September 26th is celebrated as European day of languages. To mark this important day our foreign language teachers got together and organized a workshop for students in the school library under the name “Language café”.
Students were encouraged to take part in a language quiz where general knowledge about other European languages was required. Students grouped themselves into different groups depending on their interests and the language they are studying. Teachers and other participants (school librarian) encouraged students to discuss what the benefits of learning foreign languages are as well as how foreign languages can help us improve communication on daily basis. All the activities were carried out in a relaxing and informal way while drinking a tasty cup of tea or coffee and snacking on cookies and pretzels. Such a cosy atmosphere motivated students to talk about everyday topics, but it all had to be in a foreign language.
Our teachers were satisfied with such a workshop because they were able to hear students’ opinions on the importance of learning foreign languages and they were also able to hear their students speaking in more than one foreign language. The school librarian believes that the main reason for learning foreign languages is gaining the ability to communicate with people of different nations. It helps us understand other cultures and we should take advantage of every opportunity that is given to us which should be a great motivation for further studying.
Well, it seems that similar workshops will be organized again.
Antonija Braut (3.4)
(teacher: Jelka Barbalić)