LANGUAGES
SUPPORT FOR OUR LANGUAGES PROGRAMS
At McKinnon Secondary College we are very committed to delivering the best possible language education for our students. The dedicated staff offers many co-curricular activities and we are grateful for the support the French, German and Spanish associations provide for us.
Every year they offer courses and activities for communities in Australia and worldwide.
We are closely working together with all associations that support the further development of language learning. If you are interested in what they have to offer, just click on the images below to find out more.
FESTIVE CULTURAL SEASON!
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR to all community members who celebrate this festival and the start of the new lunar year!
Andrea Fowler
Learning Area Manager Languages
CREPE DAY
Did you know the French love crêpes so much there is a day dedicated to them in the calendar? And this day was on Tuesday 2 February! We call it la Chandeleur.
Why do we eat crêpes?
Besides being delicious, crêpes symbolize a plentiful harvest for the year to come. Eating them meant the crops would be healthy.
If that's not enough for you, here is something else you can do to ensure prosperity. Flip a crêpe with one hand while holding a gold coin in the other. If successful, the family was assured of prosperity for the next year.
Where can you eat crêpes in Melbourne ?
My favourite place to eat crêpes is Roule Galette in Carnegie. They have a selection of savoury and sweet crêpes you will absolutely love. They also will speak French to you if you ask them to.
How did we celebrate the event at school?
In our French classes, students learnt about this special day and told their crepe experience to the class. We even learnt the vocabulary of crepe-making in French! The students loved it.
Bonnes crêpes !
Monsieur Cédric Chamontin
French Teacher
14 FEBRUARY - KARNEVAL!
Language students at McKinnon are always introduced to cultural events and traditions throughout the year. While the French celebrate Pancake Day on Tuesday 2 February, many countries around the world celebrate Karneval.
To engage students in German classes during the lockdown, they were introduced to this special festival, that Germans call their 5th season. Students were able to read and view relevant cultural information and completed small research projects on this topic. We hope that one day you might want to experience a Karneval yourself!
If you are interested in learning more about the German Karneval, please view the following video!
WHY FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS MATTER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION WORKFORCE
An interesting article about this topic was shared with Language teachers by the Modern Language Teachers Association.
The article refers to the situation in America, which is quite similar to Australia. It points out that Languages education will need to become a top priority in students´ education if they want to be competitive in the future work environment.
It refers to what language learning looks like in the 21st century, our place in the world and the myriad of benefits language learning affords.
Andrea Fowler
Learning Area Manager Languages