LANGUAGES

NEW CALEDONIAN VISITORS 

McKinnon Secondary College is fortunate to have formed a new sister school relationship with College de Tuband in New Caledonia. Forty-five of their Years 8 and 9 students, along with their teachers, will be visiting us here at McKinnon next term. This will be a fantastic opportunity for our French students to practise their language with young people of their own age.

Our visitors will arrive on Thursday 7 September and leave again on Friday 15 September (the last day of term 3). We are asking for expressions of interest from families who are able to accommodate a visiting student for those eight nights. During the day, the visitors will be attending some classes at East campus and also going on excursions organised by their teachers. During the weekend that they are here, and in the evenings, families would involve them in their everyday lives. 

Because they will be based at East campus, they will need to be helped to access that campus on a daily basis if they are accommodated by a student from Main campus.

If you think you might be able to accommodate one (or even two!) visitors and would like more information, please complete this form Host families for New Caledonian visitors 

It is not a requirement that the host students study French, but we encourage our students of French to take advantage of this opportunity!

Update on host families:

We have 37 families so far. Thank you so much! We just need another 8. If you are able to access the form to let us know that you can help (you may need to do so through your child’s account), please let us know this way. And if it doesn’t work for you, please email me at lyj@mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au 

YEAR 10 FRENCH EXCHANGE STUDENT AT McKINNON

Bonjour je m’appelle Esteban, je vis à Paris. Je suis arrivé en Australie le 15 mai. Je suis venu ici dans le but d’améliorer mon anglais. Les premiers jours étaient difficiles car j’ai dû passer du français à l’anglais en plus de souffrir du décalage horaire. Une fois arrivé, tout est passé très vite, les gens venaient à moi pour se présenter. 

J’ai même été surpris de voir que ma classe de français avait un devoir où ils devaient se présenter et me poser une question, le tout en français. 

J’aimerais, durant mon séjour, visiter Melbourne.

Hello my name is Esteban, I live in Paris. I arrived in Australia on Monday 15 May. I came here to improve my English. The first days were difficult because I had to switch from French to English in addition to suffering from jet lag. Once I arrived, everything happened very quickly, people came to me to introduce themselves.

I was even surprised to see that my French class had an assignment where they had to introduce themselves and ask me a question, all in French. 

I would like to explore Melbourne during my stay.

Esteban Grima

Year 10 French Exchange Student

UPCOMING EVENTS

The languages team is busy getting our activities back on track after the hiatus caused by the pandemic. We will keep you posted - and keep an eye out for the event forms on Compass.

Excursion to Roule Galette

Our Year 9 French students are going to eat crepes in an authentic French creperie to celebrate the end of the semester. One group will be going on Friday 16 June, the other on Thursday 22 June.

Spanish Film Festival

Senora Gomez is organising a visit to the Spanish Film Festival for a group of Year 8 students. 

Year 9 Languages Expo 

Our Year 9 German and French classes will be running the second annual Languages Expo on Tuesday 13 June at East Campus.

Year 9 New Caledonia visit - 2024 

Planning is under way for a visit to New Caledonia next year by students in the 2024 Year 9 French classes. Stay tuned!

Year 10 German Exchange - 2024

Herr Nutting and Frau Fowler are working hard to get a German exchange off the ground for next year’s 10 and 11 German students (currently Years 9 and 10) in 2024.

Year 10 French Exchange - 2024?

Work is being done behind the scenes to try to resume our exchange with our French sister school. At the moment, we are not sure how this will progress. We will keep you updated.

Jennifer Lynd

Languages Learning Area Manager