Lawley Languages

Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái - Welcome The Year Of The Rabbit

2011-02-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

Dajia Hao and welcome back to school everyone. Here we are again at lawleylanguages for 2011, the Year of the Rabbit and what a start it's been ! We had teachers and students from our sister school in China, the Hangzhou No. 14 Middle School visit us from the Zhejiang province. Our teachers and students have visited No. 14 every 2 years since the first signing of our Memorandum Of Understanding in 1999. This is the longest sister school relationship in WA.

Xie xie to the teachers Derek Xu and Catherine Yu for bringing over their students to visit us. Xie xie to their hosts, Jessica Ho, Max Owen, Louise Kim, Matt Parry and the teacher hosts Ms Keen and the Tate family for their wonderful hospitality.

Our first whole school assembly was an outstanding success with 38 of our students from last year receiving a certificate for their achievements in last year's WACE. They were inducted into our 90 club because of their excellent results.

We were treated to a fantastic cultural event with the Lion Dancers and musicians from the Chung Wah Association performing and enthralling us all to welcome the Year Of The Rabbit. We thank them most graciously for their incredible performance which inspired us all.

Many thanks also to our Secretary of the Languages Parent Support Group, Sondra Tate for hand making our Languages For Life banner. She is one of our many wonderful parents that do incredible things for our students, a truly valued community group that makes our school so special.

Have a great year everyone !

Here's a link to more information about Chinese Lion Dances:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance

Elena - Studentessa Di Scambio

2010-10-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

Ciao a tutti!

Sono Elena, una studentessa di scambio, e vengo dall’Italia. La cittá da cui provengo si chiama Trento e si trova a nord, vicino al confine con l’Austria.

Trento ha una popolazione di 100 mila abitanti ed é situata sulla riva del fiume Adige. É circondata dalle montagne, che in inverno vengono coperte dalla neve, certe volte anche la cittá.

Ho 17 anni e frequento il liceo scientifico della mia cittá. Nel pomeriggio suono il clarinetto in conservatorio e pratico sport. In inverno mi piace sciare, visto che abito molto vicino alle montagne.

Sono molto contenta di avere avuto la possibilitá di venire qui in Australia, paese stupendo sia per la sua fantastica natura, sia per le persone che lo abitano. Ho scelto di venire per poter conoscere una cultura nuova e abitudini diverse dalle mie. Mi ha molto colpito la presenza di persone da tutto il mondo, che fanno questo paese veramente multiculturale, con le piú varie abitudini alimentari.

Staró qui per cinque mesi e spero di divertirmi il piú possible!

Gong Xi To Our Chinese Competition Winners !

2010-09-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Chinese Language Teachers' Association Speaking Competition 2010

On Saturday 11th September, five Mount Lawley Chinese students participated in the Chinese Speaking Competition. Aaron O'Neil (Year 8) won first prize, Sarah Van Halen (Year 8) won fifth prize, Oliver Logan (Year 9) won fifth prize and Matt Parry (Year 10) won fourth prize. Each student competed in the category of their year group. Parents, teachers and of course the students themselves should be very proud of the efforts and achievements they demonstrated in the competition. I saw how much dedication and motivation you all put into this and I am very happy with your results, gong xi ! We have some very talented Language students with a wonderful future ahead of them and it is a credit to their parents and teachers for the support and encouragement they offer but especially to the participants for their willingness to work hard. I congratulate all our competitors and advise them to enter again in 2011. It is a pleasure to have them represent our school. They demonstrate that when you are prepared to work hard, there is nothing you cannot achieve. Keep up the great work. You epitomise our motto, "Languages For Life."

Chinese Language Teachers' Association Writing Competition 2010

Gong xi to Henry Lam for winning first prize, Jayde Wilson for winning second prize and Maddy Dennis for winning fourth prize in the Year 8 category. You should be very proud of your efforts, the work you produced is outstanding.

Evviva La Tecnologia !!!

2010-09-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the magnificent Macbooks ! Our Year 8 GATE Italian students really enjoy using them in our language classes. Each student is creating a blog to publish their Italian writing. We used the interactive whiteboard to demonstrate how to utilise online technology to enrich their language learning experiences. An ability to adapt information and communication technologies into our classroom learning is an important component of our GATE language classes.

Native Speakers Program

2010-09-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

Speaking and having conversations is an integral component of the language learning process. Through the Department's Native Speaker Program, the teachers of our five languages organise for school community members that are native speakers of each language to visit our language classrooms and have conversations in the target language on the topics our students are currently studying. Thank you to all our native speakers for the wonderful work they do enriching our students' linguistic landscape and providing multicultural perspectives on our global community.

Arrivano I Tiranesi !!!

2010-08-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

The students from our sister school L'Istituto Pinchetti in Tirano Italy have departed for our shores to complete the reciprocal component of our sister school arrangement. They have created a blog to track their progress, located at:

http://www.pinchetti.net/blog/

The adventure begins ! (again...) Here's their first post:

Scambio con l’Australia

agosto 21st, 2010

Giovedì 26 agosto inizia la seconda fase dello scambio con l’Australia che vedrà impegnati un gruppo di studenti del nostro Istituto.
Il blog della scuola sarà il modo più semplice per rimanere in contatto con gli altri studenti, con le famiglie, con gli insegnanti e tutto il personale della scuola.
Istruzioni per gli studenti coinvolti nello scambio.
Prima di partire provvedete a registrare il vostro account, ricordandovi di usare una e-mail valida alla quale saranno inviati i dati per l’accesso. Una volta effettuata l’iscrizione e verificata mediante un primo accesso, comunicando al gestore del blog la vostra registrazione verrete abilitati a scrivere gli articoli e a inserire le immagini nel blog.

French Language Assistant - Joelle

2010-08-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to have Joelle with us from Belgium. She is our French Language Assistant and she is helping our students in so many ways. Thank you so much to Sondra Tate's family for hosting Joelle during her stay at Mount Lawley. Without parental support such as this many of the extras we offer our students would not be possible. Merci bien Sondra, ta famille et naturellement Joelle.

Hi everyone,

My name’s Joelle and I’m from Belgium, not very far from Brussels. I arrived the 16^th July in Perth where I’m going to spend 2 months teaching French at Mount Lawley Senior High School. I’m very happy to share the aussie everyday life with my host family, Sondra and Michael Tate and their children.

This term I’m helping years 8 to 10 to improve on their French. As a native speaker, it’s a real pleasure to share my mother tongue and my cultural background with the students.

French is an important language and it’s a real challenge to teach it. As a teacher, you need to use all kinds of tricks to make students understand how important it is to be able to communicate in an appropriate way.

Being at MLSHS is an opportunity for me to learn different ways of teaching and that’s just fantastic!

I’d like to thank everyone for their help and their kindness.

Joelle Poelman.

Car Rally - Languages Parent Support Group

2010-08-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much to Sondra Tate and the LPSG parents who planned, organised and coordinated the inaugural LawleyLanguage Car Rally. Congratulations to the Shilkin family (Lily Year 8 GATE Italian) who were the winners for 2010 ! Merci beaucoup to our Languages Assistant, Joelle who placed photos on Picasa. I have placed the links below. We have a wonderful school community that provides our students and families with fantastic opportunities to explore, share and enrich their lives with language and culture. Thank you again to Sondra for organising t-shirts for the GATE Language students, the P&C for financing them, Nic Beames for the logo and Michael Camilleri for allowing the students to wear them during Languages Week. As you can see below, they look fantastic, Languages for Life !

On Sunday 1^st August the MLSHS Languages Parent Support Group held their first Car Rally Fundraiser Event. We perhaps should have checked to see if anyone had a fear of popping balloons before we started but we weren’t to know. The weather was perfect as

our excited crowd set out with their list of instructions (which they should have read first) and collection bag (one handful of sand would have been plenty!). They struggled with ominous directions and overly enthusiastic family members to answer questions along the way such as “what is the colour of the slide in the next playground” or “what is the colour of the letterbox at No. 72?”. One Mintie in the bag either caused an argument or was silently eaten to avoid one. (The argument started later). There was an out of car excursion or two to stretch the legs and collect various items (a piece of limestone for example) and afterwards we enjoyed a picnic on the lawn in Kings Park overlooking our beautiful city. The cars all finished well within the two hours we anticipated with the exception of a few who either ended up in Quinns or the City or somewhere that is still in question as this is written. They were given up for lost until we received a call (as we were all starting to depart) announcing their arrival. (They couldn’t stay for lunch anyway…whew! ). Ten out of ten for finishing you two (you know who you are!). Many thanks to all who participated and we look forward to seeing you and other enthusiasts again next year.

Vous êtes invité à voir l'album photo de poelman joelle intitulé : car rallye 1st August Mount Lawley

car rallye 1st August Mount Lawley

1 août 2010

de poelman joelle

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LawleyLanguages Week

2010-08-06T03:02:00.000-07:00

Wow ! What a week it's been. Thanks to our wonderful Languages Parent Support Group, our students have had tasty treats available every day of the week at Lunch 1. Monday it was Chinese Day and we had beautiful Baozi, Tuesday it was Indonesian Day and we had sizzling spring rolls, Wednesday we had French Day and you could eat exciting eclairs, Thursday was Italian Day and we had some gorgeous gelati and finally it was Friday and gourmet German cakes were on offer. Grazie, xie xie, merci beaucoup, terima kasih, danke shon to our wonderful parents who volunteered their time and their expertise to help make our school community a place where languages are a living entity.

Thank you also to our Language Teachers for planning, organising and coordinating excursions including the Language Film Festival and visits to restaurants so our students could experience even more of the culture they are studying. These activities are an integral component of our Language program and make languages come alive. They were also an opportunity for all our students to spend time getting to know our visiting exchange students from China and Italy and France.

Enjoy the photos and the memories !

Bentornate Amanda ed Ellie !

2010-08-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

Da Cosa Nasce Cosa (One Thing Leads To Another)

Last week we were very happy to have a visit from Ellie (our inaugural Intercultura exchange student in 2008) and her Italian host sister (now soulsister) Amanda. These two have become more than lifelong friends, they are like real sisters and their friendship not only continues but it thrives. Ellie went to Rome to live with Amanda this year and work with Amanda's mother in the fashion industry. We were hoping to catch up with them when we were in Rome but were not able to. After a few months in Italy Amanda together Amanda came back to Perth and is having a wonderful time reacquainting herself with many of the sights and people she experienced on her last trip.

These wonderful ambassadors for the exchange experience were kind enough to visit us and have a brief conversation with our Year 8 and 9 students to share with them some of the benefits of studying a language. Language has opened up Ellie's world and giving her some amazing adventures. She will be studying Communication at Curtin but hopes to continue with her Language Learning (Languages for Life) and both have expressed an interest to visit us again and assist us with an assortment of activities. I am very proud that our students both from Perth and overseas are proud of their school and enjoy coming back, that's the sign of a wonderful school, when its students keep coming back.

Grazie ragazze ! In the photo below you can see Ellie handing over the exchange baton to this year's applicant Tahlia Knights who hopes to be travelling to Puglia (the heel of the boot) in Italy in November. It's great to see this exciting tradition continue.

Studente Di Scambio - Santi

2010-08-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ciao mi chiamo Santi vengo dalla Sicilia, isola del Mediterraneo. Abito pecisamente a

Catania zona di mare e di montagna grazie alla meravigliosa Etna. Sono arrivato a Perth il 20 giugno.

Mi sono accorto del fatto che la vita qui e’ molto piu’ tranquilla rispetto all’Italia, per esempio in Italia i centri commerciali stanno aperti fino alle 9.00 di sera. Anche il clima e’ diverso, in Italia fa molto piu’ freddo d’inverno di qui e quindi per me va bene cosi’. Penso che il fatto di venire a scuola qui mi aiuti sia per conoscere piu’ persone e soprattutto per migliorare il mio inglese che non e’ molto buono. J

Santi is helping our students with their Language Studies. As you can see the value of having exchange students that are the same age as ours in the classroom is priceless. We are very lucky to have an assortment of exchange programs that enrich the learning experience of all involved.

