Modern Languages Trips
Berlin 2011
In June 2011, Form 4 German students joined up with the History Department for a trip to Berlin. The beautiful weather added much to our enjoyment. We saw several places of historical interest, such as Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Cecilienhof where the Allies met after WW2, the Wannsee Villa where the Final Solution was discussed and the Stasi Prison, as well as visiting many of the famous sights of Berlin: the Reichstag, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial church, the TV tower, Sanssouci Palace, Checkpoint Charlie, the Story of Berlin Museum and the Nuclear Bunker. For the German linguists there was also an opportunity to visit the zoo, and one evening we took a river boat trip along the Spree. Of course there were also ample opportunities to go shopping; KaDeWe was a particularly popular department store, although it was rather expensive! For those doing GCSE German it was a great chance to practise the language and to interpret for the non-German speaking historians. The current Form 4 students are eagerly awaiting the Berlin 2012 trip!
Dordogne October 2011
On the 24th of October 2011, a group of 4th and 5th year girls made their way by bus to Dublin and then onto a plane to Toulouse and finally onwards to the Dordogne; a region in the south-west of France. In the Dordogne, we stayed in a small village called Salignac that had a few shops like the Patisserie which was within eyesight of our centre. It was visited frequently throughout the week!
Tuesday was our first full day, and started with some insightful French lessons with one of the three on-site teachers: Sophie, Amandine and Elise. We studied in the mornings for three days on the trip; this enabled us to practise and improve our French by talking to actual French people! Pierre-Yves, the manager of the centre then taught us how to play Pétanque, a French variation of Bowls. Elise then gave us a tour of the small village and showed us things like the “lavoir” used up until recently by women to wash clothing. We then enjoyed the view of the countryside and ate some of Dordogne’s delicious walnuts. Later that night, we were given a presentation by some French students about the five departments of the region Aquitaine: Gironde, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Dordogne. They invented games for us to learn about the places, such as twister and a quiz; but the students didn’t speak a word of English so we had to use our knowledge of French to find out what to do.
Our third day had us travel to the Château de Castelnaud, which is a castle high above the Dordogne River. We explored the castle and then did some medieval dancing. It was great fun! In the evening, we watched my favourite film Amélie. It was all in French, but we had the subtitles of course.
The final full day was shopping in the main town of Sarlat, but before we did, we had a treasure hunt in which we had to find information about the town to answer the questions we were given. This challenged us to break out of our shells and talk to French people!
We were extremely proud of successfully ordering our ice creams in French. “Je voudrais deux boules au citron, s’il vous plaît.” At the time, it was the only thing we had the courage to say.
Our last night was very interesting to say the least. A lot of the girls decided to dress up in Halloween costumes for dinner. There were people dressed up as cats, babies, a banana or even just a simple moustache drawn on. To finish everything off, we had a dance session with the French students.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience that will have hopefully improved our French, but also a trip that has let us experience French culture and people. It was an amazing experience and has encouraged me to continue to study hard in French so that I can visit the country again.
Jessica Fairclough
Dordogne October 2011
On the 24th of October 2011, a group of 4th and 5th year girls made their way by bus to Dublin and then on a plane to Toulouse and finally onwards to Dordogne; a region in the south-west of France. Within Dordogne, we stayed in a small village called Salignac that had a few shops like the Patisserie which was within eyesight of our centre. It was visited frequently throughout the week!
Tuesday was our first full day, and was started up with some insightful French lessons with one of the three on-site teachers: Sophie, Amandine and Elise. We studied in the classes in the mornings for three days on the trip; this enabled us to practise and improve our French by talking to actual French people! Pierre-Yves, a man from the centre then taught us how to play Pétanque, a French variation of Bowls. Elise was then able to give us a tour of the small village and show us things like the “lavoir” used in medieval times by women to wash clothing. We then enjoyed the view of the small village landscape and ate some of Dordogne’s delicious walnuts. Later that night, we were given a presentation by some French students about the five departments of the region Aquitaine: Gironde, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne and Dordogne. They invented games for us to learn about the places, such as twister and a quiz; but the students didn’t speak a word of English so we had to use our French knowledge to find out what to do.
Our third day had us travel to the Château de Castelnaud, which is a castle that just overlooks the Dordogne River. We explored the castle and were then taught how to do some medieval dancing. It was great fun! In the evening, we watched my favourite film Amélie. It was all in French, but we had the subtitles of course.
The final full day was when we were finally able to shop in the main town of Sarlat, but before we did, we had a treasure hunt in which we had to find information about the town to answer the questions we were given. This challenged us to break out of our shells and talk to French people!
