When Year 4 Junior School student William Saunders started learning Mandarin in Kindergarten at Trinity Grammar School in Sydney, he could never have dreamed of the journey he would take, and the path to inspiration that would follow.
Today is International Mother Language Day, so we thought it was important to acknowledge Trinity’s diverse student body which comes from a wide spread of cultures, many from a non-English speaking background. Communicating in our mother language can sometimes be a challenge, let alone attempting to communicate in a second language, which extends us beyond our usual understanding and articulation. Learning a second language gives your son an appreciation of peers that do not have English as their first language. A second language will broaden your son’s mind and teach him about different cultures.
Our experience at Trinity Grammar School shows us that the top five benefits of learning a second language are:
Ten Trinity students of Chinese from Years 10 to 12, accompanied by two members of staff, bid farewell to their families during the early hours to spend 25 days in the capital of the oldest civilization in the East.
The long flight to Beijing and the cold weather did not diminish the excitement of the group. By the time they arrived at Renda Fuzhong, it was already quite late in the evening. After the dormitory rooms were allocated, they had only 20 minutes before the hot water was turned off for the evening. The rooms were plain and the beds were firm but cosy and warm.
You’re in Paris, struggling to decipher if ‘poisson’ is something you should eat or something that you should avoid at all costs (it’s delicious by the way). Beyond the obvious benefit of being able to communicate in a foreign land, mastering a new language can provide more paybacks than you might first realise. Interestingly, the younger a child is when they learn a new language, the greater the benefits.
Here we give you the top five reasons why primary school children should learn a new language:
International travel is about more than just gaining exposure to different countries and cultures, it can help your child soar to new heights. Whether academic, sport, service or arts related, school international tours can enrich your child's learning in many direct and indirect ways. Here we explore just a few of the benefits.
In a recent television panel discussion on the subject of foreign languages, the speakers appeared reasonably well-educated and had travelled the world, some as journalists and others in business capacities. However, a profound lack of understanding of what foreign language study means to young learners was clearly apparent.
One member of the panel lamented the fact that the number of students learning Latin in Australian schools was greater than that of those learning Chinese. Another speaker added that perhaps the schools which offered Latin subscribed to the view that one could do business with Roman ghosts!
Perhaps the biggest challenge for language education in Australia is our attitude towards learning languages.
Here is a list of what we at Trinity believe are not the chief reasons for including foreign languages in the Australian curriculum: