1ST EDITION • APRIL 2020 • WWW.PITSFORDINTERNATIONAL.SCHOOL.BLOG
PITSFORD SCHOOL MULTILINGUAL MAGAZINE F FERNANDES-NETO
Fasnacht
M WEBDALE
Our experience learning languages at Pitsford School
A CONROY
French baguette recipe
APRIL 2020 | VOL. 1
PS
MULTICULTURAL
MAGAZINE
What's inside this issue:
THE ROMANS IN ENGLAND P.2 FASNACHT P.4 LA TOMATINA P.5 THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING EXCITING...
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD P.7
IMAGE BY AREK SOCHA IN PIXABAY
BY DR CABRERA ร LVAREZ
OUR EXPERIENCE LEARNING LANGUAGES AT PITSFORD SCHOOL P.10
Welcome to the first issue of the Pitsford School Multilingual
FRENCH BAGUETTE RECIPE P.12
- Pitsford in the world. A Chacksfield tells us about the Roman
RUSSIAN WORDSEACH P.13
Spain. T Chacksfield explains to us why it is important to learn
CREDITS P.14
students' experience learning languages at Pitsford. Finally, A
magazine! We start with the lovely cover created by M Ritchie and A Billings invasion in England. F Fernandes-Neto and E Maher describe two European festivities: Fasnacht in Switzerland and La Tomatina in languages and M Webdale talks about his and other Sixth Form Conroy teaches us how to bake a French baguette and V Cartwright presents a wordsearch where we need to find words linked to Russian language and culture. This is a very special first issue. It is being published during the school's 30th anniversary, but it is also published under unprecedented circumstances. We are really proud of our students for making this effort and creating such a lovely first magazine. We hope you like it. See you next issue ยกHasta pronto! Dr C Cabrera Alvarez
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On her and her tribes march to the next big city the Romans fought back and at the battle of Watling street the Celts were defeated and trapped on the battlefield by their own carts and everyone was slaughtered. Boudicca poisoned herself rather than becoming a prisoner of the Roman Empire. Emperor Hadrian built a massive wall through Scotland which in some cases split people's land in half. The wall was 3 meters
IMAGE BY DOZEMODE IN PIXABAY
wide and 6 meters high. The Roman Empire
The Romans in England
finally fell after the countries they ruled over
Written by A Chacksfield
by the gauls made them leave the countries
fought back and an attack on the great city they were in to come and save the great
Romans came from Rome, which is now the capital of Italy.
capital.
Their leader was Julius Caesar when they successfully invaded England in 43 AD. Julius Caesar was married to Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra. He was stabbed 27 times and after that another roman leader, Mark Anthony, married her, but they lost a war to roman general Octavian, Mark Anthony stabbed himself and Cleopatra poisoned herself. When they landed in England they pushed the Celts up into Scotland. Scottish rebel Boudicca marched through England and destroyed Colchester, a newly built Roman city. When she was younger, Boudicca loved Rome. However, when her husband (who was leader of the Iceni tribe) died, the Romans took all their stuff including her two daughters, so Boudicca turned on Rome.
IMAGE BY 139904 IN PIXABAY
THE ROMAN EMPIRE FINALLY FELL AFTER THE COUNTRIES THEY RULED OVER FOUGHT BACK 2
IMAGE BY PAPAGNOC IN PIXABAY
Romani in Inghilterra Scritto da A Chacksfield Romani venuti da Roma la capitale d'Italia. Il loro leader era Giulio Cesare quando Correttamente invaso l'Inghilterra Pollici 43 AD. Giulio Cesare era sposato con Egiziano faraone Cleopatra. Giulio Cesare è stato pugnalato 27 volte e dopo di che un altro romano leader Marco Antonio Cleopatra sposato ma essi perso una guerra a generale romano Ottaviano. Marco Antonio accoltellato se stesso e Cleopatra poisened se stessa In modo che essi non sarebbe prigionieri di Roma. Quando atterrato Pollici Inghilterra hanno spinto i celti Fuori Inghilterra e fino a Scozia. Ribelle scozzese Boudica marciato attraverso Inghilterra e distrutta Colchester una città romana di recente costruzione ma Boudica quando era più giovane lei adorava Roma ma quando morì suo marito chi era il capo della tribù Iceni i romani presero tutte le loro cose comprese le loro due figlie così Boudica trasformato a Roma su dilei e le sue tribù marcia verso la prossima città più grande i romani reagirono e al battaglia di Watling Street i Celti furono sconfitti e intrappolati dai loro stessi carri e tutti massacrati. Boudica si è avvelenata piuttosto che diventare un prigioniero dell'impero romano. Imperatore Adriano costruito un muro massiccio attraverso scozia che pollici alcuni casi dividere i popoli terra pollici metà. Il muro era di 3 metri ampia e 6 metri di altezza l'impero romano alla fine cadde l'impero romano alla fine cadde contrattaccare e un attacco a roma dal gualls li ha fatti lasciare i paesi in cui si trovavano vieni e prova a salvare la grande capitalied her,
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Fasnacht from Switzerland! WRITTEN BY F FERNANDES-NETO
What is it? Fasnacht, otherwise known as the Carnival of Basel, is a kind of march where everyone is allowed to take part and dress up in fantastic costumes, and is the feast before lent! (‘Fasnacht’ literally translates to the ‘Night of Feasting!’) IMAGE BY WALTIGOEHNER IN PIXABAY
When is it celebrated? This carnival takes place yearly from February through to March in the streets of villages, towns and cities!
