Languages Another busy year for the Languages students at De La! The Years 9, 10 and 11 Italian classes took part in the Dante Alighieri Poetry reading competition once again with some outstanding results! The first round of the competition was held at the College and 5 of our students gained a place in the finals — three Year 10’s and two Year 9’s. It was the first time in the College’s history of 20 years entering the competition!
The finalists David Ghaly, Matthew Mercuri, Raphael Canty, Liam Chai and Julian de Thomasis then presented at Melbourne University where they competed with 174 students across Years 9–12.
The competition organizers relayed the message that De La Salle College is gaining a reputation as fierce competitors in the competition — high praise indeed, since the competition runs statewide! Stefan di Medio gained a special award when he entered a multimedia competition where he was required to make a DVD with soundtrack, telling the story of an Italo–Australian involved in some aspect of music. This is the first time any student from our school took part, and Stefan came away with a special mention and high praise for our College! The Years 11 and 12 Italian classes, in their respective ‘Headstart’ programs covered units on “Il Caffè – una passione italiana! Coffee – an Italian passion!” and “I piatti festivi – festive foods” and topped their year off with a lesson on how to make true Italian coffee accompanied by the Italian Christmas cake Panettone. The Years 9 and 10 French classes took part in the Alliance Française Poetry Competition and gained some sound results. Nigel Menezes won a place as a finalist! The Year 10 French class rounded off their year with a Fête de la Cuisine Française. All this activity will prepare the students well, as most of them go on to the next year of
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study in their chosen language. Some students are preparing to take part in a cultural and linguistic tour to either Italy or France in April 2014. Alliance Française — VCE In August our senior French students (VCE French Unit 2) went to the Alliance Française in St Kilda for the Berthe Mouchette Competition. They were, understandably, very nervous. The students were very motivated as the task was excellent preparation for their end of Year 12 oral examination. They all approached the task in a positive manner. This was made even easier by the prospect of performing in front of the young and charming staff at the Alliance Française. One by one, they came out beaming with joy and relief. It was pleasing to see how excited all the students were at the end of the session. They all commented on the value of the experience. The experience was enhanced by a visit to a local pizzeria for lunch at the conclusion of all presentations. We are looking forward to repeating the process with this group at the same time next year as the stakes will be even higher so close to their final oral examination.