We were extremely proud of our achievement of ordering our ice creams in French. “Je voudrais deux boules au citron, s’il vous plaît.” At the time, it was the only thing we had the courage to say..jpg)
Our last night was very interesting to say the least. A lot of the girls decided to dress up in Halloween costumes for dinner. There were people dressed up as cats, babies, a banana or even just the simple moustache drawn on. To finish everything off, we had a dance session with the French students.
All in all, it was a fantastic experience that will have hopefully improved our French, but also a trip that has let us see how French culture and people work. It was an amazing experience and has encouraged me to continue to study hard in French so that I can visit the country again.
Santander 2010
On Sunday 17th October at 3am, 24 Strathearn pupils studying Spanish for GCSE along with 3 teachers arrived at the lay-by for a two and a half hour trip to Dublin airport. We piled on to two buses for what the teachers had hoped to be a quiet journey with a lot of very tired/sleepy girls, but instead they got a journey with 24 extremely hyper teenagers singing their hearts out. When we got to the airport and checked in, we headed to the gate then went to find food. The teachers went to the café close to the gate, while some of the fifth years headed to Burger king and then for a spot of shopping before we boarded the plane. The plane journey was a quiet one, with several sleeping girls. By the time we arrived in Santander we were all begging to get to our hotel and sleep. But no, we had a full day of activities ahead, starting with a trip to a rural village Santillana del Mar with tapas for dinner, and then on to a museum full of cave paintings and some natural wildlife in the form of cows. We finally got to the hotel and found our rooms, then down for a late supper and off to bed early for school the next day.
On the Monday it was time for our first trip to school. We were really tired so at break time we headed to the supermercado to stock up on treats. Then back for another session in school before heading back to the hotel for lunch. After some free time we went on a walk to a dancing studio for dance classes in both salsa and streetdance, then to a cafe for some chocolate con churros. In the evening we had time for some shopping before going back to the hotel for supper, free time and bed.
The next day school included a trip to the market to put our vocabulary into action. Then we had a lunch of paella before going on a trip to the beach, and visiting the sea life museum. On the way back to the hotel after yet more shopping, we found a merry-go-round and all 27 of us, teachers included, climbed aboard for a go. Then back to the hotel for food and bed.
Wednesday was our last day at school and we were sad to leave out teachers! Wednesday afternoon was the one we had been looking forward to the most. A trip to the shopping centre by train where we were free to spend our money on whatever caught our eye, before heading to a restaurant for our farewell meal. Then back to the hotel for the dreaded packing and journey home next day.
Clare Vogt
Alcala 2010
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Strathearn A-level Spanish students have an unquenchable thirst for discovering more of the social, historical and cultural background of their studied language. It was with this in mind that eight lower sixth, four upper sixth and two teachers boarded the plane heading to Madrid, with a sense of Spanish expectation only rivalled by Don Quixote’s irrepressible imaginación. Our trip was, however, devoid of futile windmill battles, with the quest of linguistic progression forming a more realistic aim.
From first stepping foot in Alcalá de Henares, the rich literary and educational heritage of our five day base was palpable. Our first evening was passed in a quintessentially Spanish tapas bar. The typical relaxed ambiente only added to the perfectly staged scene. Food included patatas bravas and jamón serrano, or gambas and anguilas for either the more daring or the less repulsed.
The true wonders of Alcalá were to be seen on foot, we set off on walking tours about the town. La Plaza de Cervantes was our first stop, leading to the sites of la catedral, la Universidad de Alcalá and other places of interest. Most prominent among them was la casa de Miguel de Cervantes, where the famous author of the classic Don Quixote was born. Outside this house, Quixote himself took pride of place in statue form, “alto como un pino y pesa menos que un comino” - the humorous setting of several photos with the protagonist, each pose trying to outdo the last in creativity.
We spent two full days in the capital, Madrid, one during a Real Madrid match, creating a tangible atmosphere of electricidad in an already sparklingly vibrant city. Our open-top bus tour allowed us to see such attractions as El Palacio Real, La Puerta del Sol, La Plaza Mayor de Madrid and La Gran Vía. The visit to El Museo de Reina Sofia was the chance to experience world famous art, by Dalí and Picasso - the latter’s Guernica providing a poignant insight into Spanish history, sinister as it was subtle. El Rastro, on the other hand, was an eccentric market of typically Spanish chaos, and without spending too much dinero another useless treasure could easily be bought. El Parque de Retiro proved a relaxing close to one afternoon Madrileño: with the stamp of flamenco dancers’ feet, and the rhythmic notes of música pervading the air, more than a few of us had an afternoon siesta.
Our trip to Spain can be summed up by not only observing, but actively partaking in Spanish life: from the satisfaction of watching, and more importantly, understanding a Spanish film without subtítulos, to our fast-paced, energetic attempts at salsa dancing, indicative of Spanish culture as a whole - we were in a country whose perceptible vitality is infectious, but what more did we expect? We were located in the heart of the town which inspired the chivalrous adventures of the world’s most valorous knight; I never knew when we embarked upon our own mission that it was going to be so unforgettable, in terms of sheer fun as well as linguistic satisfaction. This, together with the people, the atmosphere and the country itself, proved our original quest triumphant; much more so than any of Don Quixote’s!
