S4 French Cinema visit

On Thursday November the 4th a selection of S4 French students took part in a school visit to the cinema at the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh. The film, Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), which deals with some very challenging human relationship issues was appreciated by the majority of the pupils. Indeed, some of the pupil comments following the show were quite insightful and showed a mature appreciation and empathy towards the film’s characters. Following the film there was a discussion with a well-known Edinburgh French specialist which helped to expand on some of the themes in the film. Further discussion took part later on in class as pupils relayed some of their experience to others who had not made the trip.

The diving bell and the butterfly poster

The 25 pupils from PL represented themselves very well both at the screening and to and from the theatre and were a credit to the school. Overall the visit demonstrated a healthy appetite amongst pupils for foreign language films which help compliment the department’s work in the classroom and brings language and culture more to life. We hope as a department to keep the interest and momentum going and are able to offer more pupils the opportunity to view foreign language films as part of their learning.

Bravo à tous!!

Young ‘dreaming of living abroad’

If you are interested in working abroad one day…

Seven out of 10 young people want to live and work abroad one day – but most do not have a second language, research for the government suggests.

Most popular destinations
USA – 55%
Australia – 52%
Spain – 47%
Italy – 35%
France – 35%
New Zealand – 34%
Germany – 20%
Portugal – 17%
The Netherlands – 13%
Switzerland – 12%

Schools minister Jim Knight said:

This research is yet more proof that we need to equip today’s youth with the tools to succeed in the international marketplace – which means encouraging all young people to improve their language skills.

Want ot read more about it, click HERE.

 

Why learn a foreign language?

Kolik jazyk? znáš, tolikrát jsi ?lov?kem.
You live a new life for every new language you speak.
If you know only one language, you live only once.
(Czech proverb)

“I speak English, so I don’t have to learn a foreign language….”

Everyone speaks English, right? Well, certainly not everyone speaks English. According to the CIA World Fact Book, only 5.6 % of the world’s total population speaks English as a primary language. That number doubles when people who speak English as a second or third language are counted. By conservative estimates, that means that well over four-fifths of the world’s population does not speak English.

Knowing other languages brings opportunites!

Want to know more about why you should learn a foreign language click here.

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