Great Scot - The Scotch Family Magazine - Issue 151 September 2017 GreatScot_Internal_Sept_2017_FA | Page 18

Junior School
Junior School News
Foreign language entrepreneurs
During the mid-semester break I found myself
strangely and deeply touched by certain sections
of an article written by John le Carré (aka David
Cornwell), published in The Guardian on 2 July.
Le Carré says: ‘The decision to learn a foreign
language is to me an act of friendship. It is indeed
a holding out of the hand. It’s not just a route to
negotiation. It’s also to get to know you better, to
draw closer to you and your culture, your social
manners and your way of thinking’.
Does this not fit our striving for social enterprise
and educating young men to make contributions?
Le Carré talks about awakening and kindling a
flame in the hope that it will never go out, guiding
towards insights, ideas and revelations.
I found myself grateful to be in some small way
part of this process. My thoughts turned towards
our up-and-coming German Café, where our Junior
16
School boys become somewhat entrepreneurs in
their own right. They have practised the language
for months, acting as little obers (waiters). Dressed
up, with waiter’s pad in hand, they will have much
to give to our Scotch community.
However, their mental agility will be tested and
rational thinking will be stretched to the limit as they
are confronted with a variety of customer situations.
Our boys will have to be precise, and deal with the
demands of people from varying backgrounds; they
will have to, as Le Carré states, ‘hunt for a phrase or
circumlocution that does the job’.
In short, it seems that acquiring an additional
language requires or indeed strengthens future
entrepreneurial skills. You have to be driven – on
a mission, so to speak – willing to seek out and
pursue opportunities, look for new ways, act
boldly at times with the resources in hand, and
adapt and learn. In Le Carré’s words: you have
to be prepared to deal with varying situations
and understand different ways of thinking. He
also quotes Charlemagne, ninth century Roman
emperor: ‘To have another language is to possess
a second soul’.
I hope that our boys will always be inspired to
discover new ways of thinking, making meaning
and finding delight in seeking varied, sometimes
distant friendships through language learning.
CORNELIA KOEHNE-DRUBE – HEAD OF
LOTE, JUNIOR SCHOOL  
Great Scot Number 151 – September 2017