As Senior School students commence Subject Selections for 2025, three Year 12 Language students provide their insights into the benefits of studying Languages at St Catherine’s.

Millie Nilsen, Year 12 French

I am currently studying French as one of my Units 3&4 subjects this year. I chose to study French in VCE because I aspire to be bilingual one day and because I have always been fascinated by linguistics in general.  

The Benefits 

For me, learning French has been so important in terms of the way I think. When I study French, I am constantly trying to find new ways to phrase or rearrange sentences in order to express myself, the result of which has been to make my approach to learning noticeably more flexible and adaptable.   

This mental flexibility has been so beneficial throughout my school life. Not only does it help me to remain open-minded when it comes to dealing with high-stress assessments or when writing under time, but it has also helped me to navigate more personal aspects of my life like friendships, as I now feel a greater sense of emotional openness and understanding.    

Learning a language has significantly improved my time management and memory skills since it requires constant attention and discipline. Whilst the idea of ‘constant attention’ sounds daunting, the demanding nature of French has actually been incredibly valuable for how I approach my studies in general.   

Key Learnings
French has taught me the importance of active recall and of constantly revisiting content, two skills which I now apply across all of my VCE subjects, and which have played a critical role in helping me to achieve my academic goals.   

Thanks to French’s necessitation of discipline, I have learned to become a disciplined student myself. Essentially, learning this language has made me drastically more confident in my ability to effectively manage and apply myself across all of my subjects. Now when I inevitably find myself in the middle of a heavy SAC week and am inevitably feeling stressed, I have both the skills and the confidence necessary to recentre and reassure myself that “I’ve got this.    

The Recommendation
If you are interested in studying Language, then I would 100% recommend that you pursue it. There is no doubt that studying a language is hard, but if you don’t challenge yourself then you will simply never improve or move beyond your comfort zone.   

Ultimately, learning a language is not simply one-sided; if you apply yourself diligently and have faith in your own abilities, I promise that not only will you learn the language, but you will also learn from the language. Studying a language is also unique from studying any other subject because there is an opportunity to do an exchange program in which I was lucky enough to participate in during 2022-23. The program improved my French skills and connected me with French culture, it also taught me to become more mature and responsible and how to have faith in my own capabilities. 

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Sienna Rigg, Year 12 Mandarin Chinese (SL)

I’m studying Mandarin Chinese at a Second Language level. I was born and raised in Hong Kong, so I started learning Chinese from a pretty young age and I’ve just kept with it ever since. 

To me, studying Chinese is a way for me to keep a connection with my childhood, but recently I’ve also come to appreciate it as more than just a language – Chinese has a rich and thriving history and culture behind it. Learning to understand and appreciate this has given my studies a newfound meaning, and I think has made the whole process so much more fulfilling for me because I can put what I learn into a worldly context. 

The Importance
I think learning a language is more than just a skill. I think, as native English speakers, we’re a bit spoiled with how widespread and accepted it is as a global language, and we sometimes overlook just how difficult the process of learning a second language can be.  

I think it also makes us more appreciative of the hours of effort that go into rewiring your brain to understand a new form of communication, and it teaches us to extend a bit of respect and grace to non-native English speakers who are still learning our language. I’ve also found that studying another language makes us more worldly and accepting of other cultures and backgrounds, too. 

The Advice
I would definitely say to keep going with or pick up a language! We’re still in the early stages of our learning journeys, and I think you’ll surprise yourself with how quickly you adapt to learning new words, sentence structures, and language foundations.  

Learning languages can be a lot of work, but we have a really invested and dedicated Language Faculty at St Catherine’s, so there’s a lot of support out there for Language students. There’s so many benefits to learning a language that it’s absolutely worth the effort, and it can easily lead to so many unexpected opportunities for you in the future. It’s definitely worth at least giving a shot! 

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Karen AI, Year 12 Japanese

I’m learning Japanese in Year 12. I chose this language because I really like Japanese media like Anime and Manga, and I also like Japanese novels, so I became interested in learning the Japanese language and more about its culture.   

I think learning a language is important because it can open your mind to new cultures and perspectives, and you gain a skill that will help you in the future by allowing you to be able to communicate with different people from different cultures.   

Learning Benefits 
I think learning a language has helped me with my VCE subjects by being a unique subject. It is nice to do a language subject from my other subjects, which are heavily either Mathematics or English focused. I believe the benefits of studying a language are the variety of the content (not as heavy as my other subjects) as well as the scaling which can help me to boost my ATAR.    

The Advice
I think everyone can manage language as long as they actually want to learn it and are interested in the subject. Languages are built on what you already know so make sure your basics are solid first. Then, the rest becomes much easier as we also have the support of our Japanese Language Assistant once a week to practise our speaking skills. My advice is to start your general conversation script early and don’t leave it until the last minute.   

Last year, I also participated in the St Catherine’s Japanese Study Tour, and it was a truly life-changing experience for me. We went to five different cities and had a three-day exchange period with our sister school. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this trip and the home-stay experience as this gave me a boost of confidence to pursue my VCE Japanese studies.