French

What inspires me?

by Tahlia, Year 10

Throughout this year, our pocket-sized French class has engaged in many endeavours to enrich our knowledge of not only the French language but the charming country itself. Whether sunny or storming, this lively group of students gathers together as we strive to become part of the bilingual community.

In this class, we have been encouraged to forge connections between the French language and our everyday lives. We have extended our knowledge by writing detailed chapters describing our bedrooms, participating in many French cooking tutorials and researching staples in the French culture. Our inquiries into French fashion, the Tour de France, crêpes and pastries have aided our learning.

Our adoration for this class stems from the common thread and backbone of these lessons – our teacher, Dominique. The respect we have for our charismatic leader has enabled us to not only gain confidence but also motivation which, in turn, pushes us to do the best we can.

By acknowledging our various strengths and weaknesses within this class, we have developed an effective mode of language acquisition which works in harmony with all students. By stretching our assignments to cater for all of us, whether interested in fashion, cars, music or books, we have gained the ability to personalise our submissions based on our interests.

Our ability to recognise visual patterns and sequences, our memory retention, our problem-solving skills, our listening skills and our lateral thinking have all been dominant elements of learning the French language. Dom has worked alongside each of us to turn adequate knowledge into applicable skills and, as a result, our fundamental ability to speak, listen, write and read in this foreign language has advanced remarkably.

Regardless of our subject choices in the coming years of our school experience, the skills we have acquired in Dom’s class align with the Diploma Programme and will therefore continue to facilitate and enhance our learning.