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2015 has been an exciting and busy year for both staff and students. Students at the main campus and Westcourt have had many diverse learning opportunities offered by the faculty. Students had the opportunity to grow and develop their appreciation of both cultures and languages through not only class work but also excursions and incursions run by both language departments. 2015 was the first time that both Year 10 Italian and Chinese students participated in the yearly LOTE camp with Sacred Heart College. Students spent 2 days practising their oral, aural, reading and writing skills of the language they study. For a second year in a row Year 10 Italian students participated in a language incursion day with St

Ignatius College where cultural and language based activities were completed.

LOTE students at Westcourt were also very busy. This year the

‘Italian Immersion Experience’ was introduced in year 9, students had the opportunity to participate in both cultural and language based activities both in Geelong and Melbourne over the course of three consecutive days in term 4. Some of the activities students completed included visiting two primary schools in Geelong - Christ the King and St Thomas Aquinas, students assisted the teacher and organised and ran activities for the students, they visited the COASIT Immigration museum in Carlton, and attended a language class at CIS (Centre of Italian Studies) where students focused on developing their aural and oral skills in Italian. Students also participated in a soccer training class run in Italian and a ‘foodie tour’ of Lygon Street. The program was a success and will be run in 2016. A group of sixteen Year 9 Chinese students had the opportunity to once again partake in ‘The Young Leaders to China Program’, an intensive 6 week language course completed in China during semester one. Students spent 3 weeks at a school in Nanjing as well as three weeks travelling around China. This group of students has returned to Westcourt motivated and enthusiastic to continue with their language studies in Year 9 and beyond. At the end of this year a group of 22 students (in Years 10 and 11) from St Joseph’s College and Sacred Heart College will be heading to Italy to complete a three week cultural and language immersion. Students will spend one week at an Italian school in Milan attending and participating in classes and

2 weeks of travelling around Italy visiting cities such as Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii to name a few. The study tour of Italy is run every two years, current Year 8 and 9 students of Italian that continue with their language studies in 2017 will have the opportunity to take part in the next trip. Finally I would like to thank my colleagues of the LOTE Faculty for your continued hard work and support.

Caterina Giacomazzo – LOTE Coordinator CHINESE CONVERSATION LOUNGE

The Chinese Conversation Lounge takes place at Deakin University (Waterfront Campus) every Wednesday afternoon during the school term from 4pm – 5pm. The classes are run by Chinese International students attending Deakin. The Chinese Conversation Lounge is offered to all year 9-12 Chinese students that want to improve fluency and confidence. It is an invaluable opportunity for students and we hope to see the number of students taking advantage of the program grow in 2016. A big thank-you to Ms Carmel Moloney for coordinating and organising the program and Deakin student Zhe Geng for her assistance to Carmel, it is Chinese very much appreciated. Below are some comments from conversation conversation students that have attended the Chinese Conversation lounge Lounge in 2015: The Chinese Conversation lounge was a great opportunity for me to practise my Chinese with native speakers. I found it a great benefit and formed a good relationship with the Chinese International students. Travelling to Deakin from school proved to be very easy, the bus left us walking distance from the Lounge. Each week we had a topic that we would prepare and then talk about in the class. Topics varied from what we did during the holidays to what music we enjoy and play. I encourage all students studying Chinese to come along to the sessions next year.

Chinese conversation lounge Chinese conversation lounge Daniel Corray - Year 9

Every Wednesday from 4.00 to 5.00 o’clock boys from St. Joseph’s gather at the Deakin Waterfront Campus to take part in the Chinese Conversation Lounge. These sessions involve talking to Deakin students who are native Chinese speakers about a set topic, the topics can be anything from what you did on the holidays to what your favourite movie is. These topics appear in the school bulletin every Monday to help you prepare and come along armed to chat. The sessions really help build

Year 9 Italian ‘science class’ Year 9 Italian ‘science class’

Year 8 students participating in a Chinese “Lion Dance” workshop

confidence in speaking and understanding Chinese. Learning new words for the topic each week has improved my vocabulary. I would recommend it to anyone that studies Chinese at SJC”.

Finbar Kinna - Year 10

The Chinese conversation lounge classes held at Deakin University, waterfront, arose from the question; “how can students improve their conversational Chinese?” The solution was gathering Chinese students of year 8 and upwards and getting them in the same room and talking with nativespeaking Chinese students currently studying at Deakin. Each week everyone gathers to discuss a variety of topics, even going so far as to play Cluedo in Chinese which made for some good fun. These classes were particularly good for giving students the extra time and experience in speaking Chinese that solidifies what we learn during school. These classes also give students the opportunity for casual questions concerning Chinese culture and lifestyles.

Matthew Graham - Year 11 VICTORIAN YOUNG LEADERS TO CHINA

The VYLC (Victorian Young Leaders to China) group for this year included 16 selected representatives from St Joseph’s Year 9. The boys spent 6 weeks participating in the program. In the first two weeks of their program, they spent time in Beijing, staying at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, and then in Xian, staying at the Shaanxi Normal University. In these early weeks of their experience, the boys intermittently studied Chinese culture and language, and spent much of their time visiting historical and cultural sites and relics. These included: The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, The Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square and The Terracotta Warriors. Following these first two weeks, the boys moved to Nanjing, where they stayed and studied at Nanjing #1 Middle School. Nanjing #1 School is a large and prestigious school in the Jiangsu province of China. The school has its own Planetarium and many other educationally advanced resources such as an interactive Geography room. Nanjing #1 is spread over three campuses and has a total student population of 6000. Each morning, our SJC boys spent three hours learning and developing their use of Chinese language in classes dedicated to reading, writing, listening and speaking. Each afternoon is spent involving themselves in some sort of Cultural Activity such as paper cutting, kung fu, tai chi, Chinese ICT animation, paper folding, dumpling making, bamboo dancing, and so on. Classes for the boys start at 8.15am and the day’s activities conclude around 5pm. Each evening, boys are spending one to two hours in meetings, supervised study or project work. On weekends, students went with Chinese ‘buddies’ to their homes and for family events. The VYLC program is proving to be a wonderful experience and opportunity for our boys. The boys will return to SJC, not only improved in their execution of Chinese language, but also in their developed levels of maturity and leadership.

Simon Taylor

The Victorian Young Leaders to China tour group Making masks