 |
| Rosanna showing the places she has visited in Germany |
On Thursday 4th July and Thursday and Friday 11th
and 12th July former Cowbridge
language students visited school to talk to students in their language lessons.
Rosanna Forte, currently in her 2nd Year at Oxford University
studying German and Italian visited Year 10 students and shared with them her
experiences of studying languages at university and for her A-levels. Rosanna
is about to venture on the exciting 3rd Year abroad and will spend
time teaching English in Heidelberg, Germany and in Bolzano, Italy.
 |
| Bethan reliving the memories of the highlights of her Year abroad in Trier |
Bethan Thomas and Alex Drew have just finished their 3rd
Year at university and talked to some Year 8 students; Bethan studies French
and German at Southampton University and has just spent her Year abroad in
Trier in Germany. Alex is studying medicine at Bristol University. Bethan
regaled students with exciting stories about the adventures of her Year abroad
and the fun of living in a different country especially experiencing Christmas
and Karneval and the delights of German cake! Her more unusual stories included her experiences flat hunting, nights out in Trier, taking part in a German hen-night party where the Bride to be had to sell cakes to passers-by and the way Germans want to find out every detail of your life! They are just interested!
Alex explained how studying A-level German fitted very well with his ambition to study medicine at university as medical schools value students with a wider range of skills than purely sciences. He also explained fully the rigour of life as a medical student and told a few stories of his more gruesome experiences in hospitals.
Alex explained how studying A-level German fitted very well with his ambition to study medicine at university as medical schools value students with a wider range of skills than purely sciences. He also explained fully the rigour of life as a medical student and told a few stories of his more gruesome experiences in hospitals.
 |
| Students looking at the German Christmas market mugs that are at every Christmas market in every town in Germany! |
Bethan, Alex and Rosanna all gave valuable advice about
language options and university life. It was especially interesting to discover
the reasons why they felt that learning another language had benefited them. Among the reasons they mentioned were
increased job opportunities and the value that universities place on language
learning at school at GCSE level and at A-level. There are several universities
now who require a language at GCSE for students applying for any course. They also emphasised the fun of being able to
communicate fully with others when abroad and perhaps most importantly they all
felt that being able to speak another language had helped them grow in
self-confidence and that they had grown as individuals as a result of their
language skills.
Many thanks, vielen Dank, merci beaucoup to Bethan, Alex and
Rosanna for giving up their time to revisit school and talk to our students.
