Going Global for European Day of Languages
The week’s programme to mark European Day of Languages has been fun for all the children and has ignited their intercultural curiosity and extended their language knowledge.
To develop listening skills, and expand their vocabulary, the children in Reception and Middle School enjoyed learning and performing handclapping rhymes in Spanish. The children in Forms 4 and 5 tested their knowledge with a multilingual quiz and learned numbers in Portuguese and Italian; spotting similarities and differences with the numbers they already know in French and Spanish. In Form 6, the children enjoyed a taster lesson in Japanese. They learned about the different types of bows and performed conversations to introduce themselves in Japanese. They also learned about the importance of fans in Japanese culture and recreated kanji characters to decorate fans they handcrafted.
During a special assembly Upper School celebrated the rich variety of languages spoken by our pupils, with poems and rhymes being read and dialogues performed in small groups. Between them the children spoke 28 different languages, these being either their native languages or languages that they have taken an interest in learning independently or on holiday. We were also fortunate to share a video recorded Mrs Collins (Joseph’s mum) who spoke to the children in Spanish, explaining her love of the language and how useful she has found her language knowledge throughout her life.