Languages
In year 7 you will learn French and cover a wide variety of topics ranging from Personal information to School, Food and clothes using the course text book "Métro".
You will be encouraged to communicate in the language and to speak, listen and understand as well as read and write.
Your teacher will provide structured lessons which will give you the opportunity to develop your understanding and use of a foreign language.
There is an emphasis on oral work and activities that enable you to rehearse and explore the language. The activities include carrying out surveys and preparing role plays in the foreign language. You will also watch videos, listen to CDs, and read books and magazines in the foreign language. You will have access to the internet to help you. All rooms in the school have interactive whiteboards to broaden your experience of IT. We also have the added advantage of having a French Language Assistant attached to our team who works with small groups of students, primarily with their oral skills.
If you do well in Year 7 and enjoy learning languages, there may be an opportunity for you to study a second foreign language in Year 8.
Most students continue their study of a language in the Upper School. In addition students can be entered for a GCSE in a community language of which they already have a working knowledge.
Students choosing Pathway 2 will take a full course GCSE in a foreign language. Students will have the opportunity to study one foreign language either French or German.
Students doing GCSE will cover the following topics:
- At home and abroad
- Education, training and employment
- House, home and daily routine
- Media, entertainment and youth culture
- Social activities, fitness and health
Students will develop their skills and be assessed in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing and they will be able to continue with a foreign language after they leave school by progressing to the next level of language qualifications either at work or in further education.
Language skills are useful for employment, in travel, transport, imports and exports, leisure services, hotels, restaurants, banking, advertising, journalism, teaching, industry and commerce.
The European Day of Languages
Bonjour, hola, guten tag! On 26th September, Acton High celebrated the European Day of Languages. This day is celebrated across Europe and its aim is to highlight the importance of language learning, understanding different cultures and to promote life-long learning. The art club kindly agreed to make fantastic banners to promote the day, so we were welcomed with hello in around 30 different languages in the foyer and in the canteen. To set the tone for the day, Naomi, Mihir and Aamina from 7TSM handed out croissants to eager staff as they came arrived in the morning. Then most tutor groups took part in a European quiz. The canteen also put on a special international menu at break time and lunch time offering dishes such as Spanish omelette, spaghetti Bolognese and apple strudel. The dining hall was given an extra continental twist by having salsa music playing throughout. At lunchtime, Mr Slade put on a very interesting international music activity where students listened to songs from around the world and had to identify the different languages being spoken. Some of them were quite tricky! All in all, it was a very enjoyable day and we hope that next year we will be able to offer even more multilingual activities. Grazie, gracias, danke, merci…..
