MFL Booklet

The Langton Language Centre Table of Contents What’s so special about languages at Langton? Student support Key Stage 3 Key Stage 4 Key Stage 5 French German Spanish Trips and Visits Extra-Curricular

The Langton Language Centre What’s so special about languages at Langton? With a knowledgeable and experienced Classes are generally small which helps range of staff, students can expect a learning speed and it means that students friendly, close-knit environment to learn in. have the chance to speak together Peer mentor system. confidently after little time. The teachers are all native, meaning that they have a good At SLGGS, the flexibility allows students to knowledge of the language and know the study one or two languages at GCSE and up best ways to teach students, as well as to to three languages at A Level, meaning that share the cultural background behind each the choice is truly yours. If three isn’t language.. enough, why not try starting another? The Langton Language Centre offers after school classes with native speakers in other languages, for students who want to learn something more challenging. After-school, sessions in Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Italian and Japanese, are offered to all year groups. In addition, a TEFL course is very popular with our sixth form students.

The Langton Language Centre Student support The LLC staff know how to support students and have the best idea of how to cater to individual needs. Whether that be spending a bit of time after lessons talking about ways to improve, extra speaking sessions or going over those tricky bits of grammar, students can feel confident for their exams. Whenever possible, we organise additional oral sessions with native speakers, for students to practise their speaking in a small group. For A Level linguists aspiring to continue their studies at Oxford or Cambridge, special support is provided with extra interview practise and study support.

The Langton Language Centre Key Stage 3 Our students start with their first modern foreign language and benefit from a fairly intense exposure to this with 6 lessons a fortnight on their timetable. The frequency of lessons helps their recall, enables them to get get to know their teacher well and vice versa and they learn how to learn a language. This is especially helpful when they start Year 8. Their allocated language learning time increases to 7 periods per fortnight but, as they embark on a second language, this time is divided between both first and second languages. The language learning skills that they were taught in Year 7 come to the fore to enable them to learn a second language in less time than they had in Year 7, and giving them the opportunity to opt for two languages in Year 9 and thereafter. The Year 9 groups are a mix of students who have studied that language for one or two years, and for this purpose a special curriculum has been devised which is topic based and allows plenty of scope for some students to catch up while others are encouraged to take on further challenges. pn

The Langton Language Centre Key Stage 4 Students are able to study one or two modern foreign languages, in a course which starts in term 6 of Year 9. This extra time allows the groups to be established with their teachers and expectations and study skills to be understood before students return in Year 10. We follow the Eduqas specification, and as with all modern foreign languages, students are tested in listening , speaking, reading and writing. In addition, students who speak an additional language at home often sit a GCSE examination in that language too. pn

The Langton Language Centre Key Stage 5 Our brand new building boasts a dedicated A Level teaching classroom. The flexibility of our timetable allows you to study up to 3 modern foreign languages at A Level. With small class sizes and extra-curricular support, students can expect a friendly, close-knit environment in which to learn. pn

The Langton Language Centre French With a knowledgeable and experienced range of staff, students can expect a friendly, close-knit environment to learn in. Peer mentor system. At SLGGS, the flexibility allows students to study one or two languages at GCSE and up to three languages at A Level, meaning that the choice is truly yours. If three isn’t enough, why not try starting another? The Langton Language Centre offers after school classes with native speakers in other languages, for students who want to learn something more challenging. After-school, sessions in Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Italian and Japanese, are offered to all year groups. In addition, a TEFL course is very popular with our sixth form students.

The Langton Language Centre German The German department at SLGGS offers outstanding German language teaching expertise and native speaker input, as well as a real love for the rich, inspiring and varied language and culture of the German speaking world. Students will receive a wealth of support as well as opportunities to stretch and challenge themselves in their use of the language. At A Level we continue with some familiar themes such as Health and Sport, Family and relationships, but turn from the more individual point of view to looking at these issues from a more abstract, current perspective. We also equip our students with the knowledge to analyse and discuss literature, film, and Germany’s recent historical events such as the time leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification, both fascinating, yet often little-known aspects of Germany’s history. This forms the background for the film we study, the tragicomedy Goodbye Lenin!, a film by Wolfgang Becker, which looks at the difficulty of life in the GDR after the reunification. This theme is picked up in the novel students work on, Karin König’s Ich fühl mich so fifty-fifty, which follows the life of a girl fleeing from the GDR to West Germany before the wall fell, a common but extremely dangerous event that took place at the time. German students also receive lectures from university lecturers, such as Dr. Tobias Heinrich from the University of Kent, who has spoken about the birth of German literature in the context of Letters and Friendship, as well as from staff, who previously have spoken about a wide range of extra-curricular issues such as the UNESCO world heritage site of the Wadden Sea, the Austrian Founder of Red Bull, or insights into the German Airline Lufthansa, among others. Extra speaking sessions are available for students to practice for the A Level speaking exam, which helps to boost spoken confidence.

The Langton Language Centre Spanish The Spanish department at SLGGS is the perfect subject for anyone interested in Spanish or Latin-American culture and history. The course outlines the difficulties and revolutions in the Franco era of Spain, as well as the challenges of la Guerra Civil (Spanish Civil War). Students study El Otro Árbol de Guernica, a book by Spanish author Luis de Catresana, which looks at the journey of a Spanish boy, who was evacuated to Belgium during the civil war, a serious issue that happened at the time, and Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios, a film by the renowned contemporary director Pedro Almodóvar, which looks at modern life in Spain after the death of Franco and the changing place of women in society in that era. The course also outlines many of the cultural parts of Spanish life, such as music, architecture, Latin American history and much more. Spanish students are given constant support from staff, as well as speaking sessions outside of lessons which can help to improve spoken fluency and confidence. The chance to receive lectures in the language are also possible, with a partnership with the King’s School in Canterbury, which runs monthly lectures about history and current affairs.