Languages News
Lucie Dickens, Academic Dean of Languages
Year 7 Cultural and Languages Day - French
Lennard Langenberg and Chelsea Li, Year 7 French
On Friday 23 May, Year 7 students celebrated their first-ever French Cultural Day.
Students participated in a range of exciting activities—from cooking and floorball to playing pétanque and discovering French-speaking singers. Our activities were ran by native French speaking people, which also enhanced the whole experience!
During the cooking session, we had the chance to make crêpes—and they turned out delicious! Afterwards, we played floorball, a fast-paced game from Switzerland that’s similar to hockey. During Pétanque, we learned the rules as we played and came up with fun strategies to try and win.
Next, we moved on to the music session, where we discovered a lively French music competition called Manie Musicale. We listened to a range of songs and tried to guess which ones were the most popular.
After all these activities, we attended a special Year 7 Languages Assembly led by our Senior students. We got a glimpse of the challenge involved in studying French and Japanese at VCE level by listening to a sample conversation. One of the highlights of the assembly was a Just Dance competition between the Houses!
It was an amazing day, and we’d like to thank all the teachers for their hard work and effort in making it such a memorable experience!
Year 7 Cultural and Languages Day - Japanese
Rosy Zhao, Year 7 Japanese
On Friday 23 May, Year 7s had their Japanese Cultural Day. From kimono dressing to traditional Japanese dancing, everyone had a blast throughout the day!
In the morning, the two Japanese classes came together to take part in Taiko drumming and Yukata/Happi dressing.
During the Taiko session, Ayako Sensei introduced us to the art of Taiko drumming. Then, we moved on to Yukata/Happi dressing — and it truly felt like we had stepped into Japan. We all had so much fun trying on the traditional clothing and everyone looked spectacular!
After lunch, we enjoyed two more activities — calligraphy and dancing.
In calligraphy, we learned how to write the word 日本 (Japan in Kanji). It was a lot more difficult than I had though, as all the lines had to be written a different way. I had a lot to memorise, but it was still extremely fun.
Finally, it was time for our dancing session. We were greeted by Murasaki no kai, a group of traditional Japanese dance teachers, who have been coming to Kilvington consecutively for 17 years! What's even more amazing is that the oldest member is 83 years old!
They taught us three dances with fun, upbeat moves, and we all had a great time! This was an extremely enjoyable day, and I hope next year will be even more fun!
Global Connections Program
We're excited to welcome students from our Japanese partner school, Hiroshima Jogakuin High School, in Term 3 from 29 July to 10 August. The students are aged between 15 to 17 years old, and are all female.
We're currently seeking host families to provide accommodation and cultural exchange for these visiting students during their stay.
If you're interested in becoming a host family, or need further information, please contact Ruth Valle from AIIU at ruth@aiiu.com.au or Lucie Dickens at dickensl@kilvington.vic.edu.au.