Italian Exchange Student - Greta Lentini

2010-07-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ciao mi chiamo Greta. Sono una ragazza italiana e vengo da Bari il capoluogo della Puglia. Sono arrivata in Australia il 30 giugno e staro’ qui fino al 30 agosto. Sono venuta in Australia per scoprire una nuova cultura e per imparare l’inglese. Appena arrivata qui in Australia mi sembrava un sogno non sembrava vero che ero dall’altra parte del mondo.

Qui a scuola ho conosciuto tantissimi ragazzi e sono tutti molto simpatici e gentili. Nella prima settimana ho avuto qualche difficolta’ perche’ non conoscevo nessuno ed e’ tutto molto diverso dall’italia ma grazie all’aiuto degli amici e della famiglia adesso sto benissimo e non vorrei andare piu’ via. Devo ringraziare sopratutto i prof. di italiano (Millimaci e Petale) che hanno avuto tanta pazienza nell’organizzare le lezioni per noi.

Sono fortunata ad essere qui!!:)

Ciao!! C ya!

Greta e` la nostra studentessa di scambio di Bari. Bari e` una citta` situata nel sud Italia, capoluogo della puglia. La popolazione e` di circa 100.000 mila abitanti. Bari sorge sul mare possiede un porto e diverse spiagge. Nel centro di Bari c’e` la basilica di San.Nicola , la chiesa piu` importante della citta`, due grandi piazze e diversi locali per l’intrattenimento giovanile. Ci sono tanti teatri il piu` importante e` il teatro “ Petruzzelli” che ha ospitato tante famose compagnie di artisti. Una lunga strada pedonale percorre la zona centrale della citta` famosa per i numerosi negozi di moda. La zona piu` turistica di Bari e` sicuramente “ Barivecchia” la zona piu` vecchia della citta`. Ci sono diverse costruzioni medievali, chiese, numerosi ristoranti e pubs sempre affollati il sabato sera.

Italian Exchange Student - Rossana Di Mauro

2010-07-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

G’day Mate!

Mi chiamo Rossana, ho 17 anni e sono un exchange student dal tacco dell’Italia!!

Io abito vicino al capoluogo della Puglia, Bari , una citta’ marittima famosa per la Basilica di San Nicola, il teatro Petruzzelli, le vie dove ci sono molti nagozi, la spiaggia “pane e pomodoro”, il castello svevo , “Bari vecchia”, piazza del Ferrarese, fiera del Levante ed e’ famosa per la focaccia, i panzerotti con la ricotta forte e “riso, patate e cozze”.

Il mio paese si chiama Capurso e ha 15 mila abitanti . Nel mio paese, la religione cristiana e’ molto presente infatti ci sono molte chiese dedicate ai santi e molte feste come quella di San Giuseppe e quella della Madonna del Pozzo.

La Puglia e’ conosciuta per la dieta mediterranea, per i trulli ovvero degli edifici in pietra che si possono trovare in un paesino di nome Alberobello e per un castello ottagonale costruito da Federico II che si trova in un paese chiamato Castel del Monte.

Sono da un mese qui a Perth e mi sembra di sognare perche’ e’ difficile credere di essere dall’altra parte del mondo dove le stagioni, gli orari, la scuola, le abitudini, l’alimentazione sono diversi!

Ci sono davvero tante differenze tra l’Italia e l”Australia! Ma e’ bello quando si riesce a convivere lo stesso! Infatti l’aspetto piu bello dell’Australia e’ che tutto il mondo riesce a convivere benissimo in una citta’ senza che ci siano problemi e potendo scegliere di potersi immergere,ogni giorno, in cullture ed etnie diverse senza percorrere milioni di kilometri! :D

Peccato pero’ che il mio soggiorno e’ breve! Mi sarebbe piaciuto stare qui in Austrialia

per piu’ tempo per potermi immergere meglio nella routine Australiana e migliorare il mio inglese e sara’ davvero difficile accettare la realta’ di ritornare a casa lasciando la terra dei canguri ma di certo non sara’ un addio!

Ringrazio tutti gli australiani che mi hanno aiutato ad integrarmi e soprattutto devo ringraziare il Preside, la prof. Bianca Petale e il prof. Millimaci che mi hanno permesso di poter vivere questa esperienza qui alla Mount Lawley!

Grazie Mille a tutti :D

Cya

Italian Exchange Student - Linda Mehiar

2010-07-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

Ciao! Mi chiamo Linda, sono una studentessa in scambio culurale ed ho avuto l’opportunita` di essere ospitata per tre settimane alla Mount Lawley Senior High School. Sono Italiana, vivo a Mirano, una piccola citta` vicino a Venezia, nel Nord-Est dell’Italia. Qui si sono dimostrati tutti molto amichevoli e cordiali con me a partire dal fantastico insegnante di Italiano, Mr. Millimaci, che non finiro` mai di ringraziare, al Preside e vice-preside e ovviamente alla mitica insegnante di Inglese Mrs. Basini. Ho chiesto di essere ospitata in questa scuola perche` sono a conoscenza del prestigio di cui gode, ma soprattutto perche` volevo provare un modello di scuola differente da quello Italiano. La scuola in Italia e` completamente diversa! Qui il rapporto tra studente e insegnante e` molto meno formale che in Italia e ci sono strutture molto piu` appropriate.

Gli studenti Italiani finiscono la scuola quando hanno 19 anni, devono andare a scuola il sabato e studiare molto a casa. In Italia si da` molta importanza alle materie umanistiche (Italiano, Filosofia, Storia..) e alle interrogazioni orali, che abbiamo ogni giorno. Non e` solo la scuola che presenta aspetti completamente diversi da quelli Italiani, infatti in Italia le citta` sono strutturate in maniera completamente diversa (anche a causa dei straordinari monumenti che ci circondano) e ci sono molte piu` cittadine sparse nel nostro territorio.

Uno degli aspetti che piu` mi ha colpito e piaciuto di Perth e` la straordinaria presenza di miriadi di culture diverse. Amo assolutamente le societa` multi-culturali perche` penso che conoscere persone provenienti da Paesi diversi ti arricchisca. Inoltre qui le persone, a differenza di quelle Italiane che sono sempre di corsa, mi sembrano piu` tranquille, pacifiche, serene.

Questo viaggio mi e` servito molto pertanto consiglio a tutti gli studenti di provare ad andare per un po` di tempo a vivere in un altro paese. Percio` vi aspetto tutti in Italia per conoscere uno stile di vita diverso dal vostro e ammirare le bellezze del mio Paese!

Ciao,

Mi chiamo Linda, vivo a Mirano, una cittadina di 30.000 abitanti vicino a Venezia, nel nord Italia. Mirano e` circondata da altre piccole cittadine e dalla campagna, si trova in pianura e, essendo distante circa 25 Km dal mare gode, di un clima abbastanza mite.

La cittadina in cui vivo non e` molto grande nonostante cio` ci sono impianti sportive, parchi e scuole (dall’asilo alle scuole superiori). Il luogo piu` importante di Mirano e` il centro della citta`, ovvero la piazza, posto in cui ci si ritrova.

Di caratteristico Mirano ha le ville Venete, tipiche costruzioni del XVI secolo. Mirano e` in provincia di Venezia, nella regione Veneto. Venezia e` una splendida citta` costruita sull’acqua (la laguna), infatti a Venezia si puo` circolare solamente a piedi o, come mezzo di trasporto, con la barca. Appena si entra in questa citta` si ha la sensazione di entrare in una favola. Ci sono molti monumenti, il piu` importante dei quali e` la Basilica di San Marco. Venezia e` un’isola collegata alla terra ferma grazie al Ponte della Liberta`; e` suddivisa in calli e campi e il corso d’acqua piu` importante che la attraversa e` chiamato Canal Grande.

Venezia e` una meta turistica molto rinomata, oltre che essere il capoluogo del Veneto. Nella regione in cui vivo ci sono molte altre localita` turistiche come Verona, Cortina (sulle Dolomiti), Padova. Inoltre vicino a Venezia ci sono le isole di Murano e Burano, in cui e` famosa la produzione di merletto e vetro.

Molto frequentata da Veneti e Tedeschi e` anche Jesolo, localita` marittima vicino a Venezia. Jesolo ha un bel lungo mare ma il mare e` davvero brutto.

Vi aspetto nella mia regione

Baci, Linda

French Exchange Student Alexandre Moog

2010-07-23T20:51:00.001-07:00

I'm Alexandre, but call me Alex, it's better. I'm 15 years old and I live in a small town, Avrille, next to a bigger one, Angers, which is situated in France, specifically in the West.
I arrived in Austalia on Friday, 16th of July and I am going to stay in Perth for 1 month, but only 3 weeks in your school. I'm very happy at the idea of discovering your country. I have studied English for 5 years and I've already been several times to differents English speaking countries. However, it's the first time that I have come to Australia. I like your culture and the customs of your life and I would like to know more about it.
See ya in the school!

Je m'appelle Alexandre, mais appelez moi Alex, c'est mieux. J'ai 15 ans et je vis dans une petit ville, Avrille, a cote d'une plus grande, Angers, qui est situee en France, plus precisement dans l'Ouest.
Je suis arrive en Australie le Vendredi 16 Juillet et je reste a Perth pendant 1 mois, mais seulement 3 semaines dans votre ecole. Je suis tres heureux a l'idee de decouvrir votre pays. J'etudie l'Anglais depuis 5 ans et j'ai deja ete plusieurs fois dans de differents pays anglophones. Cependant, c'est la premiere fois que je viens en Australie. J'aime votre culture et vos habitudes de vie et j'aimerais en savoir plus a ce propos.
A bientot a l'ecole !

Yours faithfully

Alexandre Moog

GATE Activity 2010

2010-06-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

On the 24th of June 2010 the 2011 GATE students came for an activity day. We started off the day with a short assembly to inform parents and students about the GATE program. We then broke off into groups for a tour of the school with the current year 8 GATE students as tour guides. We were hopefully very informative whilst on the tour!

The year 7's then separated into two groups to have a taste of Italian and Chinese. The Italian activities included ordering their own food using Italian dialect. They also got to try some coffee, make their own short movie, research about Italy on the MacBooks and the year 8's versed the year 7's at singing "Volare". Of course the year 8's were the better of the two.

The year seven's made dumpling's with Mao Lao Shi, which I am pretty sure they had fun doing. They also sang many songs in Chinese with Xie Lao Shi, and made a traditional Chinese toy, called a 'jian zi'. They had great fun playing lots of games using the 'jian zi' and so did all of the year eight GATE students.

We also had two lunch breaks along the way with some delicious food from the D'Cafe. We would like to give special thanks to Mr Millimaci, Mrs Petale, Mrs Chong and Mr Cheah for organising this special event and we all can't wait for these students to start at Mount Lawley.

By Samantha Bain & Jayde Wilson

Salut Tout Le Monde !!!

2010-06-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

If you see our French exchange student around the school please say "Bonjour ! Comment ca va ?"

Bienvenue Manon ! Hope you enjoy your time at Mount Lawley. Here is a little information about her.

Bonjour.

Je m'appelle Manon Chopin et j'ai 15 ans. Je viens de France et je suis en Australie pour quelques mois. J'habite Clermont-Ferrand, pas tres loin de Lyon. Je suis arrivee a Perth en mars et j'ai ,depuis, ameliore mon anglais.

Aujourd'hui, mon experience me permet de decouvir une nouvelle culture et de rencontrer beaucoup de gens merveilleux. J'ai beaucoup de chance de pouvoir vivre cela.

Et je dois maintenant dire: J'adore l'Australie !!!

Hello.

My name is Manon Chopin and I am 15. I come from France and I am on exchange in Australia for a few months. I live In Clermont-Ferrand, not far from Lyon. I have arrived in Perth in March and my english is already impoved. Today, thanks for my experience, i can discover a new culuture and meet lots of wonderful people. I am very lucky to be able to live that.

Now I have to say; I love Australia !!!

What a GATE day !