Berlin
In June Form 4 German students joined up with the History Department for a trip to Berlin. We saw several interesting places of historical interest such as Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Cecilienhof where the Allies met after WW2 and the Wannsee Villa where the Final Solution was discussed, as well as visiting Sans Souci Palace, the Reichstag, the Berlin Wall, the Story of Berlin Museum, the Olympic Stadium, the Gedächtniskirche and the Nuclear Bunker. We also took an evening boat trip along the river.
There were, of course, opportunities to go shopping as well! KaDeWe was a particularly popular department store, although it was rather expensive.
For those studying GCSE German it was a great chance to practise the language and to interpret for the non German speaking historians.
Only a few more months till BERLIN 2011!
Nice 09
5.20 am! Such an early start! Around forty students from fourth and fifth year, studying French at GCSE, including four teachers, Miss Wimpress, Mr Douglas, Mrs Wyeth and Miss Heart had managed to get up at this time and make the journey to the
We had all made it and after our two hour flight to Nice we were greeted by glistening sunshine and our trusty couch driver Alain. We checked into our hotel and took the public bus into the centre of Nice. As it was our first day and we had no classes, we took the time to settle-in and look around Nice.
It was very warm, one of the warmest days we had on our trip, so we set off to the beach to cool off. After we spent time here we headed off to the view point at the end of the beach. The trek to the top was very draining especially in the heat! But it was all worth it when we reached the top and were greeted with breathtaking views.
Every day we were up for breakfast at half seven to be out of the hotel at a quarter past eight to get the bus to school, which seemed like a lie in compared to the time we had to get up at for the airport! Each day we had French class for three hours with a native French teacher, which hopefully greatly improved our French!
On the Monday, after French school, we had our first excursion to
Our excursion the next day was to
Our second last day took us on a visit to the second most visited village in France - St Paul de Vence. It was a very busy day for us as we also visited the famous Fragonard perfume factory, where we had a guided tour and had the chance to buy our presents for home in the gift shop.
Even with this hectic schedule we all managed to fit in plenty of shopping, as we all raided the shops of Nice in the short break between class and the day’s excursion! As well as being busy throughout the day we had many activities in the evenings including a table quiz and on the last night we even went to a salsa dancing class which turned out to be great fun!
All too soon it was our last day but we still managed to fit in another French class before we headed to the airport!
Nice really was a most fantastic experience for me and I would like to encourage other pupils to take up any opportunity they get to go on a school trip!
Also speaking on behalf of all the girls on the trip, who had a great time, I would like to thank the teachers for their organisation and part to play in the trip as it would not have happened without out them.
Rebecca Blundell 5S
French Trip to Nice 2009
There are so many highlights and memories of the French trip to Nice 2009. When we got off the plane we went to the hotel, dropped of our luggage, then we went and relaxed on the beach. We then went to explore the old town of
By Demi Wright 5A
Il y a tant de bons souvenirs de notre voyage à Nice 2009. Quand nous sommes descendus de l’avion, nous sommes allés à l’hôtel, nous avons déposé nos bagages, et puis, nous sommes allés à la plage pour nous reposer.
Ensuite, nous sommes allés explorer la vieille ville de Nice. La mer, la plage, et les vues étaient fantastiques !
Nous avons eu une opportunité excellente d’aller à une école de langue française pour être enseignés par une prof française. La prof n’a pas parlé l’anglais pendant tous les cours – ce qui m’intimidait au début – mais elle nous a vraiment aidé à bien parler et bien prononcer les mots français.
Bien sûr, on aime faire du shopping et ça, c’était une nouvelle occasion d’utiliser la langue française.
Nous avons visité beaucoup d’autres lieux, comme par exemple, Monaco, St Paul de Vance, Monte Carlo. Un de mes lieux préférés a dû être Cannes. Cannes était fantastique. Nous avons pris « le petit train » qui nous a emmenés au plus haut point de Cannes où on avait une très belle vue des paysages, et des bateaux énormes.
Nous sommes allés à une usine de parfum, appelé Fragonard, et on nous a montré comment le parfum se fait et comment la technologie a changé la fabrication du parfum au fils des années. J’ai beaucoup apprécié cette expérience, parce que nous avons eu l’occasion de sentir les différentes odeurs de parfum.
Le dernier soir de notre voyage, nous avons fait une soirée salsa. On s’est très bien amusés, et c’était une excellente fin à notre visite.
Je me suis très bien amusée, et notre excursion française à Nice 2009 était une expérience stupéfiante.
Demi Wright
