Showing posts with label Competition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Competition. Show all posts
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Vocabexpress Leader Board
We are on it! We have entered the Vocabexpress competition ending Thurs 13th March 2014, and we have made it onto the leaderboard. Well done to all those students taking part. We hope to make more progress in the remaining hours left.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Oxford Language Competition Success
Below is wonderful write up by Jessica, one of our year 12 students who studies AS German with Miss Sheehan, regarding a recent success that they had concerning languages. Enjoy!
On Wednesday 20th October, my parents and I spent a lovely day in Oxford. The reason for this was my success in the “Think Kafka” competition, which was organised by the Modern and Medieval Languages Faculty of Oxford University.
I was sent a link concerning the competition in May by Miss. Sheehan. I immediately decided to enter, mainly because I was eager to find out more about German literature. I also thought it would be a good way to have a break from revising for my GCSEs...
I had heard of the German writer Kafka, but in reality I knew little of his life or his work. There were three categories: “The Best Translation of a Kafka Story”, “The Best Essay on a Kafka Story” and “The Best Creative Response to a Kafka Story”, of which I chose the latter. This was mainly because I had no idea how I would go about writing an essay about one of the stories, and I had little inclination of how to do a translation.
Each of the categories offered a choice of two stories. Of the two that I had to choose between, I chose “Ein Kommentar”, because I immediately saw how I could interpret it as a metaphor for life. After reading it several times and a discussion with Miss. Sheehan, I decided to continue the story. I chose to write it in German, mainly because it felt more natural and I had had little previous opportunity to use the language creatively.
Writing my response was quite difficult; it was tricky to structure it, and I had to teach myself much of the grammar I needed, for it is not usually taught at GCSE level. Several redrafts later, my story was ready to send.
Winners were to be notified a week after the closing date. On that day I was travelling to Elbeuf on the school work experience exchange, so I forgot all about it. It was not until the Saturday morning, when I was strolling peacefully along the pavement in Rouen with my exchange partner and her family, that my Dad rang me. As he read the letter to me over the phone, I learnt that I was a joint runner up in the competition! Having never succeeded in any form of competition before, I started jumping around in excitement, an excitement which quickly decreased when I realised that I would now have to explain in French why I was so happy.
I could not really bring myself to believe it fully though, until I was able to hold the letter in my hands myself. It was only when I popped into school to tell them the news that I realised the significance and importance of what I had achieved.
After a summer of attempting to read Goethe, the day to visit Oxford swiftly arrived. Having known a couple of people who had studied at Oxford, and having considered the prospect myself, I was eager to visit. Despite thinking about it quite a bit, I really had no preconceptions of what it was going to be like.
The first part of my prize was to have lunch at Jesus College. Just walking into a college was fantastic; the building was beautiful and felt so steeped in history. There were ten of us in total, as well as a few current students and lecturers, so we started off by introducing ourselves. This was when I found out I was the youngest by a whole year, which surprised me quite a bit. The idea of the lunch was so that we would be able to get to know one another prior to the evening reception. As we ate, we had a variety of discussions, most of which lead back to German.
The ceremony begun with a speech about the importance of learning languages, and the often lucrative careers that language graduates can enjoy. Then, Kafka’s great nephew made a speech. I was surprised to learn that he does not speak any German, despite being a relation of one of the most prolific German writers ever. He then presented the prizes. I received a personalised copy of Kafka’s “Die Erzählungen”, which includes all the stories used in the competition, as well as a postcard and £20.
After taking some photographs, we had the chance to look at the actual manuscripts of the stories. Although they were in a glass case, it was amazing to see the paper which Kafka actually wrote on, and fun to try to decipher the words which had been crossed out.
Soon afterwards, it was sadly time to leave. I am extremely glad that I had this opportunity, for not only has it left me with a clear sense of my aims for the future, but it has also given me new ideas for how I can explore literature in other languages. I have been inspired by meeting the other prize-winners and sharing our passion for languages.
On Wednesday 20th October, my parents and I spent a lovely day in Oxford. The reason for this was my success in the “Think Kafka” competition, which was organised by the Modern and Medieval Languages Faculty of Oxford University.
I was sent a link concerning the competition in May by Miss. Sheehan. I immediately decided to enter, mainly because I was eager to find out more about German literature. I also thought it would be a good way to have a break from revising for my GCSEs...
I had heard of the German writer Kafka, but in reality I knew little of his life or his work. There were three categories: “The Best Translation of a Kafka Story”, “The Best Essay on a Kafka Story” and “The Best Creative Response to a Kafka Story”, of which I chose the latter. This was mainly because I had no idea how I would go about writing an essay about one of the stories, and I had little inclination of how to do a translation.
Each of the categories offered a choice of two stories. Of the two that I had to choose between, I chose “Ein Kommentar”, because I immediately saw how I could interpret it as a metaphor for life. After reading it several times and a discussion with Miss. Sheehan, I decided to continue the story. I chose to write it in German, mainly because it felt more natural and I had had little previous opportunity to use the language creatively.
Writing my response was quite difficult; it was tricky to structure it, and I had to teach myself much of the grammar I needed, for it is not usually taught at GCSE level. Several redrafts later, my story was ready to send.