2010-05-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

Today the GATE Club theme was International Masterchef as each GATE Language invited native speakers into our classrooms to demonstrate and explain their country's culinary culture. Instructions and recipes were provided in the target language and students listened, watched, took notes and practised their cooking preparation skills. The day's aim was to give students a taste of the country's cuisine. In German there was Strudel and Black Forest cake, Chinese had noodles and fried rice (the smell was incredibly inviting and the taste was even better). Indonesian had noodles and Italian had Tiramisu, Pasta All'Amatriciana and Pasta Alla Carbonara. We must thank all our native speakers and helpers including Simonetta Mencaccini, Alice Marini, Genny Mancusi, Geoff Davis, Hong Qi and . Our Languages Team gave our GATE students a memorable experience, an enriching insight into an element of culture that is as integral as a country's language to their identity; their food. We look forward to the next GATE Club for more exciting learning adventures !

Launch Of The Asian and European Language Hubs

2010-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a day it was for Languages at Mount Lawley on Tuesday 18th May. Our whole school assembly was the forum for the Launch of the Asian and European Language Hubs. This is an initiative that will see our school form vital partnerships with our partner primary schools to build bridges between the primary and secondary sectors.

We look forward to working closely with, Coolbinia, Inglewood, Maylands, Kyilla, Yokine, Mount Hawthorn and West Leederville primary schools to provide a strong, continuous and seamless languages learning program that incorporates innovative high quality teaching and learning programs. This hub will combine the efforts of educators in both sectors, primary and secondary and embed a truly collaborative approach to public education with a differentiated curriculum as a key component of the new programs.

We trust that these new relationships will continue to grow stronger over time to provide reciprocal benefits to the primary and secondary schools connected through the hub. Representatives from the primary schools were invited to the launch to accept their certificates of partnership from our Principal. We were pleased to have special guests including Lois Joll from the Department of Education and Geoff Davis (AM) the founding teacher of Chinese in Western Australia share the moment with our whole school community.

A short video presentation of the LawleyItalia Tour was screened and we were delighted to have the Year 8 and 9 Chinese choir perform for us. Thanks to Ashleigh, Scarlet and Belinda who shared their experience of the Italy trip with us all. It was a proud day for Languages and we look forward to the building bridges program becoming stronger each year.

LawleyItalia 2010

2010-05-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

On the 24th March 2010, 16 students and 3 staff members departed Perth for the inaugural LawleyItalia Tour of Italy (Giro D'Italia). What an adventure it turned out to be ! We stopped off in Dubai before touching down a Roma and we hit the ground running, visiting such beautiful places as Napoli, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Pompei, Firenze, Pisa, Siena, Milano, Tirano, Bormio, Baruffini, St Moritz, Venezia, Verona, Murano, Burano, Vicenza and Padova. Along the way we climbed a few cupole and campanili saw masterpieces by artists such as Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli, Donatello and Raphael (not our own very talented Mr Raphael, the older Italian Raffaelo).

We ate our way through pizza, pasta, spaghetti, fettucini, tagliatelli, ravioli, gnocchi and had at least un gelato al giorno (an ice cream each day). We stayed in hotels that were over 400 years old and travelled in l'autobus, il tram, il traghetto, il treno, la metropolitana, la gondola and a water taxi.

We met so many lovely people and learned so much about life, language, laughter, culture, friendship, history and family. We made new lifelong friendships. We discovered the power of positive thinking, even when an Icelandic volcano attempts to keep you grounded and away from your loved ones. It was the trip of a lifetime and we experienced so many precious memories that we will treasure forever.

LawleyItalia 2010 - The adventure never stops !

Inaugural Lawley Italian Language Assistant

2010-05-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

As a Specialist Languages School it is imperative that we have assistants and native speakers in our learning environments that can inspire and motivate and guide our language learners. We are very lucky indeed to have with us Genny Mancusi. She will provide our school with a range of resources and learning opportunities including one-on-one conversations in the target language, cultural knowledge specialist classes and language learning strategies. Benvenuta Genny, it is wonderful to have you on the Languages Team !

Genny Mancusi

Ciao a tutti, mi chiamo Genny Mancusi e vengo da Trento, una piccola citta’ situata nel nord-est dell’Italia, in una regione chiamata Trentino. Ho 27 anni e questa e’ la mia prima volta in Australia ed e’ fantastico! Il tempo e’ bellissimo, la gente amichevole e questa scuola e’ stupenda. Le uniche due cose che mi mancano dell’Italia sono: il caffe’ espresso e la pizza, ma vedro’ di trovare una soluzione a riguardo..

Ecco qui alcune informazioni su di me, per farvi sapere cosa ho studiato e perche’ ho deciso di fare quest’esperienza.

Ho frequentato il Liceo Classico G.Prati a Trento, dove ho studiato Letteratura Greca e Latina, Letteratura Italiana, Filosofia, Storia, Storia dell’Arte, Inglese, Tedesco, Scienze e Matematica.

Dopo il Liceo ho frequentato l’Universita’ di Lettere & Filosofia di Trento, dove mi sono laureata in Scienze dei Beni Culturali Musicali.

Prima di venire in Australia ho lavorato per un anno come programmatrice musicale presso una radio locale e poi ho completato un Master in Tourism Management (Turismo Sostenibile), ed e’ stato veramennte interessante. Quindi, come potete vedere, la musica e i viaggi intorno al mondo sono le mie piu’ grandi passioni.

Ho deciso di venire in Australia non solo per scoprire posti nuovi e per conoscere persone nuove, ma anche per iniziare un nuovo lavoro come Assistente di Lingua, perche’ in futuro vorrei lavorare come insegnante. Mia madre ha lavorato come insegnante per molti anni e mi ha ispirato quando ho deciso di lasciare l’Italia per iniziare questa nuova e sfidante esperienza.

Faro’ del mio meglio qui alla Mt Lawley high School e sono sicura che questa sara’ una delle piu’ belle esperienze della mia vita. Il mondo e’ pieno di amici che aspettano solo di incontrarsi.

Grazie a tutti e piacere di conoscervi!

Ciao a tutti, my name is Genny Mancusi and I come from Trento, a little city situated in the North-East of Italy, in a region called Trentino. I am 27 years old in this is my first time in Australia and it’s fantastic! Weather is beautiful, people are friendly and this school is amazing. The only two things I do really miss are: Italian espresso and good Pizza, but I will find a solution about that..

Here there are some informations about myself, just to let you know what I’ve studied and why I decided to do this experience.

I attended the Liceo Classico G.Prati, in Trento, where I studied Greek and Latin Literature, Italian Literature, Philosophy, History, History of Art, English, German, Science and Math.

After that I attended the Lettere & Filosofia University of Trento, where I graduated in Scienze dei Beni Culturali Musicali. Before coming to Australia I worked for one year in a local radio station as radio programmer, and I also took a Master in Tourism Management (Sustainable Tourism), and I found it absolutely interesting. So, as you can see, music and travel around the world are my biggest passions.

I decided to travel to Australia not only to discover new places and meet new people, but also to start a new job as Language Teaching Assistant, because I wish I’ll become a teacher in the future.

My mother has worked as a teacher for many years and she inspired me when I decided to leave home for starting this new, challenging experience. I will do my best while working in the Mt Lawley Senior High School and I’m sure this will be one of the most wonderful experiences in my life. Il mondo e’ pieno di amici che aspettano solo di incontrarsi. The world is full of friends that are waiting to meet.

Thanks to you all e piacere di conoscervi!

Languages Parent Support Group - Languages Soiree`

2010-05-01T08:54:00.000-07:00

The LPSG inaugural Languages Soiree` was a wonderful success. It was a great opportunity for parents of Language students to gather together in a relaxed atmosphere and have a chat with each other and the Language teachers. Everyone brought a plate of delicious food to share and savour (yes I had 3 pieces of Andrea's cake but who's counting ?). Thank you to our wonderful staff members who made themselves available for the event, I know our parents appreciated your presence and I certainly did too. Many thanks to our LPSG committee members who planned, organised and coordinated the event, including preparations and clean up afterwards, your passion and dedication inspires me. Merci beaucoup to Jayne Faranda for her exquisite guitar playing (she is such a star !). I love seeing the children of parents and teachers playing together and I know the LPSG has some exciting plans for future events. Please continue to support them and if you would like to be kept informed by being on the mailing list contact our secretary, Sondra Tate at sondra@iinet.net.au

Arts Festival - Asian Language Hub In Action

2010-05-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well it seems I'm still not entirely over my jet lag. The latest entry for the LawleyLanguages blog was entered into the LawleyItalia blog. Here is the link so you can find out what a wonderful event was held on campus last Friday. Gong xi to the event coordinator Dr Irving and all the staff and students who made the Lawley Arts Festival 2010 such a funtastic success.

http://lawleyitalia2010.blogspot.com/2010/05/arts-festival-asian-language-hub-in.html

Amazing Alumni - Luana Kilcullen

2010-03-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

As part of our Alumni Series, we enjoy hearing from past Language students and how their Language studies at Mount Lawley SHS have influenced their lives. Thank you, anzi grazie mille Luana for sharing your story with our readers.

Hello, my name is Luana. I am a former student of Mount Lawley Senior High School and graduated in 1981 (a long time ago!)

As a child, my mother spoke to me in her first language, Croatian. She did this up until the time I started school. At that time, children were not encouraged to be bilingual, so my mother switched to English so that I would not be disadvantaged. As a result, I soon lost most of what I knew in Croatian.

I had a taste of Italian in year 7 and instantly decided I would continue the language in high school. It was my favourite subject by far.

At the end of year 11 I was fortunate enough to be chosen as an exchange student to Italy. That experience was one of the most memorable and exciting of my life. I was 16 and had never travelled anywhere outside WA let alone been on an aeroplane! I spent three months living with a family in a small town in the Lombardy Region (in the north of Italy). The memories of that time still linger with me today. Riding a bike to school in the freezing cold, trying to work out what the teachers were saying as they taught their subjects (in Italian), and doing my classmates English homework for them! Sometimes I got homesick, but everyday was an adventure and when I returned home I realised just how much my spoken language had improved. I was saying things in Italian without even thinking.

When I left school I studied to be a Primary School teacher. I later married and travelled with my husband to the UK where we lived for 10 years. I taught English to foreign students and absolutely loved the chance to interact with people from other cultures and walks of life.

I continue to attend conversation classes in Italian because I enjoy it and learning a language is not just about words- it’s about people and communicating and discovering.

I hope my three children discover the excitement of learning another language as I did.

Il Viaggio Di Kian

2010-03-15T07:16:00.000-07:00

One of our Year 9 students travelled to Italy with his family during our summer holidays. Below is an account of his adventures. Grazie Kian, we look forward to adding your photos to your article !

Durante le vacanze estive sono andato con la mia famiglia per una vacanza in Italia per sette settimane. Abbiamo viaggiato attorno il centro nord a Roma, Perugia, Assisi, Siena, Firenze, Venezia, Bologna e la citta` antica di Pompeii, prima di attraversare con il traghetto in Sicilia dove ho parenti in un paese vicino a Monte Etna.

A Roma uno dei posti piu` affascinante che abbiamo visto era il Vaticano dove abbiamo visitato la Basilica di San Pietro che dentro aveva due corpi mummificati dei papi. Quando abbiamo finito a guardare le pitture e le statue, noi siamo saliti le 551 scalinate alla cima della cupola della basilica, dove tu puoi vedere per chilometri.

Anche a Roma noi siamo andati al museo nazonale che si chiama ‘crypta balbi’ dove noi abbiamo visto le rovine di una cripta romana e un teatro, questo e` perche` i pallazi erano costruiti sopra i vecchi muri romani.

A Perugia noi abbiamo scoperto la sotterraneo rimani della Rocca Paolina, una fortezza che era costruita sopra le case degli uomini ricchi nel anno 1540, e nei tempi recente la citta era costruita sopra la Rocca e parte della fortezza era distrutta.

Quando siamo andati a Perugia anche abbiamo visitato la famosa fabbrica di Baci Perugina e un museo dove abbiamo imparato la storia della fabbrica, la produzione del cacao e una copia del piu` grande bacio del mondo che era sette metri di circumfrenza, due metri alto e cinquemilanovecentottanta chilogrammi.

