Written by Mr Couliou, Head of Modern Languages
To celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the European Day of Languages the Modern Foreign Languages department organised a range of activities during last week of September.
On Monday morning, our Language Leaders, Sophia, Nathalie and Simran led a whole school assembly on the importance of learning modern foreign languages and reminded students of all the benefits this can bring.
On Tuesday, students could sign up for a Dumpling Making Workshop and Salsa Class at lunchtime.
Later in the week, German students took part in an Oktoberfest Baking Workshop where they baked an Apfelstrudel, a traditional Viennese pastry popular throughout Austria and Germany.
Students who take Russian attended a lecture on the portrayal of women in the Soviet Propaganda Art. The seminar was led by our own Ms Karamenova, who specialises in the topic. It was fascinating to find out how equality was at the heart of many soviet art pieces depicting women. Strength, power, and resilience were the main themes, and the approach “work, build and don’t whine” was the driving force of the time.
In the afternoon, Year 12 and Year 13 students studying French A Level took part in a translation workshop led by Jenny Higgins. Jenny is a professional translator, and Programme Manager for Queen’s College Translation Exchange. The students studied techniques to translate French literature into English. They were also able to put their own language skills and creativity into practise and we hope that this will pay dividends in the forthcoming A Level exams.
On Thursday, the Italian department organised a pasta making session as well as an Italian Karaoke.
Friday was a very busy day! We welcomed Annalisa Brusati a former student who is currently the Child Protection Senior Advisor for the International Rescue Committee. She spoke to Year 11 students about the importance of studying foreign languages. The Russian department organised a traditional Russian Doll Making Workshop. Dr Liu, our Head of Chinese, invited students to a Tai Chi Kung Fu Fan Workshop which combines Tai Chi and martial arts movements. Lastly on Friday night, the German department took some students to Radley College for a Quiz night which was fun and competitive.
Most students engaged in these activities, and it was a fantastic opportunity to show how important learning languages and discovering new cultures are to our community.
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