Our Languages Department Celebrates Summer!
Across the Languages Department in both French and Spanish, pupils of all ages have celebrated summer, the end of exams and their achievements in languages through a range of cultural activities this week.
In Spanish classes throughout Prep and Senior School, we have loved watching video messages from our Spanish pen pals. After writing to them throughout the year, it has been wonderful for the children to put faces to the names, bringing their language learning to life. Some Prep classes have also enjoyed letting off steam by playing the traditional Spanish game El Pañuelo, giving them a taste of what children in Spain play while practising their language skills in a fun and practical way.
There has been a distinct food theme, with French cafés in Years 7 and 8, where pupils rehearsed how to order a traditional French breakfast before putting their skills into practice and receiving their choice of food and drink. What could be better than a traditional baguette avec de la confiture or a delicious pain au chocolat – miam miam! Some also enjoyed a game of boules, learning the rules of this iconic French pastime.
Rather than the stereotypical image of old men in dusty village squares, however, our games took place in the slightly unusual - but very civilised - setting of the air-conditioned Languages block in Sarum!
Spanish pupils in the same year groups perfected their ice cream ordering skills by specifying flavours and numbers of scoops, and loved interacting with our Sixth Form native Spanish-speaking ice cream servers (¡muchas gracias!).
Spanish pupils in Year 8 enjoyed preparing their very own Spanish-style breakfast: pan con tomate. They had the chance to experience a taste of Spanish culture while practising key vocabulary and working together in a fun, hands-on activity. The classroom was full of enthusiasm, delicious smells and lots of smiles. ¡Buenísimo!
In Year 9 in both French and Spanish, pupils experimented with new creative ways of learning, exploiting AI tools to create songs to help consolidate areas of learning that they wanted to revise. It is well known that using songs can greatly help with memorisation, and we were blown away by the effectiveness of some of the songs and had great fun judging them in class. Here is a selection of some that were voted the most popular by pupils:
https://suno.com/song/12da6945-0557-42be-ab86-1c7a1f562b8b
https://suno.com/s/xX9uvcbdRwDbu582
https://suno.com/s/AlDWXdiyEkA3Jkj1
Even our hard-working Year 10 GCSE pupils were able to take a break in their own French café while reflecting on their exam feedback and setting targets to maximise their chances of success in next year's public examinations.
It has been a busy and productive year in Modern Foreign Languages. The Year 7 and 8 trip to France departs in just a few days, and next year's Enrichment Week will include a similar trip to Spain for Year 7 and 8 pupils. In the meantime, everyone in the Languages Department wishes our wonderful linguists a fantastic summer.
¡Hasta luego! / À bientôt!
