French and German students from Plymouth College have won the intermediate and advanced sections of the South West Linguafest competition.
Set up last year when it was hosted by Plymouth College, the event gives young linguists in the South West the opportunity to demonstrate and compare their skills in a multi-lingual dimension.
Held this year at West Buckland School, Plymouth College pupils from Years 9 to Upper Sixth competed against teams from the host school, Truro School, Exeter School, Millfield School and Prior Park School. Beginners, intermediate and advanced level students delivered sketches, songs, poems and dramatic presentations on topics including Cinderella, visits to German cities, the delights and dangers of eating omelette ‘Chez Paulette’, German film, Coco Chanel, and the sunny and shady sides of Pablo Escobar and Costa Rica.
The Plymouth College intermediate team impressed the judges with their winning presentation, ‘Sprachreise nach Berlin’. The advanced team’s Powerpoint presentation on ‘Aspects of German cities: Munich and Berlin’ won them joint first prize, and the College’s slick and entertaining beginners’ team sketch in French, ‘Chez Paulette’, came a close second to Prior Park’s sketch ‘Cinderella’.
Prizes and sponsorship were provided by the participating schools together with vouchers from Cactus Travel and Millfield Enterprises, language-learning discs from Eurotalk and goody-bags from the Goethe Institut and the Spanish Embassy.
“I am delighted that the Plymouth College teams did so well”, said Richard Robinson, Head of German at Plymouth College. “The judges were keen to praise the flair, fluency and confidence of all the students who took part.”
Photograph: The Plymouth College pupils who took part in Linguafest
