LANGUAGES CORNER
Welcome to our Languages Corner.
At Oberon your child is fortunate to be learning either German or Indonesian.
There are approximately 3.3 billion bilingual people worldwide, accounting for 43% of the population.
Children who learn languages often outperform their fellow students who don’t. Beyond higher academic achievement, the follow-on benefits from learning a language other than English are considerable.
Enhancing literacy skills
Research has shown that language learning enhances a child’s literacy. According to research conducted, language learning increases knowledge of word and sentence structure as well as spelling.
Building confidence
The communication requirements of language learning often lead to increased self and social confidence. Language learning encourages students to participate more actively in the classroom by asking and answering more questions, and can initiate new-found success for students who have struggled with English.
Encouraging cultural awareness
Language learning significantly increases students’ awareness and understanding of other countries and cultures, and therefore increases the ability to deal respectfully with others.
Teaching students to be thinkers
Language learning is widely recognised as an important contributor to the development of problem-solving skills that are beneficial across the school curriculum.
Expanding job opportunities
Young people who learn languages other than English often travel widely after graduation, and have increased opportunities to work in exciting overseas jobs, or for international companies in Australia.
LANGUAGES NEWS
1. German SAGSE scholarship students
This week the 3 girls from last year’s Year 12 group, Hazel, Harper and Willow, return to Australia after 10 weeks in Germany. They have been having the time of their lives immersed in a new culture. We hope they can come back to Oberon to share some of their amazing experiences with our German classes!
2. Welcome back to Imogen Cosgriff Year 11
Imogen returned to Australia for the start of the school year after spending 10 weeks on exchange in Augsburg, Bavaria. Imogen stayed with her host sister Denisha who attended Oberon last year. We look forward to inviting Imogen to some German classes to tell us about her exchange in Germany.
3. Scholarship opportunity for German students aged 15 – 17
The Goethe-Institute is offering scholarships for motivated and interested students aged between 15 and 17 to travel to Austria (near Salzburg) for a 2- week intensive holiday camp. If you are interested, please speak to your German teacher or see Frau Ray for more information. Applications are due on 2nd March. Further information can be found at https://www.goethe.de/ins/au/en/spr/unt/ver/sst.html
Indonesian
The Indonesian team at Oberon are very excited to introduce Neily Bahjah who will be our Language Assistant for 2025. She comes from Bandung, Java and will be with us Monday and Tuesdays for terms 2, 3 and 4. We are also planning our 2025 Year 10 Indonesian trip to Yogyakarta for September. Finally, a big welcome back to Pak Eli Barnes.