The Oxford MFL Event

“You can never understand a language until you can understand at least two.”– Geoffrey Williams

“One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” – Frank Smith

“Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English. It means they know another language.”– H.Jackson Brown, Jr

Over the course of my life, I have discovered numerous benefits of being multilingual. As someone who is competent in speaking four languages, I have found that being multilingual not only helps me when I’m in other countries, but also opens doors and opportunities in my own country.

With young people from all over the world, the Concord community is a diverse place where most students here are in fact bilingual. In Concord, The Modern Languages department offers a vibrant teaching in French, German, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese.

On the 27th of September, our school held a ‘MFL Workshop’ in the theatre. Not only were the college’s MFL students invited, but many students from other schools situated in Shrewsbury also attended the event. The 3 hour event on the Wednesday afternoon was jam-packed with information about learning languages in A-Levels, majoring a degree in a language, the variety of job opportunities provided for a language student, the different courses in university that are catered for language students, as well as the general benefits of learning a foreign language. It was definitely an eye-opening experience, especially when we were given an Italian lecture by the Oxford presenter. After the presentation we were also split into teams according to our year group and the language we had chosen for a mini interactive session with the respective teacher.

By the end of the workshop, I had gathered a whole new perspective on MFL, a detailed insight on the transition between A-Levels and university, along with a deeper understanding of the benefits entitled to a language student.

Not only is learning foreign languages fun, I think everyone should have the chance to learn a second language, reap the benefits of being bilingual, and fire your endeavour towards the epitome of your abilities!

Rachael – F5