A ship in the country

Language Leaders Go Live!

Today, our Spanish language leaders went into Alderton Primary school to work with Y4 children. They had great fun. Take a look at the pics.

 

MI Vida Loca

On Monday 23 June, I was invited to the launch of the BBC's new on-line Spanish programme - Mi Vida Loca. It's a thriller designed for beginners of Spanish, but I think more advanced learners will get a lot out of it too. Give it a whirl - you'll find it on the BBC website. Here's a picture of Mrs S with the star of the show, Africa. The story is set in Madrid, where Africa's character finds herself embroilled in a spy network. They help you with difficult vocabulary, and as it's interactive, you help her make decisions. You have to key in whether you are male or female so that the responses are appropriate - it's fun!

                                  

Autumn 2008 - French Exchange

Come on Davenant students in Y9 & 10- join in the adventure! This year our French friends are coming in October. That means we all need to get our skates on to sign up! This is your chance to use your French and to make our French correspondents feel at home in our school and in our homes. The dates are Thursday October 16th - Friday 24th -just 8 days to share our culture and to make new friends.

We hope you'll want to share in this venture, so pick up a letter from the Languages office! We have already got the names of the correspondents , so first choice to those who come first

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French for Beginners

Calling all new Year 7s! If you have found you will be studying French with us in September, click on to the link below to help you get started. See the words for greetings - how to introduce yourself, days of the week, months of the year and numbers 1-100. Click on the MP3 icon to hear how to say these things. Practise them and learn them - go on get a head start!

Download french_for_beginners.docx

 

Welcome Year 7, 2008!

Welcome 2008, Year 7. We know you have a lot to take in as you begin your life with us. That's why we have prepared some files for you to get ahead to practise for life in the Languages Department. Today we have put up some Spanish files to help you read and speak in Spanish. We show you how to introduce yourself, count to a 100, read the Spanish alphabet along with the days of the week and the months of the year. Click on the MP3 icon and then minimise the media player screen to allow you to read and listen. Go on, have a go ! Say it with us. ¡Buena Suerte!

Download greetings_dow_nos.,MoY, AZ.docx

Spanish Exchange May 2008

Spanish Exchange 15^th – 22^nd May 2008

We are just back from our trip to Spain where our Year 9’s and 10’s enjoy an exchange with their Spanish correspondents. Here is an outline of how it went and you can also view our photos:

We arrived in Madrid on Thursday night and were met by our hosts and taken home. On Friday the Year 9s went to the Juan de Valdés school and the Year 10s went to El Porvenir school. So we spent the day with our correspondents attending some classes and playing games.

The weekend was spent with our correspondents where some went shopping, some went to a theme park and others enjoyed learning about the Spanish culture.

We spent the day in Madrid on Monday. We started the day on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of the city. We then stopped off at Retiro Park and finished the day at Santiago Bernabeu (home of Real Madrid).

On Tuesday we took a trip out to Alcalá de Henares with our Spanish correspondents. It’s the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) and home to one of the most prestigious universities in Spain. Its rich monumental heritage, formed by churches, convents and university buildings, gave us a glimpse of life in Castilla during the Spanish Golden Age.

On Wednesday we journeyed to Segovia; a beautiful city with an interesting history which is evident as you explore the city and its marvellous buildings. One of the most impressive monuments is the Roman Aqueduct. It is believed to have been built in the 2^nd half of the first century AD designed to carry water to the city from 15km away. One of the nicest and interesting places to rest is the Plaza Mayor and this is also where you will find the Town Hall, the Cathedral and the Theatre.

Our trip ended on Thursday when we said ‘adios’ to our new friends and boarded to plane back to Luton Airport. It was an enjoyable trip and we are looking forward to our next one.

Hello Again!

How embarrassing! The blog has been dormant for a while - but we have been busy with Exchanges and testing and all sorts of things. Right now I'm sitting with our Y11 Mandarin students as they wait to do their speaking tests at Breakthrough level. Ms Zheng has put them through their paces and so we shall wait and see. Many are keen to carry on with mandarin in Y12 too at Preliminary level. So, Nick. Grant, Laura, Melissa, Matthew and Jonathan - Good Luck! (I wish I could say that in the language).

Keep tuned for the next few days - more to come to keep you updated.

Check your tenses

Are you unsure about which tense is which? Check out this Spanish tenses time line.Download timelineoftenses_spanish.ppt

Not sure about tenses in French ?- here's one for you, with thanks to my colleague from mflresources.

Download timelineoftenses1.ppt

More Oral Preparation for Y11 Spanish

Download higher_2_narrative.ppt Possibly the hardest element of the Speaking exam is the Higher Narrative. Here is a presentation  to  show you how to navigate through the card. You will need to look up verbs most commonly used to ensure you know them in the preterite as well as the imperfect tense - hacer / ir / tener / estar / ser/dar / sentirse.

Our School by 10 A

10A went around the school taking photos of important people and places - How does it compare to your school - do let us know. Welcome to Davenant (Compiled and edited by Bex)Download school_espaol_y10.ppt