A Taste of Languages | Charterhouse School

On Tuesday 23 September, we were delighted to welcome 33 Year 8 pupils from Edgeborough, one of our Family of Schools, for an afternoon of German and Spanish taster sessions.

Alongside Mrs Caroline Smith, Head of MFL, and Mrs Elizabeth Stemp, Teacher of French and Spanish, who kindly brought the children to School and supported us throughout, we had a fantastic time introducing the pupils to the joys of language learning. It was a wonderful opportunity to give Edgeborough’s Year 8 pupils a flavour of what learning languages at Charterhouse is like and to share our enthusiasm for German and Spanish with them.

German

Second Year Specialists (Year 13) Nik and Harry, together with Mr Duke, relished the opportunity to offer Edgeborough’s pupils a German taster lesson. The visiting pupils quickly learnt how to greet one another and ask and answer the question ‘Wie geht’s dir?’ (How are you?) through mini-whiteboard games. They participated with great enthusiasm and were encouraged to think carefully about different German sounds, including umlauts.

Nik and Harry led activities using their German with great confidence, moving around the room offering encouragement, good humour, and support. The pupils were exposed to plenty of target language, and the most confident learners were even able to explain in English what had been said in German. Edgeborough pupils also shared their knowledge of the German-speaking world and left with even more interesting facts, before tackling a dialogue in which they introduced themselves via a trapdoor task – a staple of any good Modern Foreign Language (MFL) hash (lesson). We hope the experience will encourage them to consider taking German when they move on to their senior school of choice, where available.

Spanish

Second Year Specialists (Year 13) Mia, Almila, and Vara, together with Mr García Encinas and Miss Mosquera, thoroughly enjoyed teaching a lively Spanish hash on free time, filled with a variety of interactive activities. The lesson gave pupils the opportunity to use the target language, work collaboratively, and have fun while learning.

Activities included pairing up with cards showing different sports and their Spanish names, practising pronunciation, reading aloud, and participating in a dictation relay in groups. Pupils also took part in collaborative proofreading, and a translation competition using mini blackboards to test how much vocabulary they remembered. All pupils gave their very best, and clearly enjoyed the occasion, making it a truly rewarding experience for both pupils and teachers alike.