European Day of Languages

The central theme of our European Day of Languages is to broaden intercultural understanding through language learning. 

The day started with a short assembly to discuss the variety that language brings to the world, looking at how we translate animal sounds into other languages and some idiomatic expressions.  Children discovered that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 languages in the world, and that 75% of the world cannot speak English and that if they worked hard in languages then they could look forward to better job prospects and even live longer.

Afterwards each Form had a different activity which was aimed at increasing their language knowledge.  Form I had a Spanish lesson.  Form II investigated how languages are linked together using numbers in different languages.  Forms III - VI were introduced to some new languages: Form III were introduced to German;  Form IV were introduced to independent language learning and chose between sessions on Italian, German and Welsh; and Forms V and VI were introduced to Portuguese and Arabic respectively. 

The sessions proved very enjoyable for everybody who took part and we hope that it will encourage the children to try a different language when they go abroad, even if it is just to say ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

Mr Owen Venables
Head of French