LANGUAGES

EDUCATION PERFECT

This week sees the running of the annual Education Perfect languages competition. McKinnon Secondary College was Number 1 in the world last year - let’s hope we can equal that result this year!

LANGUAGES LEADERS

This year we have introduced the new role of Student Languages Leaders to the Languages KLA. We had many outstanding applications, and a very high number of applications from Years 8 and 9 students at East Campus in particular. We narrowed these down to a shortlist of ten candidates who were interviewed to find out their ideas for their roles, and ten were selected, six from East Campus and four for the main campus. 

We hope to be able to work with all applicants as part of a languages society in order to foster a love of languages, and we are excited to see how the student leaders develop their role through the year.

Thank you to all our applicants, and congratulations to the leaders.

Languages Leaders 2022 - Main Campus

•           Luka Magee (Year 11)

•           Lily Baldwin (Year 10)

•           Sarvine R Jaya Raj (Year 10)

•           Advaith Patil (Year 10)

Languages Leaders 2022 - East Campus

•           Anya Aquende (Year 9)

•           Aaron Cohen (Year 8)

•           Maleesha Dharmadasa (Year 8)

•           Alice Hollingsworth (Year 9)

•           Milana Gavrilenko (Year 9)

•           Christina Tan (Year 9)

THE LANGUAGE TEACHER OF THE FORTNIGHT: DAVID NUTTING

What is your first language?

English

Where did you learn a language or languages other than your first language?

I started learning German in high school. I learned basic conversational Spanish while backpacking for six months through South America, and I learned basic conversational Faroese while working in a fish factory in the islands.

The German-speaking countries: I have lived in each of Germany, Austria and Switzerland for extended periods of time.

Why did you learn that or those particular languages?

I started learning German because it was on offer at school, and later, while backpacking, I started learning Spanish and Faroese in order to get a lot more out of the experience of living in those places and of interacting with the locals.

What advice would you give to students wanting to improve their ability in the language(s) they are studying?

Practise regularly whatever aspect of the language it is that you're currently focused on. It doesn't have to be intense, but it needs to be frequent. There's always some practice you can do online if you've done whatever it is that's been set for homework. 

Don't get hung-up if some new aspect of language doesn't 'click' immediately - ask classmates or the teacher for help and persevere! Listen to pop songs in the language (YouTube and more), look at the lyrics online. Talk to yourself in the language! Actually, quite a few McKinnon SC parents tell us at parent-teacher-student interviews that their child does that at home!! Identify a fellow-student who is a good learning-partner to practise with.

Why do you think it is important to study a language?

For me a basic knowledge of another language gives you a 'door' into a second world; it opens up to you entertainment opportunities and experiences that you wouldn't have otherwise (and the Internet makes some of these possible even during two years of border closures!).

You also don't just learn how to communicate info differently; you learn about another culture and other ways of doing things, and the way the other language expresses stuff is fascinating, because the language itself can reflect different ways of doing things!

Building up a basic knowledge of another language gives you in the end a much deeper experience of the countries where the language is spoken. People really appreciate your effort to use their language.

Go as far as possible with your learning of another language, because you never know what opportunities life is going to serve up around the corner. Alongside the other skills that school and other education providers give you, knowledge of another language could allow you to go down unexpected paths in life!

Why did you choose to become a language teacher?

I love language! And I love seeing and hearing language-learners express something new, putting bits together to create a sentence (or a question) that they had never seen or heard before. Going to our sister-school in Germany with groups of students from McKinnon SC several times has been a bonus on top of what I hoped to experience as a language teacher.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Assume that unexpected encounters can happen with another language down the track! On 3-4 occasions in different overseas countries, non-German-speaking countries, I was able to get help from a local person who could not speak English, but who had learned enough German to talk with me at a basic level!

Jenny Lynd

Languages Learning Area Manager