Ad Assisi noi abbiamo visitato la chiesa di San Rufino e Santa Chiara, dove c'erano freschi al muro, relique di Santa Chiara e San Francesco, come tunice, oggetti personali, e la crypta di Santa Chiara.

Dopo, noi siamo andati a vedere la basilica di San Francesco, e dentro la basilica ho visto i freschi famosi del pittore famoso Giotto, la basilica anche conteneva la tomba di San Francesco nella chiesa inferiore.

Dopo Assisi noi siamo stati a Siena per due giorni. La, abbiamo visto e salito la Torre dellla Mangia (prende il nome dal primo padrone che si chiamava Mangia Moneta). Anche abbiamo visto il duomo di Siena, che ha un pavimento di mosaici, una statua di Brone di San Giovanni Battista e la libreria piccolomena che conteneva tanti manoscritti di canti gregoriani.

A Firenze, siamo stati in un albergo che dalla finestra si vedeva il duomo di Firenze. La dentro c’era il quadro famoso di Sir John Hawkwood da Paolo Ucello. Alcune statue e quadri del duomo adesso sono nel museo del duomo. Il piu` interessante e affascinante di queste sculture era la Pieta` di Michelangelo.

A Venezia abbiamo scoperto una gelateria favolosa vicino il nostro albergo e ogni giorno abbiamo preso un gelato la'. Anche abbiamo visitato l’isola di Murano dove ho esperto una dimostrazione interessante di vetro. Abbiamo visto la catedrale di San Marco con il punto pavimento come un croce greco e i pavimenti, i muri ed i soffitti della cupola erano fatti con mosaici.

Da Salerno abbiamo finalmente preso il treno per la Sicilia. Il viaggio ha durato per otto ore ed era un po’ noioso, ma era molto divertente quando siamo andati sul traghetto per attraversare il stretto di Messina perche` era molto ventoso e potevo essere soffiato via dalla barca.

In Sicilia ho esperto le folle del mercato di Catania, i propertari dei negozi che gridano dei loro articoli e l’odore del mercato di pesci.

Abbiamo fatto tante camminate nel paese e nei vicini superfice intorno il paese del mio zio. Siamo stati sul vulcanello di Mojo Alcantere ed il suolo cratere dove tu potevi vedere per chilometri ed i rovini di una abbazia. Anche siamo andati un po` sul Mt. Etna dove abbiamo giocato sulla neve per un po` di tempo perche` era molto freddo (due gradi meno di zero) ed era ventoso.

Dopo natale siamo stati per tre giorni sulle isole Eolie. A Lipari ho raccolto pezzi d’ obsidiana e sono salito al punto piu` alto sull’ isola (secento metri) dove tu potevi vedere Mt. Etna sulla terraferma di Sicilia ed alcumi altre isole.

A Vulcano siamo saliti il Grand Cratere con il sole che batteva sulle nostre schiene per tutto il tempo. Quando siamo arrivati alla chima di Vulcano dove si poteva vedere il fumo che usciva dalla cratere ed i cristalli gialli di zolfo. Anche abbiamo fatto un barzio sulle spiaggie con termi di zolfo ed un brangio di fango ed i nostri costumi di bagno anche puzzavano tre settimane dopo.

Martina Veit - German Assistant 2010

2010-03-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

My name is Martina Veit and I am the German language assistant at Mount Lawley Senior High School for the year 2010. My hometown, Villingen-Schwenningen, is in the southwest of Germany just at the edge of the Black Forest. however, for the last five years, I have been living in Konstanz which is located at the lake of Constance, directly at the border to Switzerland. This area is very beautiful because you can swim in the lake on hot summer days and you can also ski in the Swiss Alps in winter, because it only takes you about an hour or two to go there.

For the past five years I have been studying English and Mathematics at the University of Konstanz in order to become a teacher of these subjects. When I return to Germany in December 2010, I will continue my teacher education at a secondary high school and it will take me another 1.5 years until I will finally be a fully qualified teacher. Therefore, I am very happy that I can spend this year in Australia in between my studies and future career in Germany. It is not only a good opportunity to gain more experience in teaching, but also to explore the country and get a real insight in the Australian way of life.

Mein Name ist Martina Veit und ich bin die deutsche Fremdsprachenassistentin an der Mount Lawley Senior High School für das Jahr 2010. Meine Heimatstadt Villingen-Schwenningen liegt im Südwesten Deutschlands, am Rand des Schwarzwalds. In den letzten fünf Jahren habe ich jedoch in Konstanz gelebt. Das ist am Bodensee, direkt an der schweizer Grenze. Diese Gegend ist besonders schön, da man an heißen Sommertagen im See schwimmen und im Winter in den schweizer Alpen skifahren kann. Es dauert nämlich nur ein bis zwei Stunden um dorthin zu kommen.

In den letzten fünf Jahren habe ich Englisch und Mathematik auf Lehramt an der Universität Konstanz studiert. Wenn ich im Dezember 2010 nach Deutschland zurückkehre, werde ich meine Referendariat an einem Gymnasium beginnen und es wird dann noch weitere 1,5 Jahre dauern bis ich schließlich eine voll qualifizierte Lehrerin bin. Deshalb bin ich sehr froh darüber, dass ich das Jahr zwischen meinem Studium und meinem zukünftigen Job hier in Australien verbringen kann. Es ist nicht nur eine gute Möglichkeit um mehr Erfahrung im Unterrichten zu sammeln, sondern auch um das Land zu erkunden und einen echten Einblick in den australischen Lebensstil zu bekommen.

Gifted and Talented Parent Presentation

2010-03-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday 10th March Mount Lawley Senior High School hosted a parent information evening for prospective students wishing to apply for the Gifted and Talented Languages Program at our school. Parents were shown videos and images of the elements that make our school such a vibrant and exciting place to study languages.

Our Principal Stephen Spice spoke about our considerable achievements over the past year, our Associate Principal Bev Burnside spoke about the benefits of our Middle School environment, the Languages LAL Joseph Millimaci spoke about the Gifted and Talented Program but our stars on the night were Jordan Caffery and Sophie Prober who spoke about a student's perspective of the GATE Languages Program and the value of an exchange experience. I'd like to thank all those involved including our award winning school chaplain who creates such wonderful Keynote presentations, Suzi Barnes our indefatigable Publicity Officer and the parent helpers who assisted with set up and pack down. We'd also like to thank the parents of the prospective applicants for taking the time to come along and find out more about our programs as they consider their children's future educational pathways. A reminder that applications close noon on Monday 15th March. You can apply online, simply visit the Gifted and Talented site at:

http://apps.det.wa.edu.au/gate/public/newOnlineApplication.do

Living Your Languages

2010-03-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

One of the best ways to "live your language" is by hosting an exchange student. Consider the immersion opportunities. Every day you get to practise your language skills in a listening and speaking context. You have a live resource to assist you with writing and reading elements of your language learning. You get to learn from your host brother or sister about the culture of their country. You build a lasting relationship that extends your family. You have all read about the positive experiences our students have had with their exchange programs. Please consider the opportunity presented through Nacel as a way to "live your language".

Nacel Australia Pty Ltd

08 9386 2500

info@nacel.com.au

www.nacel.com.au

Nacel Australia is calling for host families.

We are currently taking applications from France for short term students arriving into Perth from Friday 16 July – Friday 13 August (student tour from 8 – 12 August).

The visiting student will ideally have a host brother or sister who they can attend school with each day, however this is not paramount as immersing themselves into an Australian family is the aim of the program. This is a fabulous opportunity for your children to develop new friendships and to learn about another culture.

Host families receive a stipend of $240.00 per week to host their student.

Please contact Suzanne Tischler on 9386 2500 or sue@nacel.com.au to register your interest.

Languages For Life

2010-03-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

Learning Languages at Mount Lawley is about starting on a journey that takes you beyond your expectations and provides you with experiences that can enrich your life not just while you are at school, but beyond the end of your school days, that's why we promote our programs as Languages For Life. It is with great pleasure that I post a message I received from Ellie, a Year 12 student that completed her schooling last year and is now living her dream. Auguroni Ellie, we are all very proud and happy for you. Thank you for sharing your great news with us and please keep us informed of your many adventures. Ellie is now living with her host family in Italy, a prime example that a host relationship can end up binding two families from different cultures and countries per la vita !

Ciao Signor Millo!

I can only imagine how busy you are with the start of term with all the fresh new faces and brains that need filling with linguistic knowledge, but I thought I'd take the time to send you a quick email.

I am writing to you from the beautiful land of Italy. I came early February and will be here till the end of June. I have been helping my host mother in her shop and even got some snow! And now beginning to get a taste of the weather of Marzo Pazzo (half hot, half cold).

So seeing as it was you who started me off on my Italian journey (The path taken.. thankfully) I thought I would give you an update to where life is taking me now, as so many times in class we had to describe 'cosa vorrei fare l'anno prossimo'... lol

Allora dopo il TEE, ho fatto domanda a Curtin, e mi hanno accettato, il corso che ho scelto si chiama 'Bachelor of Arts: Mass Communications, Film and TV.' Cosi, seguirò una cariera nella 'media', giornalsimo o presentatrice, queste sono le cose che mi interessano. Communque I accepted and defered my offer for l'anno prossimo, e sono venuta qui in Italia per 5 mesi a lavorare e imparare meglio italiano, e sopratutto per vivere una fantastica esperienza, poi quando torno in Australia, Amanda verrà con me, e lei resta per 2 mesi.

When you all arrive on the school tour I would love to come and catch up with you all, around Rome maybe or however it works out, with Amanda of course and hopefully the other exchange students.

I hope this doesnt end up on the ever famous whiteboard in class, if it does.. Hellooo Mount Lawley kids... Listen to Mr. Millimaci and be good! Like me :)

Salutami tutti

Un bacio a tutti

Ellie

PS. my host brother is in Sicily now In Gita, and says its beautiful!!!

Lawley Alumni

2010-02-28T23:51:00.000-08:00

As part of our "where are they now" series, here is an entry from Ivana, a former MLSHS student who visited our GATE students to discuss the value and opportunities language learning brings. We thank Ivana and invite our former students to make contact with MLSHS, a school they can be proud of long after they've finished their high school years.

Hi I'm Ivana and I graduated from Mount Lawley Senior High School in 2005. Currently I am a student at Tafe and at Curtin university. At Tafe I am doing a diploma course in Chinese Mandarin. I'm only 21 but I have been studying Chinese for the last eight years.

Ever since I was small I knew I liked learning many different languages. My parents told me if I am serious about this then I should learn Japanese or Chinese as those languages are rather important in today's world. I didn't think much of that until I finished primary school. My parents wanted me to go to a high school with a good reputation so I applied to go to Mount Lawley Senior High School. The condition was I had to learn 2 languages with one being Chinese.

Chinese is a pretty hard language but I like challenges. Another reason why I study Chinese is that I think it would give me good career opportunities around the world. So after studying it for 5 years in high school I thought I have already come so far if I quit now I will surely regret it.

In order to keep myself challenged and improving I entered several Chinese speaking competitions and also enrolled into Tafe.

In September of 2008 I was given a scholarship to study in China for a year. That was the experience of a lifetime. Not only did I learn about the country, the culture and the language; I learnt so much more. I was around students from all over the world and I learnt many things from these people; about their customs, geography, history etc. I even picked up on some Russian and Spanish whilst over there.

My parents have always said to me that if something was easy everybody would do it. It takes determination to master anything and if you put your mind to it you truly can achieve what you want. I never thought that learning languages could open so many doors and I truly am happy with the choices I have made.

Thank you

Chinese Lion Dance

2010-02-15T00:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mrs Chong who organised the Lion Dance that thoroughly entertained our school body last Friday 12th February. It was great to have such a vital part of Chinese culture demonstrated to our students on our front lawn ! The performance was incredible and we were enthralled by the amazing acrobatics. May we all have a wonderful Year of The Tiger ! Happy Chinese New Year to all.

International Students - Hola !

