Between the 10th and 17th of October, Knutsford Academy welcomed around 30 French students to England, from Sainte Marthe - Saint Front, a school situated in Bergerac, a town in the South of France.
Both the French and English students are thrilled to have had the opportunity to develop their language skills and to improve their speaking abilities.
Gaynor Speakman, the Head of Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at Knutsford Academy, organises the exchange, and the program has been running for six years at Knutsford Academy.
Mrs Speakman said that the French exchange helps students to “not only develop their language skills but to make new friendships and to build resilience”.
The highlight of the trip was when both the French and English students visited the Beatles Museum in Liverpool.
Throughout the week, the French students enjoyed many excursions such as visiting Quarry Bank Mill, Tatton Park, and the Trafford Centre.
Mrs Speakman said: “The trip the French students most enjoyed was the visit to the Manchester United Stadium and the trips where students could learn about local history.
“The importance of running the scheme, and learning new languages in general, is to allow students to learn about new cultures and to open a multitude of career opportunities in a variety of fields.
“The MFL department at Knutsford Academy runs all sorts of extra curricular enrichment activities including the opportunity to enter national spelling bee or translation competitions, taking part in beginners Italian club and pen pal projects, becoming involved in peer mentoring and study days to local universities as well as visits to the the Cervantes Institute and the Alliance française, which are trips available for Year 11 GCSE and Sixth Form A Level French and Spanish students.”
Furthermore, the Knutsford Academy MFL department recently began their own ‘Duolingo League’, which allows students to work on their listening, reading, writing and speaking skills outside of school.
The Duolingo site features a school leader board, and Mrs Speakman said this was to “encourage friendly competition between students, to motivate them to work on their language skills at home.”
According to the census conducted by the Office for National Statistics in 2021, there are 120,000 residents in England and Wales that use French as their main language and 215,000 residents that use Spanish as their main language.
Clearly, there is a large diversity in the languages spoken in the UK, and many argue that it is essential that secondary school students are taught foreign languages, to promote a welcoming society that can easily share ideas and work with those of different nationalities.
Mrs Speakman said, “When the students visit Bergerac, they can expect an exciting and unique week with their partners, including a visit to the largest sand dune in Europe and Josephine Baker’s house.”
