German

Studying another language offers students important opportunities to develop their Christian faith. In particular, the commandment to “love our neighbours as ourselves” can only be fulfilled by gaining an understanding of others and developing respect for other cultures and ways of understanding the world. The Biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11) offers theological insight into God’s purpose in developing a multilingual world. Learning another language allows students to break away from the monolingual traps of self-righteousness and pride and encourages them to develop a better ability to critique their own perspective. Students understand that their own perspectives on life are shaped by their language and culture, rather than being the only way to live. Developing respect for the differing perspectives and understandings of others by learning another language helps to shape habits of tolerance, empathy and compassion, and equips students better to “love their neighbours”. 

In an increasingly globalised world, skills developed through learning a second language can be applied later in life to the study of further languages and the understanding of other cultures, providing the foundation for students to reach out in faith to the peoples of the world. An understanding of the fact that ideas may need to be presented differently in different languages and cultures to meet the needs of the target audience contributes to making those who speak more than one language better communicators. 

Year 7 German introduces students to the German language and culture. The focus is on communicating in German, using simple phrases to make introductions, talk about yourself and your interests and preferences. Throughout the year we look at topics such as hobbies, school, daily routine, food and family. Students begin to appreciate the relationship between language and culture and note differences and similarities from their own language and culture. They begin to develop an understanding of German grammatical aspects such as verb conjugation and gender of nouns.