Winners were to be notified a week after the closing date. On that day I was travelling to Elbeuf on the school work experience exchange, so I forgot all about it. It was not until the Saturday morning, when I was strolling peacefully along the pavement in Rouen with my exchange partner and her family, that my Dad rang me. As he read the letter to me over the phone, I learnt that I was a joint runner up in the competition! Having never succeeded in any form of competition before, I started jumping around in excitement, an excitement which quickly decreased when I realised that I would now have to explain in French why I was so happy.
I could not really bring myself to believe it fully though, until I was able to hold the letter in my hands myself. It was only when I popped into school to tell them the news that I realised the significance and importance of what I had achieved.
After a summer of attempting to read Goethe, the day to visit Oxford swiftly arrived. Having known a couple of people who had studied at Oxford, and having considered the prospect myself, I was eager to visit. Despite thinking about it quite a bit, I really had no preconceptions of what it was going to be like.
The first part of my prize was to have lunch at Jesus College. Just walking into a college was fantastic; the building was beautiful and felt so steeped in history. There were ten of us in total, as well as a few current students and lecturers, so we started off by introducing ourselves. This was when I found out I was the youngest by a whole year, which surprised me quite a bit. The idea of the lunch was so that we would be able to get to know one another prior to the evening reception. As we ate, we had a variety of discussions, most of which lead back to German.
The ceremony begun with a speech about the importance of learning languages, and the often lucrative careers that language graduates can enjoy. Then, Kafka’s great nephew made a speech. I was surprised to learn that he does not speak any German, despite being a relation of one of the most prolific German writers ever. He then presented the prizes. I received a personalised copy of Kafka’s “Die Erzählungen”, which includes all the stories used in the competition, as well as a postcard and £20.
After taking some photographs, we had the chance to look at the actual manuscripts of the stories. Although they were in a glass case, it was amazing to see the paper which Kafka actually wrote on, and fun to try to decipher the words which had been crossed out.
Soon afterwards, it was sadly time to leave. I am extremely glad that I had this opportunity, for not only has it left me with a clear sense of my aims for the future, but it has also given me new ideas for how I can explore literature in other languages. I have been inspired by meeting the other prize-winners and sharing our passion for languages.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Win a Trip to Galicia!
The Spanish Tourist Office and the Consejería de Educación have launched a competition on the Camino de Santiago. The competition is open to primary and secondary school teaching staff in UK schools providing Spanish as a foreign language.
Entries should consist of ideas to develop school projects and activities aimed at disseminating the history, geography and cultural legacy of the “Camino de Santiago”. Entries must be submitted by the 28th of September by e-mail to info.uk@educacion.es.
Prizes:
Schools submitting a proposal will receive a set of reading material.
The teacher presenting the winning project will be awarded a trip to Galicia for two people, including flights and accommodation for either
- A 7 day walking trip on the “Camino de Santiago inglés” (110 kms approx)
- or a 4 night stay to visit the cities of La Coruña and Santiago de Compostela.
The winner will be announced on the 31st of October 2010.
Further information is available from the websites of:
- Spanish Tourist Office
http://www.spain.info
e-mail: info.londres@tourspain.es
Tel. 0207 486 8077
Consejería de Educación
http://www.educacion.es/exterior/uk
e-mail: info.uk@educacion.es
Tel. 0207 727 2462
Additional information on El Camino de Santiago and Galicia:
Turgalicia
http://www.turgalicia.es
Xacobeo
http://www.xacobeo.es/en
The Confraternity of St James
http://www.csj.org.uk
Entries should consist of ideas to develop school projects and activities aimed at disseminating the history, geography and cultural legacy of the “Camino de Santiago”. Entries must be submitted by the 28th of September by e-mail to info.uk@educacion.es.
Prizes:
Schools submitting a proposal will receive a set of reading material.
The teacher presenting the winning project will be awarded a trip to Galicia for two people, including flights and accommodation for either
- A 7 day walking trip on the “Camino de Santiago inglés” (110 kms approx)
- or a 4 night stay to visit the cities of La Coruña and Santiago de Compostela.
The winner will be announced on the 31st of October 2010.
Further information is available from the websites of:
- Spanish Tourist Office
http://www.spain.info
e-mail: info.londres@tourspain.es
Tel. 0207 486 8077
Consejería de Educación
http://www.educacion.es/exterior/uk
e-mail: info.uk@educacion.es
Tel. 0207 727 2462
Additional information on El Camino de Santiago and Galicia:
Turgalicia
http://www.turgalicia.es
Xacobeo
http://www.xacobeo.es/en
The Confraternity of St James
http://www.csj.org.uk
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Spanish Essay Competition
Our Spanish GCSE students were invited to enter an essay competition organised by the Instituto Cervantes, in collaboration with the Consejería de Educación on the occasion of the International Book Day. The theme of the essay was the Don Quijote in your life.
Amy, in Year 11, entered this competition and her essay has been published in the Instituto Cervantes blog. Congratulations!!! This is the link
Amy, in Year 11, entered this competition and her essay has been published in the Instituto Cervantes blog. Congratulations!!! This is the link
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
