Languages Faculty News
Lucie Dickens, Academic Dean of Languages
Year 7 Cultural Day
Archie Fifoot and Aarav Amara, Year 7 (French)
Cultural Day is about learning about different cultures across the globe including different places, religions and beliefs and, most importantly, languages. Languages allow us to communicate with countless people in various places around the world as well as understand their way of living.
The Year 7 Cultural Day at School was extremely fun and exciting. We split up into our chosen language groups, French and Japanese, and were with our groups for the majority of the day.
Our day was very French. After having two French lessons in the morning, we then combined into little task groups and made a poster about a French-speaking country.
Our groups chose the countries Djibouti and Haiti which were very fun to learn about. We learnt about the variety of festivals celebrated, famous people and food, the location and special places, and many more interesting facts.
Shortly after, we had a languages assembly. People went up on stage to talk about the many great things about France and Japan as well as our relationships and connections with these countries. There was also a quick demonstration of French and Japanese language-speaking from some Year 12 students.
After lunch, we formed into our normal class groups where we did French drama which was very energetic! We enjoyed just being ourselves and learning many new words.
Finally, we did some baking! A few teachers demonstrated how to make a couple of snacks such as the madeleine and a cake called gâteau au yaourt. We all got turns helping with the cooking, cracking the eggs, pouring the milk and more.
Overall, Cultural Day was really fun and intriguing. We all loved learning about the different and interesting facts about France and Japan.
Charlotte Ignasiak, Year 7 (Japanese)
The Year 7 Cultural Day was an extra special day for me. I loved everything, especially the drumming and the opportunity to wear a traditional kimono!
The day before, I was worried about how everything would be, and whether we would be expected to know a lot about the activities in advance, but all the teachers took it nice and slow enough for us to keep up. Overall, the Year 7 Cultural Day was a blast!
Year 9 French excursion
Jasmine Ptok, Maya Wimalasundera and Calista Yap, Year 9 (French)
This week, our French classes were lucky enough to participate in an excursion to Noisette, a French café in Bentleigh. We walked to Ormond station and hopped on the train – a short two-stop ride to Bentleigh.
Upon our arrival at the café, we were enthralled by the ambience and teeming display cabinet of exquisite French pastries, cakes and sandwiches. We were then seated at a large table, and an array of delicacies were placed in a long row in front of us.
The table soon lit up with excited 'oohs' and buzzing chatter! The staff and bakers catered for a wide range of dietary requirements, a very considerate gesture. It was a unique experience, to be able to have a taste of exquisite French cuisine.
As well as having a taste of French cuisine, we experienced a taste of a popular French drink, Orangina. It is agreed among the French classes that it is in fact better than Fanta.
After the delicious smorgasbord, Mr Troitzky took us over to the food counter and we learnt about the similarities between French cafes and Australian-based French cafes. We went there with zero baguettes and came back with two.
Overall, the small trip proved to be an extremely immersive experience which we would highly recommend for those learning French. It helped us further understand French culture by experiencing their different cuisines, as well as giving us a way to use our French knowledge in real life.
Years 10 to 11 French Film Festival excursion
On Tuesday 5 April, Years 10 and 11 French students attended a special school screening of the movie Envole-moi (Fly me way) as part of the French Film Festival.
As well as being a culturally enriching experience, the movie was inspired by a true story. It was a feel-good movie full of humanity; teaching students about differences, having empathy and a positive mindset, and not taking for granted what we have in life.
Here is what one of the students had to say about this excursion:
Darcy Spragg-Harris, Year 10 (French)
I went on the French excursion to the French Film Festival with the Years 10 and 11 French classes. The movie was amazing and the experience of seeing a French movie in the cinema was extremely memorable.
I loved trying to understand what the words meant, and overall, I had a lot of fun with my friends. It was a very entertaining evening.
Year 12 virtual forum with our partner school in France
On Wednesday 30 March at 7.15 pm (10.15am French time), a group of students from the Year 12 French classes participated in a virtual forum on Teams with Year 12 students from our partner school in France, St Joseph La Salle.
Once self-introductions were made, our students shared their view on environmental issues such as the use of nuclear energy in France, food waste and plastic pollution.
We also discussed the collective impact of protesting versus the individual impact each of us can have by adopting environmentally conscious and eco-friendly habits in our everyday life.
Our students spoke French with confidence, and this was an excellent practice for their upcoming assessment task on this topic.
We will aim to organise these forums more often throughout the year.
Congratulations to Pia O’Reilly, Grace Kiosoglous, Isobel Zuk, Stefan Nikolic, Alex Tung, Noah Wilson, Kriday Gupta and Natasha Tsirelas for being brave enough to speak in front of a class of 26 students in France.