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Modern Languages

The ability to understand and communicate in other languages is increasingly important in our society and in the global economy. Languages are a lifelong skill – to be used in business and for pleasure.

Head of Languages
Mr Llewelin Siddons MA
Heads of Departments
French:	Mr Llewelin Siddons MA
German:	Mr Owen Lewis MA
Spanish:	Miss Michelle Harris BA
Mandarin:	Ms Emma Noble BA
Russian:	Mr Simon Heard BA

The aim of the Modern Languages Department at Clifton College is to develop the linguistic ability and cultural awareness of all our pupils irrespective of their country of origin.

The main languages offered are French, German, Spanish and Mandarin. Italian and Russian can be studied in the Sixth Form.

The new Language Laboratory and other resources

The Modern Languages Department is located in the Coulson Centre, with almost all classrooms fitted with digital projectors. Recently Clifton became the first school in the West of England to install a state-of-the-art Sony digital Language Laboratory. Among other things, this particular system allows students to study video news clips at their own speed, thus promoting independent learning. Pupils also enjoy recording themselves, speaking on their own, or with a partner, or in response to a teacher’s questions. The recordings can be saved and used, for example, to help pupils memorise exam presentations.

It is already proving a great motivator. In February we will be hosting our second conference on Multi-media teaching in Modern Languages; most of the sessions will be presented by Clifton teachers. Bobby Trivic, our ICT representative, is taking part in a local research project in this field, and we aim to further develop this aspect of our work in the future. We also have a Satellite system used to record topical programmes and the day’s news, and we are use interactive whiteboards with some classes.

Teaching

When entering the Upper School in Year 9, almost all pupils study two modern languages. Many of our pupils come from Clifton College Preparatory School ('the Pre'), where they start French at an early age and then take two languages, chosen from French, German, Spanish and Mandarin, from Year 7. Most therefore continue with the two languages started in the Pre.

For other pupils and those entering from outside, there are beginners’ sets in German, Mandarin and Spanish from Year 9.

Pupils must normally take one modern language at GCSE. All the above languages can be taken to GCSE, AS Level and A2 Level, though the AS and A Level qualifications in Mandarin are in a state of flux at present.

The Sixth Form

Clifton has an excellent record in Languages A levels, with candidates sitting the Edexcel exams in French, or the OCR board exams in other languages. For details of these courses, see the individual language pages. Alongside the main A level courses, Clifton offers complementary courses in an unusually wide range of languages: French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. This is an excellent opportunity either to learn a new language from scratch and aim for a GCSE, or take an additional AS or A level.

Exchanges

The department currently runs various exchanges to give students a chance to practice their languages intensively and to experience life in the countries where their languages are spoken. Please see the pages for individual languages.

Events

The department also puts on a number of evening events for students, including the following events in the last twelve months - not including events for specific languages:

• Language Fests, to enable students of a particular year group to perform sketches in front of a small audience;
• A Languages Café to celebrate the languages and culture of all the different nationalities represented at Clifton;
• Modern Languages Film Club evenings, run by 6th form pupils.

The first Clifton Languages Café, held on 2nd October 2006

The challenge was to learn 20 words in a new language. To celebrate the number of languages spoken by Cliftonians, 27 ‘Ambassadors’ from the Upper 6th to the 3rd form offered a taste of food and drink from their culture and taught all comers languages ranging from Cantonese to Welsh and Hindi to Russian. Learning a new language provides opportunities for making new contacts round the world.

Recent Modern Languages Successes

2004
Sophie Brown wins a place at Hughes Hall, Oxford to read French and German. In 2006 she was awarded an Exhibition by her college.

3 pupils are awarded one of the five top marks nationally in AQA GCSEs:

2005
James Robinson is awarded one of the five top marks nationally in AQA GCSE French.
Shin Seong-Ae is is awarded one of the five top marks nationally in Edexcel Japanese.

2006
Iona Turnbull wins a place at St Peter’s College Oxford to read German.
Emma Clutton-Brock wins a place at St John’s College Cambridge to read Spanish and Italian.
Sophie Reece-Trapp wins a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge to read German and Dutch.
Sophie Reece-Trapp has a translation published in ‘Translating is Creating’ published by UWE.
5 pupils are awarded one of the five top marks nationally in AQA GCSEs:

© 2006 Clifton College