Language Faculty News 

Lucie Dickens, Academic Dean of Languages

From Sunday 17 March through to Friday 23 March, Kilvington held a few excursions and an incursion to celebrate Cultural Diversity Week, Harmony Day and Francophone Week.

Years 10 to 11 Excursion to the French Film Festival

Hannah Thomas, Year 11

Our French class was treated to a movie from the French Film Festival on Monday, 19 March. The movie, La Mélodie directed by Rachid Hami proved a brilliant opportunity to consolidate our understanding of the French culture and language.

As the film progressed, it became increasingly emotional and a few of us left the theatre in tears (of joy). Overall, the day was extremely rewarding and I hope to experience more outings such as this one in the future. 

Year 9 Excursion to a French Cafe 

Caitlin Johnston and Trisha Mathew, Year 9

Recently, Year 9 French students had the privilege of going to a French café called Noisette (meaning  hazelnut), on Centre Road in Bentleigh.

The purpose of the excursion was to use our language skills to order food in French. This was to conclude our topic on French food and cafés, and learn more about the culture and food traditionally eaten in France.

Once we arrived at the cafe, we were amazed by the range of delicious French food on offer. The pastries and cakes looked exquisite and it was very hard to choose from the wide variety of beautiful food.

To apply our new skills, we gave our orders in French. We started off with drinks (les boissons), with hot chocolate being one of our favourites! Then we had some savoury food - one of which was the traditional 'croque-monsieur', a special toasted ham sandwich with melted cheese on top. It was delicious. And the food only got better from here because we moved onto desserts! 

We tasted croissants, éclairs and many other assortments of 'petits gâteaux' (small cakes)! Overall, our first experience of a French café was very rewarding for our French speaking skills, and of course for the delicious food!

Languages Assembly for Harmony Day

On Tuesday 20 March, Years 7 to 9 students attended a Languages Assembly during which Kilvington Languages Leaders, Millie Hogg and Gabby Lim, spoke about the importance of maintaining harmony in the world through the power of intercultural understanding, a 21st century global competency which can, in particular, be developed through the study of languages.

As VCE French and Japanese students themselves, Millie and Gabby were able to show students a video they had made in which senior students explained why they decided to continue learning French or Japanese. As these students displayed an impressive level of fluency and proficiency, it was inspiring for our younger students to see how bilingual Kilvington students can become by their final years of school.

Students were also presented with the latest research on the benefits of learning another language: from gaining brain power and becoming a better multi-tasker to enhancing creative thinking and problem solving skills as a result of thinking from different perspectives and linguistic contexts. 

According to a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006, more than 50% of the world's population is now bilingual. In a world that is more and more interconnected, having another language is now an essential competency to have in a very competitive global workplace. Year 12 language students have a greater advantage with the extra bonus points they receive towards their ATAR score, which can often get them into their preferred tertiary course.

Through our Global Connections program and our well established overseas partner schools, language students have wonderful opportunities to take part in group study tours to Japan or France every two years or in individual exchange programs every year. To become citizens of the world, respectful of other cultures while living in harmony, our students need to develop important global competencies which they can do through learning another language.