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LOTE has had some wonderful experiences this year and continues to give students an opportunity to grow and develop their appreciation of the cultures and languages that exist outside their everyday lives. 2013 has seen a successful LOTE year where students visited and participated in activities in China town, the NGV and Lygon Street, to hosting students from Milan and having past St Joseph’s students talk about how they have extended successfully their studies in Chinese.

“Learn as you use and use as you learn” this will be the Year 9 LOTE motto at Westcourt in 2014. Students will not only enrich their learning of another language and culture in class but will also have the opportunity to put into practice their language skills and knowledge in everyday situations. This will consolidate their love of the language and show them the opportunities and enrichments that another language can give. It will be about connecting with reality. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the LOTE staff who have worked very hard to continue to promote and encourage learning a language.

Anna Fazio – LOTE Coordinator.

CHINESE:

This year in Chinese I have realised that it is about more than just learning another language. It is about opening different options and opportunities later in life. Learning Chinese you also learn a lot about English as well, and is very rewarding. The highlights of learning Chinese have been The Culture Day last year and also the joint excursion with Matthew Flinders, getting the chance to eat Chinese food and socialise. Learning Chinese can be difficult and is hard, but we also have fun in doing so and we realise that in learning Chinese we will benefit in the future.

Will Turnley - Year 9.

As a part of Year 9 Chinese my class had the opportunity to go on an excursion to a Chinese restaurant along with the Year 9 Matthew Flinders’ Chinese class. Once there we sampled the Chinese Cuisine available at the restaurant. Although conversation was a bit slow between the boys and girls we all ended up having a good time and enjoyed the food that the restaurant had to offer.

Matt Graham -Year 9

ITALIAN

A particularly memorable experience for me this year was attending the opera in Melbourne. We saw Verdi’s “Aida” at the Arts Centre. This was a highlight for me and a break from studying. It was an enjoyable evening. Overall Year 12 Italian was a rewarding experience and it is sad to see my Italian studies coming to an end.

Michael Podbury - Year 12

In Year 12 Italian, we bonded even more over our love of the Italian culture as we pondered about our appreciation for the Italian lifestyle, their products and their influence on the Australian culture. It is with great sadness that we finish our Italian studies this year, a subject which has been in all of our hearts since we began high school in 2008.

Nathan Cavallo - Year 12

“My class had the opportunity to go on an excursion to a Chinese restaurant along with the Year 9 Matthew Flinders’ Chinese class. Once there we sampled the Chinese Cuisine available at the restaurant. Although conversation was a bit slow between the boys and girls we all ended up having a good time and enjoyed the food that the restaurant had to offer.”

Matt Graham -Year 9