

051

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

Guess which historical figure learnt ancient and modern languages? Part of a festive trail at the Queen's House, in Greenwich. Merci, Royal Museums Greenwich, for highlighting language learning as a human endeavour throughout the ages!👏🏻 #Langsky #mfl #ancientlanguages #history #Greenwich #UK #quiz

Poster for a festive trail at the Queen's House, Greenwich, London, UK. Features two paintings and an image of a stocking, plus text explaining how to take part in the trail until 4 January 2026.

Partial photo of a blue and white Christmas stocking with a sign bearing the number 2 and the question "Who learnt ancient and modern languages?". Part of a festive trail at the Queen's House, Greenwich, London, UK.

000

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Great to present about Researcher wellbeing in research at the Language & Trauma workshop hosted by @jupurkarthofer.bsky.social & B. Busch today! We need cultural change to prevent, identify & address vicarious traumatisation. Skinner et al (2025) propose a useful framework👇🏻#research #ethics #trauma

141

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

حُرِّيَّة,حُرِّيَّة! Freedom, freedom! We will demand it in all our languages! #StopGazaGenocide‌ #Arabic #London #Students #HumanRights #WeAreAllPalestinians #UK

020

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Thousands set off on the UK national march for Palestine: we demand a ceasefire, an end to the inhuman blockade on food and humanitarian aid. Stop the genocide in Gaza! Free 🇵🇸! #StopGazaGenocide #StopStarvingGaza #StopArmingIsrael #SanctionIsrael #London #ICJBreach #WeAreAllPalestinians #HumanRights

0115

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Some language fun for a rainy day: rebus puzzles on display at the Young V&A museum! My favourite is #6 😉 Each picture represents a sound. Combine they form a food word. #4 (not pictured): a toy chick + a shirt w/ the letter P = chickpea! #London #lingsky #words #puzzles #English #museum #rebus

Exhibition case containing rebus puzzles: pairs of objects whose names form the name of a food when combined.
Spoiler...
1- painting of the sea, painting of a plant
2 - plastic toy in the shape of a fish, red leather glove
3 - vial of sand, puppet that looks like a witch
5 - pot if playdough, acorn

120

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Magnifique illustration du bilinguisme et de la bialphabétisation, de Zeina Abirached! "Je tricote depuis l'enfance une langue constituée de deux fils fragiles et précieux." Dans "La langue arabe, une chance pour la France", de Jack Lang (tract Gallimard) #plurilinguisme #arabe #français

030

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Avec les illustrations sublimes de Zeina Abirached! #arabe #alphabet #calligraphie #art

L'illustration en noir et blanc représente un enfant avec deux bulles: l'alphabet latin d'une part et arabe d'autre part. Un oiseau chante.

050

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

🗓️Samedi 9 août à 10h: la médiathèque de Lans-en-Vercors propose une séance de Scrabble en anglais! Idée ludique pour pratiquer la langue👏🏻 Gratuit et sans réservation, à partir de 12 ans. #Lans #Vercors #Anglais #English #langsky #LanguageLearning #jeux

Annonce de la médiathèque de Lans en Vercors : "Et si on jouait...? au scrabble en anglais !" Tel 0476943231

001

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Beautiful #multilingual #picturebook by Palestinian American writer @hannahmoushabeck.bsky.social! Infused with love for her Homeland and told through her father's evocative stories. Featuring #Arabic words/script (& glossary), beautiful illustration. Keep teaching kids about the world! 🇵🇸 #langsky

020

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Opening keynote by Prof Fridah Kanana Erastus (Kenyatta University, Kenya) & Dr Julius Taji (University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania): "Variation in present-day Swahili: Emerging #dialect areas". Great to finally meet Fridah in person, as we collaborate on writing workshops in Kenya! #Kiswahili

110

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Looking back on a great writing workshop for early career researchers in Kenya last week! Fantastic working w/ colleagues from Uni of Essex, Kenyatta University & Birkbeck, and many guest contributors, to deliver a packed programme! See: tinyurl.com/543mazrj #Kenya #AcademicWriting #BritishAcademy

Photo of workshop organisers Dr Lydiah Maingi, Dr Natalia Rodriguez Vicente and Dr Louise Rolland with assistant Sharon Kabogo. Taken in front of a banner for the project 'Supporting Publishing and Advancing Academic Research in Kenya' (SPARK), at the Kenyatta University Conference Centre, on 27 June 2025.

