THIS PAGE ( CLOCKWISE ) YEAR 9 INDONESIAN STUDENTS PLAYING THE ANGKLUNG , BOYS PRACTISING THE CHINESE SCRIPT , PLAYING MONOPOLY IN INDONESIAN , REPORTING A MATCH IN GERMAN . students making pizza from recipes in Italian , Year 9 Indonesian students playing the angklung , a traditional musical instrument , or Year 9 German students writing the match report after playing a game of soccer , refereed in German , natürlich !
In Years 10 to 12 the topics become more focused on broader social issues , such as immigration , sustainability and technology , together with topics of strong cultural significance including cinema , literature and history . Boys begin to engage with the broader target-language speaking communities , whether by recording their own French podcasts published to iTunes , meeting local Italian film directors , participating in Chinese debating competitions or in the Indonesian and German Model United Nations Conferences .
Add to this the annual languages exchange programs under which 40 Years 10-12 boys immerse themselves in daily life in China , France , Germany , Indonesia and Italy . Scotch families generously host their counterparts in return , and through this reciprocity all Scotch boys benefit from the opportunity to engage in the target language with native-speaking peers .
Learning a language is often compared with running a marathon , as opposed to a sprint . Like running a marathon , learning a language requires time , commitment , persistence and resilience , all of which are facilitated by motivation . It is unsurprising , therefore , that success in language learning , after a natural aptitude for it , is most strongly correlated with motivation – something that Scotch boys have in spades !
KRISTY IRWIN – HEAD OF LANGUAGES
Great Scot 35