Think Languages Week 2023
We celebrated Think Languages Week in Marist College from 27th November to 1st December 2023. On Tuesday, the Transition Year French and German classes visited the cinema in Athlone to see a film in their target language. While the romantic French film “16 Ans” (Sixteen) was a take on Romeo and Juliet; it also focused on why two families hated each other and included themes like racism and segregation.
The German film “Lola Rennt” (Run, Lola, Run) follows Lola who has to find 100,000 Deutschmarks to save her boyfriend’s life. An action-paced film, three versions of the same story emerge, with various endings.
Students benefitted culturally from having a cinematic experience in a Modern Foreign Language. They studied aspects of the film afterwards using the study guide published by the Irish Film Institute.
Transition Years also participated in an Irish Sign Language module, which enhanced their communicative abilities and raised awareness of the challenges faced by others. Students learned to identify the Deaf community as a unique, social and linguistic group.
With the support of Languages Connect, students received pens, badges, stickers and Z files “Say Ja to German”, “Say Oui to French” as well as “Say yes to ISL”. Students explored careers with foreign languages on careersportal.ie.
On Wednesday, TY MFL students took part in a workshop called “Interpreting with EU Interpreters”, and as this was not language specific, it broadened their perspectives as to how much of another language they could work out without really knowing it. They also found out about the work of EU interpreters and tried their hand at interpreting.