Modern Foreign Languages

EAL: INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VOICE

In November, Janice Cheng, Maria Rozhkova and Alena Yu attended the annual interschool speaking competition - “International Student Voice”. Competitors gave speeches on a topic of their choice in front of an audience of fellow students and teaching staff. All three gave very engaging speeches, and Janice Cheng finished as runner-up of the competition, speaking about the history and ethics of ‘utilitarianism’ using visual aids to educate and inform her audience.

MFL VISITING SPEAKERS

In March, Year 10 MFL pupils enjoyed a talk given by Florence Broderick (Chief Marketing Officer at CARTO).

Florence was born and raised in Somerset and went on to study Spanish and French at Southampton University. She has worked all over the world and during her talk she urged pupils to embrace language learning as a door opener to other cultures and ways of working.

Pupils were also given a talk by three language graduates from Bath University. They were given an insight into what studying languages beyond school could be like and where it could take them in the future. What was particularly insightful was the diversity of potential careers one might have having studied a language or more beyond school.

LINGUISTICS OLYMPIAD

In February, twelve pupils in Years 11-13 took on the Linguistics Olympiad, involving over two hours of problem-solving and de-coding languages from all over the world. As well as being exceptionally challenging, the Olympiad also gives us an insight to the fascinating world of languages.

Particular congratulations to the following pupils who received awards:

BRONZE AWARD

Grace Asplin Oscar Power

KS5 FRENCH DEBATING CLUB

Well done to the following students for their enthusiasm, good humour and contributions in our successful French A Level Debating Club.

Florence Burton Emily Watkins Fade Alayande Romy Sloane Alex Kellagher Jago Neech Amelie Girdher Polina Akimova

Topics were varied and largely influenced by students’ personal interest. This year, they debated on the following topics:

• Les réseaux sociaux influencent-ils les jeunes à pratiquer de la chirurgie esthétique? • Notre personnalité est-elle innée ou influencée par notre environnement?

Nature vs nurture

• Pour ou Contre le mariage homosexuel et l’adoption? • «la Cancel Culture/Culture de l’effacement»

Year 10 Mandarin students each researched one of the major cities in China and gave fabulous presentations, exploring the different cities, cultures and interesting facts. The presentations were very enjoyable and educational! They finished the presentation week by having a taste of different types of Chinese Bubble Tea!

Mandarin students learnt about the traditions and customs of the Chinese New Year including the legend of the zodiac animals. They engaged in different Chinese art forms such as calligraphy and paper cutting, and all enjoyed the special cultural experience as they celebrated the Chinese New Year!

POETRY TRANSLATING

Students in Year 7 to 13 took part in translating poetry, and literary non-fiction. Year 7 translated La Lune by Maurice Carême and looked at Apollinaire’s calligrams; Year 9 had a go at translating Liberté by Paul Eluard; Year 10 and 11 looked at street poetry and translated a poem about Black Lives Matter; whilst Year 12 and 13 rendered some excellent translations of the first stanza of L’Albatros, by Charles Baudelaire.

FROM THE GERMAN DEPARTMENT

This year, as schools returned to normal, German classes were able to revisit and experience some of the activities that we had looked forward to so much, and that have been missed greatly over the past few years.

Our pupils in Year 8 were treated to a German breakfast whilst studying the topic of food and daily routine in lessons and were able to sample an authentic breakfast picnic while using their language skills to describe their experience in German. We were also fortunate enough to have been put in contact with some pen friends in a German school in Münster, and some pupils have made connections with pen pals. We very much hope that we can stay in touch with them in the next academic year, and we plan to have a joint lesson online when we are back after the summer break.

We had a visitor from Bristol University who works for the world-famous Goethe Institut, who gave a talk to all Year 10 German pupils about her pathway into languages. Iris, a current student of German and Spanish who works as a volunteer for the ‘Goethe Young Ambassadors’, delivered a very insightful talk on the benefits of learning German at GCSE and A Level, and further beyond.

On a misty Thursday morning in early May, Year 10 and 12 Germanists made the journey from Kingswood to London Southbank at almost the break of dawn. After a weary start, we were treated to a guided tour of many of the most iconic sights in London, before arriving at the very impressive British Film Institute for a day of workshops focussing on German culture and identity through the medium of short films. The workshop started with an introduction from a German lecturer from Goldsmith’s University who led an engaging range of activities based on the five films discussed. We were shown a short, animated film on a Hungarian girl’s experience of German New Year traditions, a moral tale of a big businessman and a homeless man, a look at the future of technology seen through the eyes of a group of young film makers, and finally another animated film looking at the future of the world from the perspective of two stone age characters made of rocks. It was very impressive to see such engagement and discussion taking place in German amongst Kingswood pupils, with a range of complex ideas on film analysis being discussed. Some exam style questions were also tackled with ease, and it was good to hear lots of excellent German being spoken. In the afternoon, we were shown a screening of ‘Berlin 39’; a very moving tale of two young women’s experiences of training for the Berlin Olympics in 1939, under Nazi rule. This was a fascinating story to watch unfold, and the cinema screen often broke into rapturous applause as the story developed.