LANGUAGES

AFTV TRIVIA COMPETITION

This annual French trivia competition was held on Tuesday 11 April, and two teams of our Year 9 and Year 10 French students, accompanied by Madame Antal and Madame Howard, took third place in both year groups against stiff competition. Congratulations to all, and we look forward to a detailed report in the next newsletter.

FRENCH CONVERSATION PROGRAM

The past few weeks have seen the new French Conversation Program in action, with its success in connecting students and developing our language skills already evident. The program pairs Year 12 French students with French-speaking students from across the school, meeting Tuesday lunchtimes to converse and exchange ideas and topics such as family, future, and French culture. As well as improving the speaking skills of current VCE students, the program provides a unique insight into the inner workings of VCE French for future students. 

Each week focuses on a different key topic of the VCE French curriculum, giving us an insightful perspective on frequently discussed topics. The program has been an invaluable opportunity for us to prepare for the upcoming oral exam through conversation with native speakers, extending our perspectives and expanding our vocabulary through live feedback and rich discussions. The program has already improved my confidence and knowledge in French, and I hope that future students will be able to benefit from this resource long into McKinnon's future!

Aleksandra Simic

Year 12 Student

BRETZELS

For Cultural Diversity week, the languages department is offering bretzels for sale. Enjoy this typical world-famous Oktoberfest tradition (sweet or salty), which in fact starts in late September. They were a big hit last year - students should check around the college for posters about pre-sales.

Order and pay by coins or by card!

NEW CALEDONIA VISITORS UPDATE

The matching process for our host families and the visiting students is almost complete, and now the countdown to their arrival on Thursday 7 September has started. We are very excited to soon be welcoming our first international visitors since the pandemic disrupted normal operations. Keep watching for more updates.

 WHY LEARN GERMAN? 

What can another language contribute to your future? Click on the link above and read more about the benefits of learning German.

There are over 380 German companies in Australia employing more than 58,000 people in Australia. Learning German can also increase your chances of employability. 

Student groups in Year 10 German are currently working together with BMW, Brezel Biz, Brokat Design Studio and Haribo in the Unternehmen Deutsch competition. They are interviewing company representatives and will then design a service or product for the partner company.

German is also a very phonetic language and has many words that are easily recognizable by English speakers. Think about the benefits for the future! 

Andrea Fowler

Teacher of German

Global Citizenship Coordinator

GERMAN EXCHANGE

Planning and organising for the coming round of exchange with our sister-school in the central German state of Hessen is underway. The last exchange round took place in 2019, and covid measures forced a long wait until we could restart the exchange.

A few students from Years 9 and 10 are participating, and we are collaborating with another secondary college in the Southwestern Victoria Region for travel purposes, enabling us to achieve group savings on some costs. Matching of exchange partners is underway, and we hope to put McKinnon and German partners (from our sister-school) in contact with each other in the near future, which will allow them to get to know each other online in the lead-up to the first half of the exchange in 2024. That happens when our McKinnon group with escorting teachers flies to Germany early in the April school holidays.

As part of the time spent getting to know school life and family life in Germany, in this exchange round our German teacher colleagues will organise an overnight excursion for our group to Berlin. In late September 2024 the group from our German sister-school will come to McKinnon for the return half of the exchange. We look forward to our students learning and experiencing a lot through this exchange experience!

Dave Nutting

German Teacher

COCO AT EAST CAMPUS

On Wednesday 9, Thursday 10 and Friday 11 August at lunchtime, the East Campus language leaders showed the film Coco, which is the story of a Mexican boy and which highlights the Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead. There were tears and shouts of joy!

YEAR 7 FRENCH: PICTURE STORY BOOKS

In Year 7 French, we have been learning about animals and how to describe them. Along with pets and farm animals, we have learnt about zoo animals and decided to turn this knowledge into some picture story books. This involved using the correct adjective in the correct position. In French, we say un grand tigre orange et noir (a big orange and black tiger), where the colour adjectives come after the noun. 

Modelled off the picture books of our childhoods, the students designed their own story about visiting a safari park. They described five animals and included appropriate images. Some added images they found online; others drew pictures themselves. Some students even attempted more challenging phrases, like Sam Coote in 7H, whose first page read: Au parc safari, tout d’abord, j’ai vu des petits lions jaunes. Ils sont fiers et forts. C’est mon animal préféré!

Jennifer Lynd

Languages Learning Area Manager