MFL at Baxter College

A Spanish Christmas

 

 

This week to get in the festive spirit, Year 8 have been looking at how Christmas and New Year are celebrated in Spain and how they differ from our celebrations in Britain.

 

 

Spanish tradition has it that the Three Kings, los Reyes, are the ones who bring children presents, repeating the ritual they performed after Jesus was born.  This happens on January 6th and Spanish children traditionally leave out slippers the night before.

 

Spanish families traditionally eat lamb or seafood as their Christmas meal, followed by a pudding known as el turrón.  This is made of whole almonds in a paste of sugar, honey and egg white.  Marzipan figures are also popular.  This meal takes place on Christmas Eve – la Nochebuena.

 

On New Year’s Eve – la Nochevieja – Spaniards have a ritual whereby they eat 12 grapes as the bells strike at midnight.  Each grape is believed to bring luck for one month the following year – el Año Nuevo.

 

Between Christmas and New Year the Spanish fit in one more celebration.  This takes place on 28th December and is the equivalent of our April Fools Day.  It is known as el día de los Santos Inocentes and the custom is that people attempt to stick little paper people on the shoulders of their victims!

 

Señora Wilkin wishes you all İFeliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo!

Group Focus 11DFR1

In year 11 we are currently preparing for our speaking exam which will take place next March/April.  It is probably one of the most difficult elements of the exam for the students as there is a lot to learn and it takes great courage to speak clearly and fluently in front of a teacher in a different language.

During the exam, one of the tasks the students have to do is complete a presentation for a minute and a half on a topic in French.  This year we have chosen to talk about a past holiday.  Students are not allowed to take their work in with them, but can use small pictures as prompts to help them.  This is called a cue card.

 

The example below has been done by Jake Garnett in Year 11.  The pictures Jake has included will help him to remember his past holiday.  As you go through the powerpoint you will notice that the vocabulary appears on the screen, disappears and then returns.  By doing this Jake can read his piece, test himself when the vocabulary disappears, but then check when the text reappears.

 

This is not just useful for year 11 students, but for any group that needs to learn new vocabulary.

 

Group Focus 9YML3

9YML3 are just coming to the end of their 'Holiday' topic during which they had to work in small groups to design their very own holiday village. As part of the project, the students had to draw a detailed park plan showing the range of accommodation and leisure facilities which would be available. They are currently working on an account of a holiday spent at their villages. I am sure you you will agree that the parks are all very unique and have a lot to offer. I would definitely be interested in visiting the following:

Group Focus 8XML4

In Year 8 we have been talking about our favourite sports and hobbies using the verbs Jouer and Faire.  We have also learnt to identify infinitive verbs in both English (to.....) and French (-er/-re/-ir) and we have composed paragraphs that include opinions and connectives to achieve levels 4 and 5.

 

 

 

 

  We have also made contact with

  our pen pals in Grenoble and

  written individual letters telling

  them about ourselves (family,

  pets, sports and  hobbies).

 

 

Most of all, we’ve had a lot of fun, especially when we re-wrote the chorus to the Ting Ting’s Song ‘That’s Not My Name’.  Well done to the whole class for being good sports, and especially to solo artist Leon.  Click below to hear his world debut:

Je joue au tennis

to the tune 'That's not my name'

Group Focus 7YML4

In German, our Year 7 students have been making chatterboxes to revise key language such as the alphabet, numbers, colours and items of school equipment.

Here are the chatterboxes made by 7YML4:

 

Group Focus 11ADE1

With the mocks fast approaching, it is a testing time for our Year 11 students. In recent weeks students in MFL have been busy working on their conversation topics for the speaking exam. To help them learn their questions and answers and improve pronunciation, we have recorded the material they have prepared.

Blake

  

Chris

Donna

James

 

Jamie

 

Josh

Lee

Mat

Paddy

Ryan

Tom

Zac

Group Focus 10AFR1

In Year 10 we have been studying the topic Healthy Living.  It has been really interesting finding out about different peoples eating habits and how much exercise they do.  We did a piece of work talking about the eating habits of French people and the similarities between our 2 nationalities.  We have created a piece of extended writing using adverbs and opinions and have recorded these as an interview in small groups.  By doing this we have not only learnt to develop our writing skills, but we have also grown in confidence with our speaking skills.

 

 

Group Focus 9YML1

In 9YML1 we’ve been working in teams to set up pseudo-companies.  Each company has to plan and design a holiday village in Normandy.  So far, we’ve discussed what makes a good company name, we’ve designed and developed company logos and slogans, and each team has assigned roles to its members and finalised their company’s hierarchical  structure.  The logos and slogans are showcased below. 

 

 

 

 

Which is your favourite?

Group focus 8YML1

In 8YML1 we have been learning how to talk about free-time activities in Spanish using the verbs jugar (to play), hacer (to do), ir (to go) and ver (to watch). 

  

 

The examples showcased above and below were done by Megan C. and Ophelia J. They demonstrate how we use visual prompts to consolidate our vocabulary work. We have also composed passages of text, which include adjectives and connectives, to describe our hobbies.  We are currently working on incorporating expressions of time, such as todos los días and una vez por semana, into our written and spoken work.  I'm sure you will agree that some great quality work has been produced – excelente!

 

  

 

Group focus 7YML1

Since September, in 7YML1 we have spent time discussing the history of the French language and its influence on English. We were surprised to learn that roughly two out of every three English words are linked to French, and that English and French words are often very similar. With these cognates, it’s just a question d’accent or a différence de prononciation. 

 

We’ve also looked at why it’s important to learn a language: not only does it improve your communication skills, your cultural knowledge and generally make you a more tolerant person, it’s also a fantastic way to get your brain in shape. Learning a language makes you brainier! 

 

In addition to making new friends from other primary schools, we’ve also met some French personalities, including Emperor Napoléon, Président Sarkosy, Tintin and Milou, Astérix and Le Petit Prince. Click below to hear us greet each other and present ourselves...

 

 

7YML1 1

7YML1 2

7YML1 3

7YML1 4

7YML1 5

7YML1 6

7YML1 7

7YML1 8