Special Guest Shares Insights with Students at Special Languages Assembly

At our last Senior School Assembly, we were pleased to welcome Ms Clarissa Belanti from the Confucius Institute at the University of Melbourne. She shared with us her personal journey as a woman of Sicilian heritage who has lived and worked in China, and who uses the Chinese language in her role advocating for the study of languages. Her engaging presentation focused on the unexpected ways that speaking a second language has enhanced her life experiences and opportunities.

We began this special languages assembly with the Our Father spoken in five different languages. Our students led the prayer using both family languages and languages learned at St Catherine’s.

We were pleased on this occasion to acknowledge the group of French students currently visiting from Cours Fénélon, our sister school in Toulon: Clémence Keryhuel (exchange with Flynn O’Brien, Year 11), Alicia Gérard (Julia Thompson, Year 10), Mathilde Aragon (Henrietta Paterson, Year 11), Emma Cavallo (Emily Sutherland, Year 11) and Iona Khoury-Hello (Indiana Wilde, Year 10). Our students are much enriched both personally and linguistically by living and sharing classes with their exchange sister.

I have taken pleasure in overhearing their conversations, when seeking guidance on the intricacies of French grammar. A peer mentor is so much more interesting than a teacher! Our reciprocal visit will begin in mid-December this year. If this type of experience interests you and your daughter, then you may wish to attend the Trips and Exchanges Information Night on Monday 13 August at 6.45pm.

I was most proud of the students who reflected on their personal experience of learning a language. Yixu (Winnie) Wang (Year 11), who is currently learning four languages, gave a most reflective presentation.

“Personally, I think learning a new language really opens up your mind and it broadens your perspective. It gives me the ability to look at certain things or situations in a completely different way… When I am speaking Japanese I switch my mind into Japanese mode. Same with Chinese and German. It feels like implementing a different culture, and you can see things through that culture, and I think that is the beauty of learning languages.”

Winnie’s presentation was preceded by equally enlightening speeches from Hope Kudelka (Year 11) and Flynn O’Brien (Year 11). This assembly showed me the ways in which our girls benefit from and value their learning experiences. In the coming weeks we will also welcome students from sister schools in China and Japan.

We would like to thank the Laletas (Deána, Year 9), Turner (Emma, Year 8) and Menzies-King (Alice, Year 10) families for hosting Hikaru Ochiai and Miyu Kawase from Shukutoku High School in August. In October, we will welcome four students from the Olive Tree International Academy in Hangzhou, China. We are delighted to be able to offer these opportunities for immersion to our students.