2010-02-15T00:20:00.001-08:00

Thais, our international student from Brazil was a pleasure to have at our school and I thank her for her willingness to share her thoughts with us. I will seek to publish her post in her native language soon. Her comments illustrate the impact studying overseas can have on a student's life. I'd like to thank our students and staff for embracing our international students and their cultures and languages, that is something MLSHS can be proud of fostering, a wonderful tradition that continues.

Hi, my name is Thais, I am 16 years old, my birth day is 28 July 1993, I am Brazilian and I live in Sao Paulo, I came to Australia in 30 January and without know much about Perth and not a good English just the basics that we learn at school in my country, I tried, and study a lot during all this years, to learn and be fluent in this language, was quiet hard the communication in the begin but now if help of all the teachers, today I can ask and answer question in English, a fantastic result for me, I am here living with my uncle, aunt and cousin, I really miss my family, and I am going but in 21 December, before Christmas, I really enjoyed Perth, Au, I hope one day I have I a other opportunity to come here again, now I’ve got other plains to my future, in this school I learned as well a other language, quiet hard but that really give interesting for me, my the help of my friends and teachers, Chinese is one of the languages that soon I will be able to speak fluently, now I have I love about this country China and the culture, when I back to Brazil I will be continuos my study in this language, my dream now is go to visit china, for my carrier I want to be a language translator or maybe I language teacher, simple but a thing that I really like and I am have with it, I would like to thanks all the teachers in MLSHS, because without then I wasn’t what I am today, I learned a lot, now I am backing to Brazil with a happy heart and smart brain, a complete journey. I meet some students from my country, was really nice, one Girl from year 8, and two boys from year 11 and 12.

Sophie In Italia

2009-12-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

If you would like to follow Sophie's Italian Adventure visit her blog at www.sophieinitalia.blogspot.com

Auguroni Sophie, le foto sono bellissime ! Divertiti che il tempo vola ! Buone feste e buon anno !

Ciao everyone,
I'm having heaps of fun here in Rome. We went and saw Il Colloseo e La Fontana di Trevi plus lots of piazzas, churches, fountains and beautiful old buildings on Saturday. It was really cool seeing the Colloseum, because we caught the Subway in, and we walked out of the station and it was just right there infront of me! I haven't actually been in yet, but we will go soon. Rome is just amazing, and it's so different from Australia. There are so many fountains and statues and everything has been so carefully made and decorated. We saw the Trevi Fountain too, which, like the rest of Rome, is absolutely magnificent. It's huge! But there were HEAPS of people there, as it's a popular tourist attraction.
We went out again yesterday with Ele's friend Francesca. We visited Piazza di Spagna and Piazza del Popolo (which I loved), and just walked around the centre. It was heaps of fun.

Il cibo e molto buono, specialmente la pizza! It's all 100 times better than any Italian food you get in Australia.
I'm finding that the amount of Italian I can understand is increasing too. I can't actually say much yet, but sometimes I can get the general idea of what someone's talking about. Other times I can only catch words and short phrases.

Fabrizo and Federico returned from Brazil yesterday. They're both really nice, and Federico is really funny. He speaks virtually no English so it's lots of fun trying to communicate with him!

Ciao,
Sophie

Un Mondo Di Nougat !

2009-12-04T05:33:00.000-08:00

MONDO NOUGAT ITALIAN EXCURSION

On Friday the 4^th of December 2009, year 9 and 10 Italian students were lucky enough to experience a taste, quite literally, of Italian culture by visiting the Mondo Nougat factory in Herne Hill.

Everyone met near the school bus bay in the morning to have number checks and so on. We nearly left without Rubèn, who thought the excursion was next week! After all the drama of nearly leaving without Rubèn, and playing musical chairs on the bus because we didn’t all fit on the first bus, we were finally on our way!

The bus ride was very comfortable, and we had our great bus driver Andrew the Chaplain. We passed through Bassendean, Guildford and finally reached Mondo’s. Everyone was excited and hopped off the bus and headed into the store. Mr Millimaci got a bit distracted by the yellow fiat parked out the front!

So finally we made our way in and were greeted with the delicious smell of Nougat, and another red fiat 500 with pictures of Nougat on the sides and the Mondo’s Nougat sign on the front. Mr Millimaci couldn’t keep his camera away! We all had a bit of a wander and looked at all the different nougat.

We were introduced to Marco and Andrè who work at the factory and Marco told us all about the factory and the history behind it, which helped very much with our worksheets! After that, we split into two groups and Andrè showed us the process of making the nougat through the viewing window. People aren’t allowed to go through there any more because of health and safety reasons. After that, we got to order (in Italian of course) a cake/slice and a drink to have for morning tea.

The food was delicious and everyone was very happy! Before we left we had a few more photos and got to pick a bar of nougat to take with us. We said our goodbyes and thanked the people at Mondos’s for a wonderful morning, and went back on the bus and drove to a nearby park.

The park was beautiful! We had lunch and just relaxed for a bit. Others decided to play in the playground, and let’s just say there were a few sandy people after that great idea! The park was great fun, despite the heat, and everyone had a laugh! Then, to our dismay, we boarded the bus and made our way back to school. The bus ride back was filled with talk and laughter, and really reflected the mood of the day. Everyone had such a good time!

The Italian excursion to Mondo’s Nougat factory was fantastic, and wouldn’t have been made possible if it weren’t for our fantastic Italian teachers Mr Millimaci, Mrs Petale, Miss Candaten and of course Andrew for driving us there and back.

By Emma G.

Claire Harding, an inspirational language role model !

2009-11-05T20:42:00.000-08:00

As a Languages School it is important that we take inspiration from students of language to remind us of the doors that learning a new language can open, enriching our life and creating new and wonderful opportunities. This blog as well as providing us with a window to the activities that MLSHS students participate in, is also a forum for sharing news and information about successful language student stories. I am happy to share the first of these by directing you to visit the following site:

http://www.acicis.murdoch.edu.au/hi/claire_harding2.html

Read about the wonderful things Claire Harding is doing with regard to her knowledge and understanding of Indonesian. Congratulations Claire, you are a role model for our students !

Congratulations Mrs Chong !

2009-11-05T07:43:00.000-08:00

Our sincere congratulations to the President of the Chinese Language Teachers' Association, Mrs Anita Chong who was presented with an Outstanding Professional Service Award by the Professional Teaching Council of Western Australia at the Award Presentation Ceremony. Mrs Chong was unable to attend to receive her award as she was in China accompanying our secondary students representing Australia in a Mandarin Speaking Competition, proving that she is indeed a very worthy recipient for such a prestigious award.

Malaysian Tour 2009

2009-11-05T01:35:00.000-08:00

On the 25th of September a group of 17 students from our school departed on a long awaited trip to Malaysia. After arriving cold and tired at the Perth International Airport at four o’clock in the morning we assembled behind our teachers and the long line to the check-in desks. Finally, once checked-in, we made our way upstairs and left our families behind us as we took ourselves through the even longer Customs line.

After a short wait we were escorted to our flight, leaving only 20 minutes after we boarded. Many of us didn’t sleep on the five and a half hour flight over, but once we landed in Kuala Lumpur we were even more hyped up than before. For many of us it did not seem that we had landed in a different country and apart from the heat, it was nearly like we were still home.

Once checked out, we checked back in to our Penang flight and boarded not long after that. After the less than half hour flight we landed again for the second time that day and collected our bags from the bag area. We met our tour guide, Pak Eddie, outside the airport and he showed us to our tour coach for the day; the interior was amazing, and everyone seemed to love the purple and gold trimmed curtains that lined the windows.

We arrived at the hotel, The Golden Sands Resort, and were given our room keys. Running up to our rooms, we settled in and unpacked. That night we met for dinner at the food court and shopped at the markets that were set up across the side walks. Many of us bought DVDs and small toys that night, later on we watched a movie together and settled into our beds, excitedly waiting for the day ahead.

Our first day was full of visits to many different venues, such as the Batik factory, Butterfly Farm and the Tropical Fruit Farm. Also that day we boarded a Pulley Train that took us to the top of Penang Hill, from there we gasped at the wonderful landscape ahead of us, and saw just how beautiful Penang is.That night we dined at a smaller food court just down the road from the hotel and walked around the night markets.

On our second day, not as busy as our first, we rode a ferry and crossed Penang Bridge, also stopping to view an old Chinese mansion, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, and the Little India part of Georgetown. For our last night in Penang, many of us decided to try a local feet cleaning process, a process that involved fish nibbling on your feet. Some of us left before the session was over and quickly finished our shopping before arriving at the hotel for the last night in Penang.

Monday was full of packing and cleaning. By twelve o’clock we were packed and ready for some lunch. Pak Eddie drove us to the airport and after checking-in to the airport again, we had a lunch of McDonald’s before boarding our flight to Kuala Lumpur.

As our flight was delayed we weren’t able to visit Chinatown that night, but had a very nice dinner at The Pavillion shopping centre down the road from the hotel. That night everyone, tired from the full days in Penang, went to sleep as early as possible.

On Tuesday the 29th, we visited the K.L. tower and Twin Towers with our new tour guide, Jet. After looking over K.L. we went for a walk in the ‘Nanas Forest’ (Pineapple Forest), some of us getting lost on the way and having to trace our steps back. At Mid Valley Mall later, we were let loose in the shopping centre to spend to our hearts' content. It was a great shop, but after meeting up again, we were told that we still had time for another round. Many of the boys, already tired from the previous two hours groaned, but the girls, now even more excited, raced everyone to the bus.

That night we were treated to a lovely evening at Pak Cheah’s sister’s home for dinner. After the delicious meal of satay sticks and salads a group of the students began singing Hallelujah to Jack Morris’s great piano playing. To treat us even more we were exposed to the delicacy of Durian, a smelly yellow fruit grown throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, and Pak’s sister and brother also singing a family song.

The next day we visited the Batu Cave and Gandah Elephant Sanctuary. After watching a short presentation on the elephants we had a short ride on the back of some of the biggest animals in the world. An hour long drive back to the hotel was then taken and we went for dinner and shopping once more.

Our last day was as exciting as the others. In the morning we visited Seafield High School, meeting many of the students and playing a local game in which marbles and a wooden board with holes was needed.

We then went back to the hotel to change and make sure our bags were packed before heading off to the shopping centers near the hotel. After walking to Times Square we had an hour of shopping and another hour to either shop more or ride on the many rollercoasters that were situated inside the plaza. By that time we were all very tired but still shopped around some more. At about six o’clock we arrived back at The Pavillion and were told to do a last minute shop before collecting our bags from the hotel and leaving for the airport at nine o’clock.

On the bus everyone was excited, taking pictures before we left and recounting many of the eventful things that happened. Our flight was at midnight that night, and the five and a half hour ride we had been dreading was now with us. We arrived home at about five o’clock in the morning and after seeing our way through Customs, we met our parents in the Arrivals area. A massive thank you goes to Pak Cheah for organizing the amazing trip and we would also like to thank those who helped us get to Malaysia. The trip was one that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.

Arrivederci Amiche Italiane

2009-08-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, our Intercultura / WAATI Italian cultural and linguistic exchange has come to an end. This year Mount Lawley SHS was blessed with the presence of cinque wonderful cultural ambassadors from Italy for two months. Amanda, Elisabetta, Federica, Libera and Noel brought a fresh taste of Italia to our school. Their willingness to collaborate with our teachers and students on a variety of learning opportunities including excursions, class activities, resource creation and one on one peer mentoring means that they will be greatly missed. Every staff member that interacted with these students has told me that they were a pleasure to work with and my Year 12 Italian students particularly told me, "ci mancheranno tanto". Auguri e complimenti ragazze, in bocca al lupo per il futuro e speriamo che ci rivediamo al piu` presto. Speriamo che avete bellissimi ricordi della nostra scuola, la nostra citta` e le famiglie con cui abitavate per due mesi. E` stato un vero piacere, grazie.

Enjoy reading Elisabetta`s thoughts below about what the exchange meant to her.

Non so da dove cominciare... due minuti sono pochi per poter ringraziare tutte le persone che mi hanno aiutato e raccontare di questi due mesi cosi’ intensi...

Questa esperienza e’ stata a dir poco fantastica!!!!! Non solo e’ stata una grande occasione per migliorare il mio inglese ma mi e’ servita soprattutto a saper controllare le mie paure, ansie ed emozioni: mi e’ servita a crescere.

