A different language is a different vision of life
Federico Fellini
Italian film director
Mrs M. Kelleher
Head of MFL
At Hautlieu you have the option to study French or Spanish at GCSE, or HSK Mandarin across Years 10 and 11, or even combine your study of two of these languages. You can then choose to continue with French or Spanish A Level or IB, pick up Spanish or Italian as a new language in the IB, or continue with your studies of Mandarin.
The MFL curriculum ensures that all four skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) are covered in every theme and opportunities to revisit them are built-in to students’ learning journeys. We strongly believe that knowledge of the sound–spelling relations is one of the building blocks of learning a language. Being able to pronounce words from their written form helps reading comprehension and assimilation of vocabulary. In your language lessons, you will benefit from the presence of our language assistants who will review your learning, practise your conversational skills and boost your confidence. With skilled native and non-native linguists in the department, we endeavour to challenge our students by using a high ratio of target language.
French
Learning French will help you to communicate in a language spoken by 300 million people in countries as far and wide as Canada and Rwanda and of course, France a country right on our doorstep! Jersey has many cultural and historical ties with France so it makes sense to learn this beautiful romantic language especially if you are considering local employment in the future. French is the official language of 40 countries in the world, the procedural language for the EU and one of the recognized working languages of the United Nations. We have close links with a school in St Malo and look forward to organising an exchange visit which will give you total immersion in the language and culture.
Spanish
Study Spanish to help you communicate in the third most widely spoken language in the world. Spanish is the world’s most spoken language, after Mandarin Chinese and English, and ranks second in terms of native speakers. It is the mother tongue of about 477 million people in 21 countries and is also commonly spoken in the United States, Belize, Andorra and Gibraltar. Through studying Spanish at Hautlieu you gain an appreciation for the language and culture of Spain and a range of other Spanish-speaking countries. You will be able to take advantage of weekly one-to-one conversation practice with native Spanish-speakers from both Spain and Latin America. You will also benefit from a well-structured curriculum, split into topic and speaking lessons at GCSE, and topic, grammar, film/literature and speaking lessons at A Level and IB. IB students will also have the chance to immerse themselves fully in the language and culture of “one of the happiest countries in the world” during the IB Costa Rica trip.
Italian
Italian is offered to beginners who are studying for the IB diploma.
Italian is widely thought of as one of the most beautiful languages in the world. Knowing the language is essential to understand many aspects of the passionate Italian lifestyle. Streets all over the world are filled with Italian Restaurants with Italian names, but only if you learn Italian will you understand the “character” of what you are eating: you might be surprised to find out what some of the names mean. When you eat farfalle, you’re eating butterflies, or that spaghetti arrabbiata literally means angry spaghetti.
Mandarin
Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. Of the Chinese languages, 878,000 million people speak Mandarin. Not only China but countries such as Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore also speak Mandarin. The history and culture of China are of the richest and certainly the oldest in the world. Learning Mandarin is easier than you think! You do not need to worry about conjugating verbs or plurals. Mandarin is a very logical language. If you know Mandarin, you will be able to make the most of the school trips to China- especially when you meet your pen pal at our partner school, Bayi in Beijing. You will take HSK 1 exam in Y10 and HSK 2 in year 11. It is possible to continue your Mandarin studies and take HSK 3 in Y13
