Languages News

End Of Term 2:

Languages News

Greek Faculty

Integrating Language and Culture

Year 8 students had a fun and engaging experience studying the Greek language by combining it with a hands-on cooking activity.

 As part of their learning, they followed Greek instructions to make tiropitakia —delicious cheese-filled pastries topped with sesame seeds. 

While preparing the dish, students practiced reading the recipe in Greek, learning new vocabulary related to food, ingredients, and cooking techniques. 

They especially enjoyed shaping the pastries and brushing them with egg before sprinkling sesame seeds on top. 

Tasting their freshly baked tiropitakia was the highlight of the day, and the activity gave them a meaningful and tasty connection to Greek culture.

Dimitra Maniatis

LOTE Coordinator

Japanese Club  

Much of Japanese Club’s Term 2 was spent learning about 折り紙 (おりがみ/origami). Students endeavoured to create modular 折り紙, specifically those that involved upwards of four 園部 (そのべ/Sonobe) units, that when combined a specific way, can form interesting three-dimensional shapes such as cubes and octahedrons.  

Year 7 Calligraphy Workshops 

We can finally celebrate the end of Year 7 students’ first Semester of studying Japanese language. Students in Ms Tynan and Mr Hua’s class spent some of last week learning about 書道 (しょどう/shodou), otherwise known as calligraphy. 

Students learnt about the specific way to hold a 筆 (ふで/fude) brush, and how to use it to draw lines. We started our classes with our usual ‘water calligraphy’, which involved a special fabric that allowed the writing to easily evaporate once exposed to air. 

Next Term, we can only hope that students’ writing confidence can be built up towards traditional ink and 半紙 (はんし/hanshi). 

Year 10 Calligraphy 

Mr Hua’s Year 10 class practised 書道 (しょどう/shodou) in class with ink and paper. The chosen 漢字 (かんじ/Kanji) were inspired by the current Osaka Expo this year, and the students thus practised writing the word 大阪 (おおさか/Oosaka) using the proper stroke order.  

七夕 (たなばた/Tanabata) 

With winter holidays approaching, we’d be remiss to forget that 七夕 (たなばた) will start next week in Japan. Otherwise known as the ‘Star Festival’, Junior students of the Japanese language will spend a lesson writing their wishes on 短冊 (たんざく/tanzaku) and creating 折鶴 (おりつる/oritsuru) or paper cranes to mark the start of the celebration. 

For those unaware, 七夕 is one of the most well-known summer festivals in Japan, celebrated in early July until early August in various provinces and cities. It marks the folk belief that the star-crossed lovers, 織姫 (おりひめ/Orihime) and 彦星 (ひこぼし/Hikoboshi) can reunite for one night a year across the Milky Way. 

Bonnie Tynan

Classroom Teacher (Japanese)