IMAGE BY WALTIGOEHNER IN PIXABAY
Some extra fun info! During Fasnacht, shops and supermarkets sell a special food loved by everyone in Switzerland: “Fasnacht Kuchen” (‘Kuchen’ means ‘Cakes’!) These little cakes help use up any eggs, milk and sugar left over before the long period of lent!
IMAGE BY WALTIGOEHNER IN PIXABAY
My personal favorite costume: The Schnabel Geiss! (It means ‘the goats with beaks’!)
IMAGE BY WALTIGOEHNER IN PIXABAY
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To keep people safe, the authorities drew up a list of rules for participants to follow: No throwing hard objects Do not tear or throw tshirts
IMAGE BY LOGGAWIGGLER IN PIXABAY
Keep a safe distance from trucks
La Tomatina
Stop throwing
by E Maher
tomatoes after the
La Tomatina is a festival in Spain that takes place in
second bang
the small town of BuĂąol near Valencia. La Tomatina is
Follow the directions
known as the world's largest food fight.
of safety staff
La Tomatina originated in 1945 when a disruption
Squash tomatoes before
during a parade meant the spectators threw tomatoes from a fruit stand at each other. It became a tradition, and now every single year on the fourth Wednesday of August, the town becomes a party central.
IMAGE BY MATI SĂ NCHEZ IN PIXABAY
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throwing them.
Not surprisingly, la Tomatina was banned in the early 50’s but people still carried on the tradition even though they were arrested by the local police. Protests were carried out and the festival was back on. The event was again cancelled till 1957 but a protest took place. In this unusual protest the protestors carried a coffin with a giant Tomato inside. A funeral band played, and the coffin was lowered into the ground. The protest worked and the festival was officially finally permitted. This festival is extremely messy but only lasts for one hour. Afterwards, fire trucks hose down the streets and people use their hoses to clear the tomato debris off the streets. The tomato debris helps the town as the citric acid in the fruit leaves the streets very clean. Since 2013, the festival has been restricted to those with paid tickets. In the 2015 festival, it is estimated that 145 000 kg of tomatoes were thrown.
La Tomatina has inspired many other events around the world such as: The Colorado Texas tomato war. This is where Coloradans and Texans square off with each other in an organized battle. The Columbian town of Sutamarchán holds a similar event to la Tomatina when a surplus of tomatoes are harvested and has been done since 2004. In the town of Dongguan in the southern Guangdong province in China, a tomato fight is held on October the 19th, during which they use up to 15 tons of tomatoes.
IMAGE BY CARLES BOVESERRAL IN WIKIPEDIA
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STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD THE POWER IS IN YOUR HANDS
BY T CHACKSFIELD
I was well aware of our In general, people across
neglect of the importance
the United Kingdom have a
of foreign languages but
particular arrogance about
these facts and figures were
language. It is a commonly
astounding to me. Although
held view that ‘English is
378 million people
the language of business’
worldwide are born into an
and so, therefore, it is
English speaking household,
unnecessary for us to invest
and learn it from an early
valuable time and energy
age as their first language,
into learning to speak a
we seemingly disregard the
language when, wherever
fact that attempting to
we travel abroad, it is a
learn a new language comes
typical assumption that our
with invaluable social and
own language will be
physical benefits, which can
spoken by everyone.
