Avieris is a five-year-old boy who was born and raised in Ireland to Greek parents. At home, he speaks Greek with them, while through his crèche and the world around him he also speaks English and is exposed to Irish. Avieris has a deep love for speaking Greek and shows a strong connection to his heritage and home language. Every night, his grandmother reads him stories in Greek, and his world is very much rooted in the language. Next year, he will begin attending Greek school to further support his linguistic development.

Because Avieris already has a strong support system for Greek at home, he does not attend the Language Workshops primarily to develop his language skills. Instead, the workshops give him the opportunity to be surrounded by children with similar multilingual and multicultural experiences. For both Avieris and his mother, the workshops offer something unique and especially meaningful: a chance to bond through art. The workshops provide a space where creativity can be positively channelled and connections between art, language and life can be made. As a young artist, Avieris loves bringing home all of his masterpieces and proudly displaying them around the house.

What keeps Avieris and his family coming back year after year is the strong sense of community at Language Explorers. From the artists to the other families, they feel connected, welcomed, and included. The diversity of artists, activities, and languages makes each experience fresh and exciting, and continues to draw them back. For families like Avieris’, Language Explorers provides an accessible and welcoming environment for everyone who wants to participate through art. For boys his age, most activities revolve around sports, but at the workshops, Avieris and other children have the opportunity to see language not just as something to learn, but as something joyful, creative, and deeply connected to their own heritage.