Languages

The Languages Team has been excited to resume face-to-face teaching and to welcome students back onsite. Learning a language is about interacting and communicating with each other, and we were pleased to see students interacting and cooperating with each other again. 

In Chinese, students continued to improve their communication skills across a variety of topics including making introductions (Year 7), describing preferences in sports, hobbies, and foods (Year 8), discussing clothing, shopping, options for eating out as well as family relationships, housework and festivals (Year 9). Year 10 students explored topics like holidays, travels, literature, and youth culture. 

In German, students worked on developing their writing skills to describe family members in Year 7 and to recommend noteworthy tourist attractions in Melbourne in Year 8. Please see the outstanding examples of advertising brochures for German-speaking tourists by Georgia Gavriel (8F) Kelly Lu (8E) and Alana Tully (8D). All Year 7 and 8 students also participated in the PASCH Cotton Bag project decorating bags for partner schools in Russia and Brazil. 

Georgia Gavriel (8F):

Kelly Lu (8E):

Alana Tully (8D):

German students in Year 9 explored festivals and celebrations in German-speaking countries, while students in Year 10 and 11 prepared for the A1 and A2 Fit in Deutsch Exams which were conducted by external assessors from the Goethe-Institut Melbourne. In addition, Year 11 students researched cultural products and practices in German-speaking countries and prepared an oral presentation on their chosen topic. Please see Jacob Allison’s presentation on the Eurovision Song Contest. 

We would like to congratulate all Year 12 students for their hard work and effort to complete their oral and written exams despite the hurdles of another challenging year. We wish you all the best for the future and hope you find many opportunities to apply your languages skills in your future travels and career choices. Year 12 German students continue to enjoy access to numerous PASCH activities through the PASCH Alumni Network. 

We would also like to acknowledge some other outstanding student achievements. 

2021 Chinese (non-background) Reading Competition of Victoria 

On the 10th of September, Parsa Norouzi Talkhouncheh decided to represent Box Hill High School and undertook the 2021 Chinese (non-background) Online Reading Competition of Victoria.

Parsa demonstrated his excellent reading skills and confidence in the state competition, taking this challenge during his own time and completing the competition remotely with success. We would like to offer our congratulations to Parsa for winning the Mendelian Award, for being one of the top 8 in the state.  

What a wonderful achievement, and Parsa showed great resilience and excellence in such a difficult time. Thank you!  

By Minnie Zeng 

PASCH ‘Federsammler’ Project 

During Term 3 Year 10 and 11 German students participated in a joint project with other PASCH schools in Australia to produce the comic book “Federsammler – Fietje und Arti in Australien”. On 3 December students and parents were invited to the official book launch at the Goethe-Institut Melbourne. Before the book launch, Box Hill High School students had the privilege of participating in a hands-on workshop with Australian artist Leigh Hobbs who is best known for his Mr Chicken books. During a short presentation, Leigh Hobbs provided a preview of a future Mr Chicken book set in Berlin. Students then learnt to draw their own versions of Old Tom before transferring their new skills into creating their own characters and drawing them interacting with famous buildings in Berlin. Afterwards, the official book launch was conducted via a Zoom meeting which included the project organisers in Germany and all participants from other PASCH schools in Perth and Brisbane. The organisers read extracts from the newly published book and introduced all contributors to the book. At the end, everyone received a copy of the book along with other goodies provided by the Goethe-Institut Melbourne. We would like to thank the PASCH coordinators Joanna Gibson and Jelena Herster for a fabulous afternoon and a delicious lunch.