Due mesi sono davvero pochi per sfruttare a pieno le occasioni che questo tipo di esperienza ti puo’ dare, ma credo di avere fatto del mio meglio per trarne vantaggio.

Ricordo ancora la paura iniziale quando appena arrivata all’areoporto non volevo superare quelle porte blu scorrevoli che mi dividevano dalla mia famiglia ospitante e dal suolo australiano... ero terrorizzata!

Credo che averle varcate sia stata una delle migliori scelte della mia vita!

Non potevo immaginare quello che mi stava aspettando... una realta’ cosi’ diversa, gli enormi spazi in mezzo alla natura, le immense spiagge deserte, la bush popolata da canguri e koala, i party, la scuola, cosi’ diversa dalla nostra, le serate in famiglia, che mi hanno fatto cosi tanto sentire a casa, le risate e i pettegolezzi con mia sorella, Danielle, le partite a monopoli, lo shopping e la splendida vacanza a Sydney!

E’ per tutto questo che voglio ringraziare la mia famiglia ospitante, helen, danielle e ian, per non avermi mai fatto annoiare, per avermi fatto conoscrere questo continente e questa cultura cosi’ diversi dai miei, per avermi sostenuta quando ho sentito la mancanza della mia famiglia... insomma per avermi fatto trascorrere un’estate indimenticabile!!!

Un grazie speciale va anche ai miei due insegnanti J. Millimaci e B. Petale, i due prof piu’ simpatici e disponibili che si potessi desiderare, che mi hanno portato con loro durante le escursioni, che mi hanno fatto scoprire quanto sia bello interagire e confrontarsi, con ragazzi di un altra cultura, riguardo anche le cose piu’ scontate, quotidiane.

Cos’altro dire???

Non voglio partire!!! Mi spaventa il fatto di lasciare cosi’ lontane le persone con cui ho vissuto per due mesi a cui mi sono davvero affezionata, con cui ho condiviso esperienze indimenticabili che ricordero’ per tutta la vita; e’ per questo che spero di rivederle presto, magari in Italia, con la speranza di riuscire a far loro apprezzare la mia terra nello stesso modo in cui sono riusciti a fare loro con me!!!!

Mi mancherete davvero!

Grazie mille

I don’t know where to start… two minutes are a very little time to thank all the people who helped me and to talk about these intense two months…

This experience has been fantastic to say the least!!!!! It has been not only a great chance to improve my English but, above all, it’s been useful to learn to control my fears, my worries, emotions and feelings: it helped me to grow up.

Two months are not enough to make the most of the chances that this kind of experience gives to you, but I think that I did my best to take advantage of them.

I still remember my fears when I first arrived at the airport, I didn’t want to go through those blue sliding doors that divided me from my host family and from the Australian land… I was scared stiff!

I think that going through them has been one of the best choices of my life!

I couldn’t imagine what was waiting for me… such a different reality, the huge spaces in the wild nature, the parties, the school, so different from ours, the evenings with my family, that made me feel at home, the laughs and the gossips with my sister, Danielle, the monopoly matches, the shopping and the wonderful holiday in Sydney!

I want to thank my host family, Helen, Danielle and Ian, for all this, for never allowing me to feel bored, for helping me get to know this continent and this culture, so different from mine, for supporting me when I was home sick… well for giving me a really unforgettable summer!!!

A special thank you to my two teachers J. Millimaci and B. Petale too, the two nicest and most available teachers that I could wish for, who brought me on the excursions with them, who made me discover how beautiful it is to interact and to compare myself to people who have a different culture, also to appreciate the simple things in life that we sometimes take for granted.

What else can I say???

I don’t want to go back home!!! I’m scared to leave the people I’ve lived with for two months; I’ve become fond of them, with them, I’ve share unforgettable experiences that I will remember for ever: for that reason I hope to meet them again soon, maybe in Italy! I hope to let them enjoy my country in the same way I enjoyed theirs!!!!

I will really miss you!

Thank you so much

Below is the students' farewell speech presented at our whole school assembly.

Hi everyone, we’re the Italian Exchange students and we just would like to say something about our experience before we leave. We’ve been here for seven weeks, only a short time but long enough to meet fantastic people including students and teachers who contributed to making our experience unforgettable. We found kind people here who were always willing to help us and we want to say thanks to them and also to the Principal and his staff. You all welcomed us and made us feel special and an important part of the school community. Thanks to our host sisters and brothers and families because they understood our difficulties, above all at the beginning and helped us to immerse ourselves in their lifestyle. And last but not least, our biggest thank you goes without doubt to Mrs Petale and Mr Millimaci who made our dream to come to Australia real and the reality was much better than our dreams ! They welcomed us almost like we were the perfect students in the world and continued to appreciate our work here and shared with us lots of adventures from herding kangaroos to the radio program. Our words will never be enough. We’ll always carry Mount Lawley Senior High School in our hearts and we’ll really miss your ozzie laid back attitude. Thank you, thank you everybody.

Noel, Elisabetta, Amanda, Libera e Federica.

Inaugural Lawley Language Lunch

2009-08-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the Inaugural Lawley Language Lunch was held in our Middle School buildings. This was an initiative first proposed at our Languages Parent Support Group Meeting as a way to build stronger links between our Language students, teachers, parents and the wider community. Families were invited to bring a dish that characterised their culture and meet and share their backgrounds, traditions and aspirations with each other. Traditional recipes were exchanged, international music filled the room and parents, students and teachers interacted through Italian card games, French boule, Chinese cooking and dancing the Tarantella. The aim was to bring diverse cultural groups together and build social networks with Languages as a common bond. Over thirteen diverse cultural groups were represented including German, Austrian, French, Italian, Chinese and Vietnamese. The Italian exchange students and their host families enjoyed the opportunity to come together to celebrate the exchange experience which has been incredibly rewarding for all concerned. Our 6EBA community radio host also attended and thoroughly enjoyed meeting members of our school community, strengthening the links between our Language students and the living language world. This is the first of many that will take place as high schools start to reconnect with the families of our students maintaining the partnerships that are so vital to successful learning. Thank you to all those who attended especially the members of the Languages Parent Support Group for their tireless efforts in preparation, setting up and clearing. They make our school a truly special place to be.

Our French Connection !

2009-08-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

Vive ‘ l’Entente Cordiale’ franco-australienne !

Eight fortunate Year 11 students, having recently returned from their séjour in the francophone island of la Réunion, are now even more enthusiastic about pursuing their French studies to TEE level. In 2010, thanks to our dedicated Middle School teachers Mrs.Theodosiadis, Mr. Stotzer and Mrs. O’Connor, another seven keen applicants will embark on this excellent scheme organised by the long-established W.A.-La Réunion Exchange which caters annually for a large number of students from both private and state schools in Western Australia.

The great advantage of this exchange is that students are exposed to a whole month of immersion in the French language through living with a French-speaking family. In addition, they enjoy a wonderful holiday in a totally different culture and environment. They then have a return visit from their exchange partner and offer similar hospitality in Perth. We encourage the parents of current Year 9 students of French to consider financing this relatively low-cost opportunity when their children reach Year 11. (Much less expensive than a trip to France and plenty of time for the students to save up their pocket-money!)

This year Mt. Lawley has also hosted eight Upper School students from different areas of France on stays of between 3 to 8 weeks. (Visits were arranged by several reputable international and local organisations.) Students have attended classes in all subjects for either full or half-days. In French classes they have been integrated into lessons via structured conversation groups with our own Year 11 and 12 students of French, leading to formal oral and written presentations by all students in their target language. There has been much meaningful, and mutually beneficial, bi-lingual interaction in our classes recently ……not to mention a huge amount of fun!

Mrs. P. Stewart

Australian dream for visiting French students

We had a really great time here, even if it was cold and a bit rainy. Australian school is very different from French school: here you can choose the subjects you want to learn. In France you can’t and you have to learn more than 10 subjects. Moreover this is a really colourful school so when you come here, even if the weather is bad, this place is always luminous. We love the fact that you can learn music, cooking, drama and art…
When we first arrived here it was so strange for us because in France you never wear uniforms. However, we were very happy to see that Aussie students were open-minded and came to talk to us. We enjoyed meeting new people, discovering new cultures and ways of life. We went to some “tourist” places to see koalas, kangaroos, aboriginal galleries and we went for two days to Rottnest Island (where we saw a lot of quokkas). The trip to go there was very rough and some French people were seasick. We went surfing three times during sunny days. And as good French girls we did a lot of shopping (the boys did too). We leave Australia just after the Boat Cruise with wonderful pictures of Perth by night in our minds. To put it in a nutshell, we enjoyed our trip very much and we wish we could come back here in summer.
Thank you so much for hosting us.
Magali, Orlane, Melissa, Benjamin et Nicolas.

Lawley Languages on the Airwaves at Radio Station 6EBA

2009-08-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

Life is about connecting with people. A chance encounter and then a follow up conversation with Connie Di Perna led to one of the most fulfilling experiences in my teaching career; the opportunity to have the Mount Lawley Senior High School Italian exchange students and some of the hosts participate in the last program of Un' Ora Con Voi on Monday 17th August. From the moment I mentioned the radio excursion, the students were excited and overwhelmed and there was some trepidation involved "Prof. io mi vergogno". Since one of the messages I try to pass on to my students is face your fears, this seemed like a great chance to put the theory into practice. From the moment the students met Connie, our presenter, in the studio foyer, they were put at ease and amazed at her memory and preparation. Connie knew each student from their short biography on the school blog.

We were given a tour of the station, an explanation of how everything works and the process for creating a successful show. During the show Connie spoke with each student and was able to connect to such a degree that the depth of emotion was quite extraordinary. The students were honoured that they were part of Connie's final Monday show and congratulated her and wished her every success for the future. The magical component of this experience was the connection with music and how certain songs contain magical memories for people. Connie's research and willingness to allow the girls to select their special songs created an atmosphere of personal reflection on how important friends and family truly are and brought together families in Italy and Perth that have been linked by the exchange experience. I thank Connie and 6EBA for this unique experience which will stay with the people involved for a lifetime. Evviva la musica, evviva la vita !

CRONACA DI UNA MESSA IN ONDA: LIVE!!!

È lunedì 17 Agosto e per l’allegra combriccola formata da Amanda, Elisabetta, me: Federica, Libera e Noel, con l’aggiunte di Ellie, Isabella e il prof. Millimaci inizia una nuova avventura. Alle 12.30 l’appuntamento è alla ˝campana˝ della Mount Lawley SHS per prendere l’autobus per il 386, Fitzgerald Street, North Perth: 6EBA Radio Station. Dopo qualche minuto di trepidante attesa, dietro la proposta del professor Millimaci decidiamo di prendere un australianissimo long black coffee al bar, ma appena varcata la soglia della porta ecco in lontananza un puntino rosso carico di buste e borse che avvicinandosi grida:”Joe!!” (il prof.). Ecco Connie!! Finalmente la conosciamo. Si rientra nella stazione radio e, incredibile ma vero, la simpaticissima Connie identifica ognuna di noi senza mai averci conosciute. Woow . Dopo aver distribuito a noi ragazze un CD contenente le canzoni da noi scelte , col tocco di grazia finale della canzone “La vita è bella”, cantata dalla stessa (pensiero davvero gentile – grazie mille), Connie inizia una breve visita guidata dello studio con le mille attrezzature e I mille pulsanti, e gli immancabili microfoni con le cuffie! Sembra proprio di stare in un film. Il mini-tour finisce nello studio più spazioso dove sarebbe andato in onda il programma “Un’ora con voi”. L’orologio bene in vista ci inform ache sono passate le due e che in meno di mezzora le nostre voci sarebbero state ascoltate in tutta Perth, in tutta l’ Australia e, perchè no, in tutto il mondo, persino in Italia!! Con la sua risata contagiosa Connie ci fa subito sentire a nostro agio…I minuti passano veloci…un respiro profondo…inizia la sigla…e poi 3,2,1: SIAMO IN ONDA! La prima a parlare è Libera che piccolo piccolo prende il coraggio in mano e rompe il ghiaccio per tutte noi, dopo la sua voce ascoltiamo “Parlami d’amore” dei Negroamaro…e sulla falsariga di ciò che e accaduto a Libera si succedono le alter mini-interviste: Elisabetta con “A te” di Jovanotti, Noel con “Brava” di Vasco Rossi, Amanda seguita da “E fuori è buio” di Tiziano Ferro, Ellie e il signor Millimaci con “Siciliano” di Lucio Dalla ed infine me, Federica, con “Libero” di Fabrizio Moro. E così tra domande e risposte, lacrime e sorrisi, riassumiamo e tiriamo un po’ le somme di questa nostra esperienza di studentesse di scambio in Australia. Il tempo corre veloce e le tre e mezza sono già arrivate e con un po’ di commozione sentiamo scorrere in sottofondola magnifica voce di Connie che intonando “Life is beautiful” dice addio al suo programma del lunedì. È stato un onore per noi essere con te in questo giorno così speciale, grazie Connie!!!!!

