School life: Multilingual fun or diversión multilingüe at Rastrick High

The European Day of Languages (EDL) is celebrated across Europe on September 26 every year with the aim of promoting the rich linguistic diversity of Europe and raise awareness of the importance of lifelong language learning for everyone.

The Modern Languages Department at Rastrick celebrated the day by organising multilingual fun activities for students to engage in. The whole school took part in a European Languages quiz with every Form Group testing their skills at challenging and engaging multiple-choice questions.

These comprised of phrases in various European languages that the students had to define in English or various language facts, such as, ‘How many languages are spoken worldwide? ’Which language is spoken most around the world?’ All questions gave information regarding the origins of the words/phrases and explained their etymology. This gave students the chance to broaden their cultural awareness, not just through learning French and Spanish, but a wider array of languages.

Throughout the day, students were challenged with a ‘teacher language hunt’ where they had to find as many teachers as possible who were wearing various greetings, in various different languages.

They had to note down the translation in the foreign language, collecting as many as possible by the end of the day. The winning pair were Year 9 students, Tayyab Ahmad and Sam Peters.

Throughout lunchtime, the MFL department ran a ‘Language Café’; students spoke to each other and teachers in Spanish and French whilst trying culinary delights from both countries. Foods to tempt the students included olives, croissants and gazpacho (which didn’t go down well with most students) as commented by Tylan Cartwright, Year 9, ‘¡Odio el Gazpacho!’