Photo of the printed programme for day 2 of the SPARK workshop (26 June 2025), involving training by Dr Louise Rolland, leading into writing and feedback sessions, followed by a guest talk on Open Science by Prof Meng Liu and an editor panel with Prof Bojana Petrić, Prof Nancy Kula, Prof Rajendra Chetty and Jun Prof Kai Horstmann, moderated by Dr Louise Rolland, to demystify aspects of academic writing and publishing.

010

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Author Anni Domingo spoke to literary activist Kadija Sesay about her book "Breaking the Maafa chain" in Nairobi yesterday, as part of the Sigana storytelling festival. Anni explained that Maafa refers to the "great disaster" of the African Holocaust. #Kiswahili #Africa #BlackHistory

Author Anni Domingo is pictured reading from her novel Breaking the Maafa Chain, alongside Kadija Sesay, on a sofa at Cheche Bookshop and Café, Nairobi on 29 June 2025. An event of the Sigana storytelling festival.

121

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

I think this might be the Ge'ez script of Ethiopia? Spotted at The Nairobi Gallery, which houses a fantastic collection of African art. #langsky #script #Ethiopia #Kenya #museum

030

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

Breakfast to the tunes of "worship nonstop part 7" in Nairobi! 🇵🇸 #Kenya #Swahili #Soundscape

020

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Bilingual signage at #Southall station features the Punjabi Gurmukhi script! londonist.com/london/trans... #London #LinguisticLandscape #multilingualism #Punjabi

1123

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

Swahili in unexpected places! Rachel Isadora's retelling of The Princess and the Pea is set in Africa, with greetings in #Somali, #Amharic and #Swahili! Beautifully illustrated. The ending needs updating to involve the princess's enthusiastic consent to marriage, though ! #picturebooks #fairytale

Picture book cover showing an African princess seated on a tower of mattresses, with the title "The princess and the pea" and author/illustrator's name, Rachel Isadora.

071

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Join an exciting space mission using British Sign Language! Kids are excited to learn how to finger spell their name, before helping to launch a rocket by learning space-related signs. A brilliant activity using short video clips to teach sign language! #BSL #SignLanguages #Lingsky #Museums #EDI

Image of an interactive computer screen depicting a space rocket and astronaut on the left hand side, and a still of a sign language video clip, inviting children to select one of four answers to the question "Next, what is our destination today?". Photo taken at the Winchester Science Centre

020

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

We are marching for peace and the right to life for Palestinians 🇵🇸 #StopGazaGenocide‌ #StopArmingIsrael #UK #HumanRights #Nakba77 #StoptheSiege

0103

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Thousands gathering in #London to demand an end to #GazaGenocide‌. #StopArmingIsrael #Nakba77

515350

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

A great writing retreat with the added bonus of thinking about Languages of the Future in academia and beyond - @futuretense2025.bsky.social. Many thanks to @peterbrowning.bsky.social, Josh Weeks and Flora Sagers! Merci à UCL for the #bilingual toilet sign, although I suspect AI... #FakeFrench

Bright orange sign hanging in front of female toilets in UCL south cloister basement. The black lettering is bilingual English/French, it says: "Closed for cleaning. Fermé pour le nettoyage."

010

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Remembering David Hughes, brilliant linguist and ethnomusicologist, wonderful human, who introduced me & countless others to Japanese folk music. Founder of the SOAS Min'yo Group, Okinawa Sanshinkai & more. It was an honour to rehearse, play music, chat & laugh with him! Forever in our 💔 & 🎶 #民謡

The photo depicts the late Dr David Hughes playing the Binzasara, wearing a happi coat, in front of a microphone. The photo was used in publicity materials for the World Shakuhachi Festival 2018 in London, photographer unknown.

100

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

Celebrating the brilliant Dr Hannah King!! 🎓Birkbeck PhD in Applied Linguistics, class of 2025! ☀️ Congratulations to a wonderdul friend and scholar! ❤️❤️ @hmking-linguist.bsky.social #graduation #lingsky

190

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

A multilingual April fool to brighten up your day ;) Enjoy the silly pranks! #pun #multilingual #French #English #humour

Cartoon of a pink cow saying "T'en as pas marre des blagues sur les poissons d'avril?", in English aren't you tired of jokes about April fish? The goldfish replies "Oh, maintenant, je m'en "Fish""! This is a bilingual pun on "je m'en fiche", translating as "Oh, I don't care any more!".