To listen to the program visit the following link:

http://www.6eba.com.au/1/amici.php

Chinese Day

2009-08-23T03:54:00.000-07:00

A variety of delicious Chinese dumplings were on sale and the air was full of the sweet smell of dumplings cooking outside the Cafe. Xie xie to the cafe management for their assistance and cooperation and of course to our tireless parent helpers who make our school community a vibrant place to learn. The Jianzi competition was fierce but Brandon, the winner collected over 30 taps to be crowned Jianzi King of 2009. It was a special treat to have Lucy Dean present the prize. Lucy is a wonderful ambassador for our school's Language students and is living proof that you can achieve your goals and dreams if you are willing to apply yourself. Xie xie Lucy !

French Day

2009-08-23T03:53:00.001-07:00

Delicious French Pastries were on sale during lunch. Once again, merci beaucoup to our fantastic parent helpers ! The French students travelled to Cinema Paradiso to watch a wonderful French movie which they all enjoyed.

Italian Day

2009-08-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was Italian Day and it was characterised by such memorable Italian music as That's Amore, Volare and of course a Tarantella or two. It was a pleasure to see the students dancing in our very own Piazza, we are truly lucky to have such pleasurable surroundings at our school. The parents sold gelati (my personal favourite was al cioccolato, although the lemon sorbet was also very refreshing). Thank you (sorry I should say grazie) to everyone who participated and assisted with preparation, selling, cleaning up, and flag waving. Una bellissima giornata italiana al liceo Mount Lawley !

Languages Week - Parent Support

2009-08-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Today was Indonesian Day and there were tasty Spring rolls to enjoy. Our Sumatran visitors enjoyed seeing a familiar cuisine which made them feel at home. Once again, thank you to our fantastic parent helpers, we are a wonderful school because of people like Sondra and the other parent volunteers who make their children's educational experience richer through their willingness to be involved !

MattoPancetta

2009-08-04T04:59:00.000-07:00

Il ventiquattro luglio, students from Coolbinia Primary School walked to Mount Lawley Senior High School (il tempo era favoloso) and joined the Italian and SVAPA students in the Tricycle Theatre to watch the Crazy Bacon dudes from Melbourne perform in a Commedia Dell'Arte inspired production that saw an amalgamation of music, improvisational theatre and Italian language. The students were engaged by the clever antics of the zany Scaramouche (che ladro !) and Arlechino (his rendition of Poker Face and Don't Cha was hilarious!). We thank Dr Irving and Natalie Diggins for their collaboration and cooperation and Carmelina for her enthusiasm and organisation of the primary students. We would like to commend the Coolbinia students for their excellent behaviour and acknowledge that the MLSHS students were also wonderful role models in the way they welcomed our guests and made them feel comfortable in our "home". Grazie must also go to Signora Petale for her tireless efforts in planning and organising the event. We look forward to many more collaborative efforts, including possible future visits to the primary schools. It's pleasing to think that many of these events were merely ideas at our meetings earlier in the year which were run with assistance from Robin Hunt, Pina Zingales and Wendy Hewitt as well as a variety of primary language teachers, Language support staff and members of the administration. I must express my gratitude to the excellent Languages Team at our school which continues to inspire and motivate students to benefit from their Language Studies. Excursions, incursions and the like are the memories that will stay with our students long after they have completed their studies with us.

Fantastic Film Festival Italian Excursion

2009-08-04T03:13:00.001-07:00

I professori di italiano hanno organizzato una splendida mattinata in cui abbiamo avuto l’opportunita’ di conoscere i cibi piu’ diffuse in Italia e vedere dei tradizionali negozi italiani. Siamo partiti da scuola alle 9 in direzione di Northbridge e, una volta arrivati siamo entrati in un grande magazzino che produce cibo europeo. Una gentile signora ci ha illustrato differenti tipi di cibo italiano: formaggio, pasta, dolci, liquori, cioccolata, caffe’ e abbiamo anche potuto assaggiare qualcosa!
Il giro e’ stato interessante e divertente, appena finito abbiamo fatto una bella passeggiata tra negozi tipicamente italiani.
Per il pranzo abbiamo comprato dei mega panini o della pizza.. io e altri ragazzi ci siamo sdragliati al sole in uno splendido parco!qualche dolcetto e poi tutti al cinema! Un film stupendo, “Sleale concorrenza” che mette in luce l’Italia nel periodo della dittatura fascista, evidenziando la triste e ingiusta situazione degli ebrei del tempo. Terminato il cinema siamo tornati a scuola per le tre. Splendida giornata!!

The Italian teachers organized a wonderful morning in witch we have had the opportunity to know the food most popular in Italy and to see the traditional Italian shops.
We left school at 9 to Northbridge and after we arrived we entered to a big shop that produces European food. A kind woman showed us different kinds of Italian food: cheese, pasta, sweets, liquors, chocolate, coffee and we tasted a range of goodies!
The tour was interesting and funny and as soon as it finished we went for a walk around typical Italian shops. For lunch we bought enormous rolls or pizza. Me and other friends lied in the sun in a fantastic park to eat them!
After some sweets everybody left for the cinema. A fantastic movie “Sleale concorrenza” that shows Italy during the fascist period, marking the sad and unjust situation of Jews of that time. After the movie finished, we came back to school at about 3 pm. Such a wonderful day! (Written by Noel, grazie !)

It was at 9.00am that “una gita a Northbridge" (a trip to Northbridge) began, as 40 Italian students from years 10, 11, and 12 clambered off a bus and into the inner city suburb of Northbridge. We all stood around at what was to be our destination…European Foods, an enormous warehouse overflowing with foreign foods. It would have seemed, from the outside, a boring idea for an excursion, that was until we stepped through the door and met the most ecstatic, enjoyable woman Oriana Parri who was to be our tour guide through the maze of foreign cuisine. At once the mood of the group changed to that of curiosity and excitement as we walked along aisles of foreign food as well as getting a sneak peek at roasting coffee beans. Every so often Oriana would pass down a box of Italian goodies for us to try, including Baci chocolate, coffee, tiramisu, nougat and grissini, they were absolutely delicious!!!

The next stop was a walking tour of Northbridge, where we explored more Italian shops, buildings and restaurants that funnily enough, most of us had never noticed before. By this time people were complaining of ‘starvation’ even with the stop off at Corica Pastries…so we split up, some of us wandering off to get pizza, while others to get a roll with the option of Italian meats at the Re Store.

After a nice relaxing lie in the sun and bellies bursting at the seams, we happily danced off to the Cinema Paradiso to watch “Sleale Concorrenza’, an Italian movie set about 1938, during the time that Hitler visited Italy, enforcing his rules upon the Jewish people. It was a story of two families, one Catholic and one Jewish and how the friendship between the two children, and the hatred between their fathers, grows into comradeship and love. The movie was enjoyed by most in the group, and was a topic of conversation as we read the love notes from our Baci chocolates on the bus ride back to school. We had a fantastic time in viaggio (travelling) Northbridge as though it really was Italy. It was a wonderful experience, something that wouldn’t have been possible without our fabulous Italian teachers Mr Millimaci and Mrs Petale.(Written by Alana - grazie !)

Today 43 students explored the Italian cultural and historical influence in Northbridge and had a fantastic time on our Giornata Italiana. All our students were a credit to our school with their outstanding behaviour. Enjoy the photos and congratulations on such a successful excursion. Thank you Andrew for driving our beautiful new bus (it was his first time today and he did a superb job), Signora Petale for all her preparation and organisation, Oriana Parri and European Foods for their warm welcome and tasty treats and of course our wonderful Language students for being such amazing ambassadors for our school ! Enjoy the pictorial memories.

Languages Week

2009-08-03T07:04:00.001-07:00

This week it's Languages Week and our fantastic Languages Parent Support Group have planned a fabulous feast for each day of the week which corresponds to a different language and culture each day. Today was German Day and there were tasty German cakes to savour, (my personal favourite was the choc chip !). Language students will be visiting the Cinema Paradiso in Northbridge to watch Foreign Language Films. Explore the wide variety of cultures we have in the school and endeavour to learn and taste something new every day !

Amanda

2009-08-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

Ciao a tutti, mi chiamo Amanda, ho quindici anni e vivo a Colleferro vicino Roma in Italia.

Per iniziare vorrei ringraziare il preside Signor Butcher, il professore Millimaci , la professoressa Petale e tutte le persone che mi hanno aiutato ad accedere a questa fantastica scuola, ma sopratutto vorrei ringraziare la mia famiglia ospitante che mi ha fatto sentire benvenuta in questo bellissimo angolo del mondo.

La scuola italiana e` molto diversa da questa, da noi ogni scuola ha un’indirizzo preciso, poi ogni alunno ha un gruppo classe e non cambia compagni ogni lezione, io infatti sono molto legata ai miei amici di classe e adoro la mia scuola, l’istituto d’arte di Anagni [http://www.menteantica.it/isa_anagni.htm] e fortunatamente ho dei bravi professori.

La scelta di questa scuola e` dovuta al fatto che vorrei diventare una stilista di moda, fin da piccola disegnavo e creavo dei vestitini per le mie barbie e la mia famiglia mi ha sempre appoggiato in questo mio desiderio, e mi aiuta giorno dopo giorno ad avere un futuro solido ed e` anche per questo che i miei genitori mi hanno voluto far venire qui, per apprendere l’inglese che e` la lingua fondamentale, che spero proprio di imparare quanto piu` mi e` possibile .

La mia famiglia e` formata da mia madre Lucia, mio padre Massimo, mio fratello Francesco e non meno importante dalla mia sorella australiana Ellie che e` venuta in Italia quest’inverno in scambio nella mia famiglia e che frequenta questa scuola, inoltre considero componenti della mia famiglia anche il mio cane, Lord e il mio gatto, Paco .

L’italia e` un bellissimo paese dal quale sono orgogliosa di appartenere. La vita li’ e` molto diversa dalla vita in Australia, e vorrei invitare tutti a visitarla perche’ e’ veramente un posto stupendo ….

Tutti dovrebbero vedere Roma, Milano, Venezia, Firenze, Napoli….insomma dal nord al sud anche solo per assaggiare la pasta all’Amatriciana ,la carne alla fiorentina o la pizza napoletana , o solo per fare shopping o per vedere per esempio il colosseo o il duomo di Milano , perche’ in Italia ce veramente di tutto.

L’Italia a volte mi manca ma poi quando esco di casa e vedo le incredibili spiagge e gli incredibili paesaggi australiani mi passa tutto , le mie impressioni riguardo all’australia sono tutte positive adoro le persone le citta’….ma sopratutto la mia famiglia la mia mamma australiana Diane , il mio padre australiano John , Zuzi , baba e dide (i miei nonni australiani) e luka e sasha i miei cani , e mia sorella Ellie .

Qui mi trovo veramente bene e da poco sono tornata da Sydney una citta’ unica , dove mi sono divertita molto con i miei amici australiani e italiani.

Penso proprio che questa sia l’estate piu’ bella di tutta la mia vita , perche’ nulla e’ comparabile all’esperianza che sto vivendo.

Grazie a tutti Amanda

Hi!

