In NSW high schools, languages is a key learning area.
Language study allows students to develop communication skills, learn about languages as systems and explore the relationship between language and culture. Students engage with the linguistic and cultural diversity of societies and reflect on their understanding of social interactions.
The study of a language is compulsory for 100 hours in one continuous school year from Year 7 to Year 10, but preferably in Years 7 or 8.
In Years 11 and 12, NSW schools offer a wide variety of languages, catering for beginning students to background speakers.
Languages Other Than English (LOTE)
An interactive, animated learning environment which focuses on students immersing themselves in the target language to various degrees, is the focus of our teaching of "Languages Other than English" at Freshwater Senior Campus. Undoubtedly our most exciting projects are those which centre around international student exchange programs and overseas visits.
Enrichment of skills in listening, speaking, script writing and giving direction occurs in a "real world" environment so that students can see the significance of their class room language learning. They can gain confidence in using the language when travelling overseas, communicating with visitors from other countries and if working for foreign companies.
German and Japanese beginners courses: Eligibility criteria
- Students have had no more than 100 hours study of the language at the secondary level (or equivalent).
- Students have little or no previous knowledge of the language. For exchange students, a significant in-country experience (involving experiences such as homestay and attendance at school) of more than three moths renders a student ineligible.
Note: For the purpose of determining eligibility:
- Speakers of dialects and variants of a language are considered to be speakers of the standard language.
German continuers courses: Eligibility criteria
- Students have had no more than one year's formal education* from the first year of primary education (Year 1) in a school where the language is the medium of instruction.
- Students have had no more than three years' residency in the last ten years in a country where the language is the medium of communication.
- Students do not use the language for sustained communication outside the classroom with someone with a background in using the language.
Formal education is "education provided in the system of schools … that normally constitute(s) a continuous ‘ladder' of full-time education for children and young people …." (UNESCO International Standard Classification of Education, 1997)