1152

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos speaks once again at the national march for #Palestine in London. As he remembers living in hiding, drinking melted snow and eating dried beans under siege in Hungary during WWII, he speaks out against the genocidal siege of #Gaza 💔. #StopTheGenocide #HumanRights

0126

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Making noise for #Gaza as we gather for the latest national march in London! Stop the siege and #GazaGenocide, we are still here and will continue to exercise free speech in support of #Palestine! #humanrightsviolations #StopIsraeliCrimes #UK

0159

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Bilingual signage by ScotRail: featuring English prominently in bold, with Scottish Gaelic placed below in smaller font. #linguisticlandscape #lingsky #langsky #ScottishGaelic #Scotland #multilingualism

041

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Couldn't resist this #Scots translation of a great #picturebook! Here's a highlight: "five great muckle cuddy-aipples duntit doon juist a midgie's whisker frae the wee mowdie"! 🐴💩😬 #Scotland #Langsky #Languages #multilingualism #translation #midges

Front cover of the picturebook entitled "The Tale o the Wee Mowdie that wantit tae ken wha keeched on his heid", by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch, in a Scots translation by Matthew Mackie. The illustration is a mole with poo on his head!

071

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 07/03/2025

The @multilinglibrary.bsky.social has travelled to the @unistirarchives.bsky.social, Scotland! Listening to @hmking-linguist.bsky.social on "Books that cross borders: exploring diversity, inclusivity and visibility via multilingual picture books" 📚🎒 #langsky #languages #picturebooks #EDI #schools

072

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

On the importance of decolonising research, using participatory approaches from the start (pre data collection) - Dr Simon Eten asks who the research is for, who will author the findings... and shares key themes from "Cultures of Decolonisation". #decolonisation #HE #epistemics #research #

Chart asking "Why decolonise research"? Three themes, which I'll summarise as "serving diverse and particularly marginalised populations", "to address inequality in knowledge production" and "address oppressive research methodologies".

This slide, entitled "Decolonising in the research cycle", emphasises that "decolonising research starts from the conception stage of the research". It asks questions such as "In whose interests is your research being carried out?".

This slide presents six key themes from the research, including "academic leadership", "equitable participation in research" and "co-production in research".

011

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

A wonderful picture book by Andrea Wong, showcasing linguistic diversity through the sharing of tea, 茶, thé! Spotted at the @hornimanmuseum.bsky.social :) Watch the trailer for how to pronounce the different words for tea : youtu.be/d1tsgkwAw2o #multilingualism #picturebooks #tea #diversity

252

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

Nice accent representation in this artwork by Real Hackney Dave, spotted this morning ! #accents #London #art #maps

Map of London with the words "NORF SARF" screen printed over it in large pink letters.

030

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 08/01/2025

🚨Seminar for MITN series! 🗓️ Wed 29th January 2025 🎤 'Multilingualism in research interviews: language policy and practice' (see abstract) 🕔 5-6 pm (GMT) 🔗 Free to join, see link: warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fa... All welcome! #ResearchingMultilingually #LanguagesInResearch #Interviews

Image of presentation abstract, which is available at the link : https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/mitn/events/seminars/

062

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

الطائر L'oiseau (altaayir) Magnifique #calligraphie #arabe de Mahrez Landoulsi, qui expose dans sa #galerie Al-Andalusi, à #Grenoble #PaysageLinguistique #langsky #art #arabic #calligraphy

083

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

More - #multilingual - messages of protest and solidarity from the #UK march for #Palestine, demanding a #ceasefireNow & access to food, water and healthcare for #Gaza and #Lebanon ! Rallying cries in #Arabic: huriya = freedom حرية Intifada = uprising الانتفاضة @pscupdates.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

Ceasefire (in English, Arabic and Hebrew)

Latin Americans stand with Palestine! Stop the genocide! Land back! Justice!

041

Louise Rolland @lrollandmulti.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

We march again against #GazaGenocide in #London. Thousands from all over #UK demand a #CeasefireNow! We are the people. We won't be silenced. Stop the bombing now! #FreePalestine #HandsoffLebanon #Scholasticide @ucu.org.uk @pscupdates.bsky.social

1198