Newsletter from the Hymers College MFL Department • Issue 1
Previous Speakers at the Language and Culture Club Have you heard about the language and culture club? Extremely interesting speakers talk each week about their cultures and experiences with languages. It’s fascinating to hear from such a wide range of cultures such as Russia, Hungary, and many more. Our previous speakers were:
Eszti Pontone
Wafaa Elghoroury
Eszti, born in Hungary, has been living in England since the age of 16 after receiving an incredible opportunity in 1995, to study in England for one year in Sixth Form. She started learning English at the age of 6 and luckily, she was one of the ten students from Hungary who were granted the scholarship. Eszti gave us a whistle-stop tour of Hungary’s history, discussing its rather turbulent history, having been invaded many times and eventually losing over 2/3rds of its territory at the Treaty of Trianon. Eszti spoke about her life with languages and how English has provided her with so many opportunities which have completely shaped her life! It was fascinating to hear another’s view on the importance of languages within society and her life individually!
Wafaa spoke about her life growing up in Egypt, being exposed to languages from a very young age! As she attended a British school in Egypt, she had the opportunities to learn English and French as well as the many other languages her parents spoke, such as the Egyptian and Libyan dialects. It was extremely intriguing to see how her drive to learn languages shaped her life and how she was able to gain fluency in different languages through reading travel, literature and watching films. Wafaa was able to break down the stereotype(s) of ‘learning languages is too difficult’, ‘why bother learning any more if you can speak English’, her advice being that selfteaching a new language is possible, especially through media such as books, films and music.
Nina Koshy
Giuseppe Mazzarelli
Nina is an old Hymerian, attending Hymers college a few years ago and is now studying languages at St Andrews University. She spoke about the rewarding experience she has had so far with studying languages (Spanish, Arabic, and Italian) and it was the perfect opportunity for sixth formers or those in younger years to ask her any burning questions! Many of our members are interested in studying languages at university and beyond, so it was very beneficial to have that student perspective and understand how speaking a range of languages can improve your skills, professionally and culturally! ‘One of the many things I love about languages is how much they can say about the people who use it.’
Giuseppe’s parents are Russian and Italian, allowing him to have grown up in a bilingual home. Not only has this provided him with a passion and skill for languages, continued through his learning of English, but it was also interesting for any bilingual students to see how Giuseppe made the best of his advantages, now running a business that deals with clients from Russia. Giuseppe mentioned how ‘‘languages are an insurance, the world is constantly evolving and you never know which country will be best for your career in 5 years’’ and similarly, ‘languages give you options in countries where you may have a better quality of life’’. His passion and drive were eye-opening for us, and Giuseppe’s advice really allowed us to see just how advantageous languages are and how beneficial they can be for our future!
After having the opportunity to invite a selection of guest speakers to our club, we decided to present a series of presentations delivered by the leaders of the language and culture club!
Shreya Rajesh Shreya talked to the club about her parent’s mother tongue, Tamil, and the challenges she has had with maintaining the language growing up in Britain. Those who attended were fascinated to look at some of the oldest Indian scriptures called Vedas and the points of discussion also included how much India’s history has shaped its language(s) and societal customs we see to this day. With the many past invasions of civilization, each ‘group’ brought their unique culture and language with them to create the cultural melting pot seen in India today. The members debated the ethicality of India’s traditional caste system and how it is perceived today, this something that all the participants were able to share their thoughts and opinions on!
Helena Mills It might be thirty years since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it remains shrouded in mystery. Helena‘s presentation took the audience on a whistle-stop tour of the 15 independent republics of the (now dissolved) Union, looking at the wildly differing cultures and languages. We then dove into the heart of Russia - the republic of Tatarstan, home to the rich culture of the indigenous Tatar people and their capital Kazan which sits on the infamous Volga river, the longest river in Europe. We hope to hear more from members of our club, or indeed anyone who wishes to share their experiences with their culture and language(s) in the future!
Upcoming Speakers Continuing with the theme of stigmas and stereotypes within cultures, more of our students will be talking about their culture and fascinating superstitions, myths, and stereotypes associated with the culture. We are also delighted to announce that we have a number of Old Hymerians coming to speak to us about their professions, and how learning languages has helped shape their lives. If you are interested in learning more about life with languages, studying languages, and your fellow students’ cultures, feel free to join meetings on Fridays! You can also find powerpoints from previous talks on the Language and Culture page :) Language and Culture Club — Schoogle