Skills for global citizens

Communication

First and foremost, learning a language enables students to interact with others. They learn and practise how to organize their ideas, to select the appropriate words and tone, to look and listen to the response and to express their ideas and feelings. The communicative approach to teaching LANGUAGES ensures that meaningful communication is the focus of classroom learning. Teachers also use the target language as much as possible, to give students the maximum opportunity to hear the language used in everyday communication.

Seeing the world from a different point of view and learning about other cultures.

Students learning a language other than English also learn about the culture embedded in that language. Different behaviors when greeting people, expressing gratitude and extending an invitation, for example, are integral to successful communication, as many business people will attest. Students who learn about another culture are more likely to value other ways of thinking and behaving and are developing their imagination, sensitivity and understanding.

Developing 21st Century Skills

Learning LANGUAGES promotes effective learning across all subject areas by providing students with the skills to analyse and use language better. These literacy skills are a key to understanding any subject, and they develop no matter which language is studied. Students learn to experiment with different ways of thinking and expressing their thoughts, and they are more likely to try a variety of solutions when solving problems.

In addition, the skills of learning a language other than English last a lifetime and can be applied to any other language children may decide to learn to help their career.

Students leaving school can now expect to have 6 - 10 job changes in their lifetime. Employers are interested in recruits who can demonstrate positive attitudes and work ethics that include teamwork skills, tolerance, awareness of cultural values and practices, planning and initiative, all of which are developed in studies of language.

Personalisation, Enjoyment and Enrichment.

Modern methods of teaching languages recommend a range of activities, including role-plays, games, songs, interactive technologies for self- paced and independent learning and stories that engage students in using the language. The focus is on each student's progress with a range of levels of achievement and challenge evident in each class. For students this is a vibrant, supportive and stimulating learning environment developed from their interests and focusing on individual success.

Trips, excursions, projects and competitions.

We offer a range of extracurricular activities to further enhance the study of language and culture. These include cultural experiences such as outings to foreign language film festivals and art exhibitions and workshops at the NGV, as well as participation in various Language competitions including the Chinese debating competition.  

Languages we offer

Students in Year 7 are offered a choice of Chinese or French. All courses are available to VCE level.