Languages at De La Salle 2009 has been another exciting year for our LOTE students. LOTE students have participated in greater numbers than ever in competitions in all three languages and we have experienced exceptional success in the French Poetry competition. We are very proud of our students’ results. I have no doubt they will keep improving in the next few years. We also hosted the performance of a very entertaining and relevant Italian ‘Commedia dell’Arte’ show in conjunction with the Drama faculty. This was a year when we host French and Italian schools. Our guests from Rennes got what they asked for when they requested to visit us in the middle of summer. They wanted heat; they got it (although the French phonetics don’t allow for such distinctions!). Our Italian guests were more modest in their demands, and must have been puzzled to hear us welcome the rather miserable weather we encountered at Jan Juc and on the Great Ocean Road. Fortunately, our visit to Healesville Sanctuary was bathed in bright sunshine, which forced some of the students from Galileo Galilei to retreat into the shade. We would like to thank students and families who hosted a guest, some of whom did not even intend to take part in a return trip to their visitor’s home. We are now preparing next year’s visits to our host school: ‘Lycée De La Salle, Rennes’ in Brittany and ‘Liceo Galileo Galilei’ in Siena. This will take place in March 2010. As I prepare to pass on the responsibility for leading the LOTE department, I am confident that the programmes we have in place will continue to enhance the excitement our students show when learning languages, and help to foster a sense of risk-taking in a safe environment, one of the hallmarks of our Key Learning Area. Mr Thierry Moran LOTE Coordinator
Italian Exchange This was the first part of the third Italian Exchange between De La Salle College and a high school in the region of Tuscany, Italy. Eighteen students and the principal of the Liceo Scientifico Galileo Galilei in Siena, Antonio Vannoni, and the Exchange Coordinator Lucia Papini, arrived in Melbourne late one night in early October. It was a hectic two weeks where the boys were hosted by the families at De La Salle and the girls by families at Star of the Sea in Gardenvale. The visitors experienced school life at both schools and
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attended a number of excursions, which enabled them to gain an understanding of Australian culture and way of life. These included a camp to Jan Juc, a class party, a soccer match and a Farewell Dinner. At Jan Juc, the Italian students and teachers decided to teach us how to make a real Italian pizza. There was also a joint excursion to Healesville Sanctuary and the Yarra Valley. During the programme new friendships were formed, and there was an emotional departure at Melbourne airport, where parents, as well as our students, were sad to see their Italian correspondents leave. Our boys are looking forward to the return exchange to Italy in March next year. Mrs Lillian Russo