help us to better ourselves
IMAGE BY FOUNDRY CO IN PIXABAY
and make us into much However, by not taking on
more well-rounded
our own responsibility for
individuals.
our skills regarding
Language can be hugely
communication with local
influential on our overall
people, we are simply
social and emotional
shifting the burden onto
experience of a particular
others. It is estimated that
county or region and, by
over 62% of Britons are
attempting to converse
unable to speak another
with locals in their mother
language, even at a basic or
tongue, we are much more
conversational level, while
likely to receive assistance
only roughly 11% of us make
when necessary and
any kind of effort to
establish a rapport with
converse with locals in their
new people, whom we
own language during our
otherwise would never have
time away.
met.
IMAGE BY GERD ALTMANN IN PIXABAY
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... attempting to learn a new language comes with invaluable social and physical benefits, which can help us to better ourselves and make us into much more well-rounded individuals.
IMAGE BY FREE-PHOTOS IN PIXABAY
Additionally, a recent social study found
rewards and will be able to enjoy a much more
that locals are over 5 times more likely to offer
pleasurable holiday experience as locals will
tourists meaningful help if they approach them by
welcome you with open arms.
trying to speak the language. It creates a fantastic first impression as it shows empathy, compassion
Over the last two summers, my family and I have
and a respect for their culture.
been fortunate enough to go abroad
Learning new languages has been scientifically proven to improve our memory, enhance our creativity and strengthen our problem solving ability. Furthermore, it can be extremely beneficial when it comes to taking public transport or reading street signs and will help to reduce the chance of any embarrassing miscommunications. The majority of tourists in restaurants will employ the ‘point and hope’ method to order food which can
for a holiday. My dad, in particular, has always been a keen linguist, becoming fluent in French through communication with pen pals and visiting rural areas of France while at school, so it came as no surprise to me that when we visited the country, he was extremely keen to exercise his speaking skills with locals and his positive attitude towards the language and culture was encouraged and reciprocated through people’s warm responses. However, the previous year we travelled to Italy, despite the fact that none of my family knew any
unintentionally give off rude cues to the waiter,
Italian. My dad urged us to learn it to the best of
again reducing the likelihood of receiving
our ability and bought us a small book with all key
additional assistance.
phrases that you would need to get by as a visitor. He spent hours in the days leading up to our trips
Now, by no means am I implying that it should
reading and revising all language that he felt would
ever be frowned upon if you travel to a new
be beneficial for him to have known before going
country and are not completely fluent in the
away. Before our holiday, he didn’t know a word of
native language, I am simply suggesting that by
the language but once we left he knew enough
putting in the effort of learning key phrases, such
to hold a full conversation. Therefore, it is evident
as ‘hello’, ‘please’ and 'thank you’, you will reap the
that all it takes is drive and determination to learn a new language from scratch.
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There are many different options regarding how to learn a language, some of the most effective and popular methods include: Going to a language school Finding a language partner to converse with Watching films or TV
IMAGE BY YURI B IN PIXABAY
programs in that language I hope that I have managed to persuade you to think about investing some time and effort into learning some key words
Using language apps on a mobile device
or set phrases that you could use when speaking to people while you are away on your next holiday, rather than travelling with the expectation that they will speak to you in English. I implore you to make this effort, and it is far easier than you may think, you don’t need to be a skilled linguist to learn part of a new language. There are so many resources accessible online for free use so there really is no excuse. The most popular tourist destinations for Brits are Italy, France, Spain and Portugal so below I have listed some useful phrases for each of language that you may wish to learn before going on holiday. Please be mindful of others and the impressions that you make. Stand out from the crowd of IMAGE BY STOKPIC IN PIXABAY
tourists, the power’s in your hands!
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Our experience learning languages at Pitsford School WRITTEN BY M WEBDALE Learning a language at Pitsford School is a great
M Webdale : What languages do you speak?
experience, and the skills that you learn are incredibly
Khue: I speak Vietnamese and English.
valuable. From the start of Year 7 I began learning
M: Do you find it difficult to learn English?
French, and it is some of the skills that I learn here that
K: Currently I think it is going well, but I know that
have since then allowed me to go on and achieve a good
when I first moved here it was very hard to understand
grade at both French and Spanish GCSE, but also to
what everyone was saying, but being in such a kind
move on to A Level Spanish.
school environment allowed me to build up the confidence to practice more.
