Languages News

Japanese Tea Ceremony Comes To Nossal High

On Thursday July 21, all Year 9 Beginners Japanese students took part in a wonderful Sadou or ‘Tea Ceremony’ incursion.

The immersion sessions were conducted by the very well respected Adam Wojcinski, who is the both the founder and head of the first Australian branch of the Ueda Sōko Tradition of Japanese Tea Ceremony which originated in Hiroshima. Adam regularly holds tea ceremony practice, as well as performances all around the world. In the ceremony, powdered green tea or ‘matcha’ is prepared in front of guests according to a highly structured procedure.

An opportunity such as this is extremely special and beneficial to our students’ Japanese language acquisition, as well as building upon their socio-cultural understandings of traditional and modern Japanese history and culture.

Thanks go to Ms. Warner for organising this experience for us.

Mr Rohan Bramley

Teacher of Japanese and VSL Coordinator

Berthe Mouchette Competition – Alliance Française

Last Thursday, 31 VCE French students in both Years 11 and 12 participated in an oral examination conducted by the Alliance Française de Melbourne as part of their annual Berthe Mouchette Competition. 

Having completed a 2 hour written examination in class during the week prior, VCE French students also took part in the oral exam which is similar to end of year examinations and therefore a valuable and practical experience.

The oral exam was nine minutes in duration and consisted of two parts. Part 1 was approximately four minutes of general conversation based on 5 VCE topics including various everyday things such as school, leisure, family, work and future aspirations. In the second part, a further five minutes in length, students were offered a choice of three different tasks: recital of a poem and discussion, presentation of a mini detailed study on an aspect of the language and culture of French speaking communities or the presentation and discussion of a set ofphotographs. 

By its very nature, such an examination is often preceded with a little anxiety and nervousness, however, I was most impressed by the preparation and conduct of these VCE French students on the day. Congratulations on a fine effort and we now await the results. 

Yvonne Sly

French Teacher