KLA Feature - Languages

Year 7 students have been impressing their teachers with their engagement and progress in Japanese. They have been embracing the challenge of learning to read and write hiragana. They have shown their ability to participate in a simple conversation and have started to write sentences describing their family and friends. 

Year 9 students are progressing well, reading more complex texts and writing longer sentences. They are currently learning how to talk about their hobbies and interests. Year 9 will shortly experience an “immersion” in Japanese when they attend the Tanken Centre for a day of 100% Japanese language communication. 

Year 10 students are working at a very high level preparing for future studies. They are currently learning important phrases and etiquette around shopping and ordering and eating food in Japan. The class recently visited Macquarie University where they learnt about opportunities for tertiary language studies and future employment. This excursion really opened their eyes to the amazing possibilities open to bilingual students. 

Year 9 and Year 10 students will soon be creating short films in Japanese to enter into two film competitions. This project will enable them to put their spoken language skills to the test and will also be great practice for the students who will be travelling to Japan at the end of this term! 

Ten students from Year 9 to Year 11 will spend two weeks in Japan visiting famous sites and eating authentic food. They will spend five days at our sister school, Tokyo Junshin, where their language skills will be greatly extended during their homestay with Japanese families! Even more excitingly, two Year 10 students, Ysabelle and Navroop, will “remain behind” to complete an eight week exchange at Tokyo Junshin! 

Ms Wendy Merriman

Leader of Learning Languages