Outside of school I am also attempting pick up some
M: How different is living in England compared with at
Italian vocabulary! I thought it would be a good idea to
Home?
speak to some of the foreign language speaking
K: It is incredibly different, for example the food and
members of our school community in order to show
the weather are so different. In fact, almost everything
what a multicultural and multilingual school we are. I
about life here is different!
began by talking to Khue, in Sixth Form, who joined our
M: What do you find the hardest about learning
school at the beginning of Year 12 to study for her A
English?
Levels. Here is what she said to me:
K: It is very hard to use another language in an academic way, for example in understanding what the teachers are saying in all my lessons, especially as some of the vocabulary that is required is so specific to the subject.
I have learnt from my own experiences and also from speaking to people around school, that learning a language really is interesting and fun. IMAGE BY TUAN HOANG IN PIXABAY
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To me it is so wonderful that a small school in a little village in Northamptonshire can be so inclusive of people from abroad. It is especially amazing that they can be provided with an education in another language to their own. The next person I spoke to was Peter, who is currently studying Spanish at A Level.
Finally I spoke to Alex, the head girl. She studies both French and German at A Level, and has a strong passion for learning languages. M Webdale: Comment trouvez-vous apprendre deux langues si différentes? Alex: Bien que ce soit difficile, j’aime le défi. J’adore le fait que je pourrai parler à tant de personnes dans leur propre langue en apprenant le français et l’allemand. M: Quelle est la chose la plus difficile à apprendre en même temps? A: Je dois admettre que parfois, il peut être facile de me confondre en essayant d’utiliser certains fois. Il est facile d’utiliser accidentellement un mot d’une langue lorsque vous parlez dans une autre. M: Recommanderiez-vous d’apprendre une langue aux jeunes élèves de l’école? A: Absolument! C’est une compétence si précieuse que vous gagnez beaucoup en apprenant. Et en même temps c’est très amusant. I have learnt from my own experiences and also from speaking to people around school, as you can read above, that learning a language really is interesting and fun. I encourage any young person to learn a language whilst you still have the opportunity. You can ask any adult what they wish they had done when they were younger, and I can assure you that most of them would agree that they wish they had learn a language whilst at school. So go and do it whilst you can!
M Webdale: ¿Qué idioma aprendes y por qué lo elegiste? Peter: Aprendo español, y lo aprendo porque disfruto explorando los aspectos creativos y culturales de las asignaturas disponibles, en lugar de centrarme solo en las ciencias. Proporciona un buen equilibro en mis estudios. M: ¿Te gusta aprender un idioma? Si es así, ¿por qué? P: Disfruto aprendiendo español porque aprender sobre la cultura y las costumbres de otro país es fascinante. También disfruto el desafío de aprender mucho vocabulario nuevo. M: ¿Qué viajes has hecho con Pitsford? P: Fui a un viaje a Francia, al valle del Loira, a Barcelona en el año 9 y a Berlín en el año 12. Todos fueron increíblemente agradables y educativos. M: ¿Planeas continuar con el español después de la escuela? P: Personalmente me siento atraído por las ciencias y no por las humanidades. Pero el español es tan útil que planeo mantenerlo en el futuro. Podría resultar muy útil en mi carrera más adelante en la vida.
IMAGE BY SKEEZE IN PIXABAY
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MAR - APR 2019
2-When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3-Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 40x30cm rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 20x30cm rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at shorter side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end.
French baguette recipe BY A CONROY IMAGES IN PIXABAY
INGREDIENTS 225ml (8 oz) water 350g (12 oz) bread flour 1 tablespoon caster sugar
4-Place 8cm apart on a greased baking tray. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 4cm, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons quick yeast 1 egg yolk 1 tablespoon water
5-Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas mark 5. Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.
METHOD 1-Place water, flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine loaf pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start.
6-Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.
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IMAGE BY GOSHADRON IN PIXABAY
RUSSIAN WORDSEARCH BY V CARTWRIGHT
IMAGE BY VLADVICTORIA IN PIXABAY IMAGE BY CLKER-FREE-VECTOR-IMAGES IN PIXABAY
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Credits A special thanks to the students who have taken part in this magazine: A Chacksfield E Maher A Conroy A Billings M Ritchie F Fernandes-Neto T Chacksfield V Cartwright M Webdale All images used in the magazine are copyright free. The articles have been formatted using Canva.com
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