Sylvania High School offers French, Japanese and Modern Greek.
French and Japanese are important languages. Both languages are significant to Australian trade, commerce and tourist initiatives that exist between Australia and Japan and France. The ability to communicate in French or Japanese is relevant for students interested in travel to Europe, Africa or Asia. Similarly, learning a foreign language helps you in your career. With globalisation, knowing a foreign language is an asset. It will assist students in the tourist industry, in catering, hotel administration, public relations, banking, and in many foreign firms.
Modern Greek is a community language and in Australia many people speak Greek. Opportunities to meet Greek people and communicate in Greek are easy when you live in Australia. There are many Greeks living in Sydney and in Melbourne. Learning Modern Greek will assist you in the tourist industry and in certain firms that require someone who knows a foreign language.
In Stage 4, students are required to study French and Japanese. Students do taster courses in both languages.
Students acquire communication skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing in the target language using basic language and numbers. They also acquire an introductory knowledge and understanding of the countries and cultures of that target language. Restaurant excursions, cultural performance and workshop incursions, research assignments incorporating ICT skills also further enrich students’ learning experiences.
Elective classes are offered in French, Japanese and in Modern Greek.
In Stage 5 students may elect to study one or two languages for six periods per fortnightly cycle.
Modern Greek can also be studied in Stage 5 as a subject. The study of French and Japanese for Years 9 – 10 aims to build on basic skills learned in previous years. Students are provided with the opportunity to expand their active vocabulary, to practise listening and speaking, to express their ideas in written form and to gain a greater understanding of the people and their culture. They develop their language skills, content knowledge and key competencies through the use of texts, workbooks and related materials, CDs, DVDs, magazines and puzzles. Every opportunity will be taken to conduct appropriate excursions, to plan overseas study trips, cultural performances, invite native speakers into classrooms and to make contacts with overseas schools.
In Stage 6 (Year 11 and 12) we offer French, Japanese and Modern Greek at both Beginners and Continuers level. The Continuers Courses are offered to students who have studied 200 hours in a language in Stage 5. The Beginners courses are aimed for students who have not completed more than 100 hours in a language either in Stage 4 or Stage 5.
Students are given the opportunity to enter various competitions. We encourage all students studying a language to enter the Language Perfect World Championship Competition. More than 130,000 students from different countries take part in this competition. Elective classes are also encouraged to take part in competitions offered by the French and Japanese Language Associations.
Overseas Study Tours: Study tours to Japan and New Caledonia are organised if there is sufficient student interest.
Cultural Immersion: The richness and diversity of the culture of each language at Sylvania High School is enforced via cultural performance days, Languages Day, Harajuku day, Bastille Day and Greek Celebrations/Food tasting and Dancing. This allows students to immerse themselves in cultural activities and actively participate in them.
Student Exchange: The opportunity to host an exchange student is provided to build cultural understanding and develop communication skills beyond that covered in the classroom. These relationships will be built upon in future overseas trips.