Suzanne Richards talking with James McPherson and Dan Brown
Learning a foreign language comes with obvious practical advantages. But students also develop skills that are useful in other areas of the curriculum at HSC level: a deeper understanding of English, resilience and critical thinking. Head of Languages, Ms Suzanne Richards explores the benefits with students James McPherson and Dan Brown.
Suzanne Richards talking with James McPherson and Dan Brown
I think learning a language definitely helps support your other subjects. For example what we are experiencing now with your English studies: you develop a wider vocabulary and think more about your grammar and how you write. So it helps deepen your literacy skills. Also it is giving you a broader perspective of the world in helping you develop intercultural understanding. And of course it’s fun!
Definitely, I think it’s a really rewarding experience, you learn little snippets of the language. You can understand the broader perspectives of other cultures. Yeah it’s lots of fun, definitely.
Of course it’s also really handy to have, just in case you ever go overseas. You have that advantage of being able to talk to people and a better appreciation of where they’re coming from as a culture.
James McPherson
It’s amazing how people respond when you try to speak to them in their language. Even if you just have the basics, they appreciate it so much. Instead of both sides getting frustrated at not being understood. If you look at the statistics, there is a lot of the world that does not speak English. So when you can communicate in another language it really goes a long way.
Suzanne Richards
In Junior School in Years 5 and 6 the students do French, then in Year 7 there is a break as there are other options on the curriculum: music, drama and critical thinking. Then in Year 8 you have to do a language. Did you do French?
Yes I did French in Year 8, I also chose it as an elective.
What appeals to you both about learning a language?
You are constantly analyzing and even though you can sort of work off English, you have to adapt what you know. Words that we have in English may not exist in another language, so yeah, it’s challenging. And obviously for speaking in different countries it’s insanely useful. I mean you have things like job opportunities, it just helps with your resume – people will be more interested.
Dan Brown
It also gives you a break from doing all the basics like Math and English. You get the experience of jumping into different cultures. Coming into this class, and not knowing what you are going to learn for the day is great. With other classes like Maths you know you’ll be doing things with numbers, but with languages it could be grammar, numbers, vocabulary, songs….
It really is so worth it for your resumé. It gives you an edge, even if it’s not at a really high level. Just saying that you’ve got some Spanish or French is impressive. It helps you think more critically and makes you build on prior knowledge, making those linguistic connections. So it’s just not the acquisition of knowledge, but actually applying it. When you have learnt some rules and understand, for example, the different tenses, you then have to apply that to new scenarios.
The New Caledonia trip we did was definitely an experience of a lifetime. It forced you to put what you know into practice and, because the majority of the families spoke solely French, we were forced to interact in another language. So you are constantly learning words that you don’t know and then having to use the word. It’s an amazing experience, I would definitely recommend it to anyone else.
I was lucky enough to grow up in Spain in my later teens. And being from the UK, I just find it a beautiful, fascinating country. Spanish people really do live life to the full. I love to talk about something that is very close to my heart and I feel privileged that I am in a job where I get to talk about my passion every day, and to hopefully instill that in my students and inspire them to travel and to develop a passion for languages. Passing on that understanding of how it can really enhance your life experiences, not just in the outside world, which is really important, but also academically as well. It’s really satisfying when students have that light bulb moment, “I now understand what this means and how it works and that’s helped me understand it in my mother tongue.”
We would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation who are the traditional Custodians of the land on which Waverley College is located. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ unique cultural and spiritual connections to the land, waters, seas and sky and their rich contribution to society.
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