My name is Amanda Marozza I’m 15 years old , and I come from Colleferro near Rome in Italy. To start I would like to thank Mr. Butcher, Mr. Millimaci, Ms. Petale and all of the people who have helped me join this fantastic school, but especially I would like to thank my host family who have made me feel welcome in this beautiful part of the world.

Italian school is very different from Australian school, in Italy there are many different types of high schools, each is different and is for particular subjects.

Everybody has a precise class and nobody changes that class for the rest of high school. In fact I love my school friends , I attend the istituto d’arte di Anagni, and fortunately I have good teachers.

I chose my school because I want to become a fashion designer, since I was a child i designed and made little dresses for my barbies and my family always supported me and help me everyday for a good future. They have also helped me to come here , to learn English because English is the fundamental language and I hope to learn it well, my family is composed of my mum Lucia , my dad Massimo , my brother Francesco and no less important, my Australian sister Ellie, that came to italy with my family in December for 2 months I also have 2 animals, Lord my dog and Paco my cat, who I love very much.

Italy is a beautiful country where we are all proud to be Italian, life there is very different to Australian life, and I would like to invite everyone to come and visit Italy, because it is really a beautiful place.

Everyone should see Rome, Milan, Venice, Florence and Naples , also everyone should come to taste the pasta all’Amatriciana, the Florentine meat or Neapolitan pizza. But most of all for the shopping and to see the famous monuments like the coliseum, the dome of Milan and the Trevi fountain and much more because in Italy there really is everything.

I miss Italy a little bit, but when I go out and see the incredible beaches, and the fantastic landscapes i feel much better. My impressions of Australia are all great, I adore the people, I love the cities…but especially my host family, my australian mum Diane, my australian dad John, Zuzi, Baba and Dide (my Australian grandparents) and Luka and Sasha my australian dogs and my sister Ellie.

I like it here in Perth, and I just got back from Sydney, a very unique city where I had lots of fun with my Australian and Italian friends. I think that this is the best summer of my life because nothing can compare to this experience I am living.

Thanks to everyone Amanda

Elisabetta

2009-07-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ciao a tutti!!!

Sono Elisabetta, ho 17 anni e sono un’ Italian exchange student.

Sono in Australia gia’ da un mese e ancora non riesco ancora a credere di essere davvero dall’altra parte del mondo!!!

Adoro questo paese, le persone, i paesaggi, la mia famiglia ospitante e naturalmente la scuola.

Ricordo ancora quando ho visto le fotografie della Mount Lawely su internet per la prima volta: non credevo ai miei occhi... un edificio basso moderno e colorato; cosi’ diverso dalla mia scuola italiana.

Di me cosa posso dirvi???

Penso di essere una ragazza semplice, sono una chiacchierona anche se nei primi approcci sono un po’ timida.

Gioco a tennis e ho suonato la chitarra per pochi anni

Adoro viaggiare per conoscere nuove culture e tradizioni; e` questo uno dei motivi per cui sono qui.

Spero di fare di questa esperienza qualcosa di indimenticabile, spero di migliorare il mio inglese cosi’ come di essere utile ai ragazzi che studiano italiano, offrendo loro la possibilita’ di confrontarsi e di toccare con mano la cultura che stanno studiando, proprio come sto facendo io con loro!!!

Hello everybody!!!

I’m Elisabetta, I’m 17 years old and I’m an Italian exchange student.

I’ve been in Australia for 1 month and I still can’t believe that I’m really on the other side of the world!!!

I love this country, people, landscapes, my host family and my school of course.

I still remember when I saw Mount Lawely Senior High School’s photos on the Internet. I couldn’t believe it was really my next school… a short modern and coloured building; so different to Italian school.

What about me???

I think I’m a simple girl, I love chatting even if I’m a little shy at first.

I play tennis and I’ve played guitar for a few years

I love travelling around the world to know new cultures and traditions, that is one of the reasons I’m here.

I hope this experience will be unforgettable, I hope to improve my English as well and to be useful for students who are studying Italian, because they can compare themselves to the culture that they are studying like I’m doing with them!!!

Noel

2009-07-29T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ciao a tutti!

Mi chiamo Noel, sono una ragazza italiana e vivo a Monte San Giovanni,un paese vivino Roma.

Ho 17 anni e frequento il Liceo Scientifico. Sono arrivata da un mese,non riesco a capacitarmi del fatto che sia gia' passato tutto questo tempo!!!

A settembre si torna alla solita vita in Italia,si riprende con la scuola e tutto il resto=(

Be',che dire, non sono mai stata brava a parlare di me..

Sono una ragazza a cui piace divertirsi con gli amici,chiacchierare con la mamma,viaggiare..Ho tanti interessi, che variano dallo sport al cinema,amo la moda e gli animali!!

E' difficile trovare delle parole per descrivermi...sono una persona sempre gioiosa,avventurosa,a volte gelosa,impulsiva e ho un gran difetto:mi affeziono troppo facilmente alle persone!

Sto vivendo giorni fantastici qui,ogni volta c'e' qualcosa di nuovo da imparare!Anche se la vita dei giovani e' completamente diversa da quella in Italia,adoro trascorrere le giornate con altre abitudini e modi di fare..

Vorrei che il soggiorno fosse stato molto piu' lungo,mi sono innamorata dell'Australia e mi rattrista pensare di dover tornare il Italia tra poco tempo..Ma non posso far altro che godermi al massimo ogni momento..

Un saluto e un grazie con il cuore a tutti voi...Sempre gentili e disponibili nei miei confronti,non lo dimentichero'!

Noel

Hi everybody!

My name is Noel,I'm an Italian girl. I live in Monte san Giovanni, a place near Rome. I'm 17 and attend a High School that specialises in science.

I have been here, in Perth for a month and I can't believe that it has been so long! In september I'm coming back to the usual italian life, and school is beginnig again..

Well,what to say, I've never been good at talking about myself. I like to have fun with friends, talk with my mum, travel.. I have lots of interestes,that change from sport to the cinema, I love fashion and animals..

It's difficult to find words to describe my personality..I'm always joyous,adventurous, I can be jealous,sometimes impulsive and I've a big flaw: I become fond of people too easliy!

I'm having a fantastic time here,there's always something new to learn! Even if teenagers's lives here are completely different from the italian one, I love spending days with other people's routines and behaviour!

I wish the stay was longer, I'm falling in love with Australia and when thinking of going back to Italy soon, it makes me sad..

thank you so much to everybody..Always kind and helpful with me..I will never forget it!

Noel

Federica

2009-07-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Eccomi qui,
seduta nell’aula di italiano a cercare di buttare giù qualche riga per parlarvi un po’ di me: penso che alcuni dei ragazzi di qui possano ricordarmi come l’ exchange student italiana con il giubbotto rosso. Eh sì, onestamente la prima cosa che mi ha colpita non e` stato il freddo come dicevano, ma il fatto che qui la maggior parte dei ragazzi arriva a scuola in pantaloncini e maglietta, nonostante fuori ci siano la bellezza di 7 gradi, ma come fanno! Per me è impossibile!
Non so cosa raccontarvi esattamente di me, c’è da dire tutto e niente e mi trovo un po’ in difficoltà. Non sono una ragazza molto sportiva, ma nonostante questo, ciò che cattura tutto il mio interesse e la mia passione è lo scautismo .È qualcosa in cui credo molto e sono disposta a sacrificare molto per questo. Lo scautismo però non è solo ‘campeggio e falò’: lo scautismo è qualcosa che permette di formare le persone e i cittadini di domani, del futuro, ma partendo dal presente, e ritengo che i valori su cui questo di basa possano essere un piccolo passo per la costruzione di un mondo migliore. Sì, potreste dire che sono parole grosse, ma per giungere a qualcosa di concreto bisogna crederci!

Here I am,
Sitting down in the Italian class , trying to jot down some lines to tell you something about me: I think that some guys can remember me as the Italian exchange student with the red coat. Yes, honestly the first thing that grabbed my attention was not the cold as someone told me, but was the fact that here most of the students arrive at school wearing shorts and T-shirt, although the outside temperature is 7 degrees; how can they do it? It is impossible for me!
I don’t know exactly what to tell you about me; Everything or nothing can be said and I find it very hard, I am not a very sporty girl, but however scouting is what captures all my interest and my passion. It is something in which I strongly believe and I am prepared to sacrifice lots of things for this. But scouting is not only ‘camping and get-togethers-around-a-fire’; scouting is something that allows the growth and formation of the people and the citizens of tomorrow, of the future, but starting from the present, and I think that the values on which it is based should be a little step for the construction of a better world . Yes, you can say that these are big words, but to reach something concrete we must believe in it.

Exciting Exchanges !!!

2009-07-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Mount Lawley Senior High School is abuzz with exchange students from Italy, France, Germany, Japan, China all at our school this term. Hopefully you will have the opportunity to meet them all and have a friendly chat in English or their native language and find out about them. We will endeavour to introduce you to them all as photos and information becomes available. An exchange is a wonderful opportunity to learn about a different culture and we are very fortunate to have so many wonderful students from overseas visiting and sharing their knowledge, talents and lives with us at the moment. Thank you also to the host families who have opened their homes to their new host sisters and brothers, the host students who keep a protective eye on their new host siblings and the students and staff at our school that make our international guests feel welcome.
Enjoy the exchange experience everyone !

Chinese Champions

2009-06-30T08:48:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Giorgio Beames and Kayla Gray who won the 1st and 2nd prize respectively in the Chinese Bridge Competition State Finals. Giorgio painted and Kayla sang in the finest Chinese traditions and will compete in Adelaide at the National finals. If they win they will travel to China. Commendations must go to Mrs Chong and Mr Cheah who worked tirelessly with all our Chinese Champions to prepare them for their competition.

Benvenuta Amanda !

2009-06-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

The first of our Italian Exchange Students for 2009 has arrived. Mount Lawley Senior High School would like to extend a very warm welcome to Amanda who was Ellie's host sister in Colleferro near Rome. The two have become just like due sorelle, which is something a language exchange can give the participants, a family on the other side of the planet. Already Amanda has been assisting our Year 12 Italian students with their oral communication skills. Remember if you are interested in hosting an exchange student, applying for an Intercultura exchange or being part of the inaugural Italian study tour group in 2010, please see Mrs Petale or Mr Millimaci in the Languages Office. If you see Amanda around the school please give her a friendly, "ciao".

Languages Parent Support Group

2009-06-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

In the wonderful tradition of a whole school community fostering a total learning relationship combining students, teachers and parents, the Languages Parent Support Group is comprised of Language Teachers and Parents of Language students working in a collaborative environment to provide our students and Language Learning Programs with a variety of extracurricular activities to embed and immerse the school in the culture of the languages studied at MLSHS. The group meets about once a month and gives parents a voice and an opportunity to continue to be involved in their children's education. So far the group has provided a forum for a Languages Logo Competition with a parent sourcing the prize for the winning entry, exploration of a tshirt printing scheme, overseas tour discussion and preparation and assistance for Languages Week. A vital component of MLSHS is the willingness of parents to get involved and to share their expertise, experience and enthusiasm with other parents. If you are interested in becoming involved contact the Learning Area Leader of Languages, Joseph Millimaci.

GATE Day

2009-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday June 12th, the 2010 GATE Language students and their parents visited MLSHS for our inaugural GATE Day, an opportunity to have a tour of our school and participate in a variety of language learning activities.

The day began with a short assembly in our staff room during which the parents and students were made aware of the nature of our GATE Languages Program. Tours of the school were conducted by our Year 8 Tour Guides and feedback from parents, staff and students indicates that we can be proud of our students as ambassadors for MLSHS. They were articulate, informative and friendly.

After a delicious morning tea in the DCafe provided by Mrs Maserei and her wonderful staff, the students experienced Chinese culture and language in a fun and interactive way. Mr Cheah led the group in Chinese singing with Mrs Chong recording the performances as a podcast. The students loved hearing their voices and trying to keep up with Mr Cheah whose energy and enthusiasm was infectious. Students made their own Jianzi following Mr Cheah's patient guidance and prepared and cooked an assortment of Chinese delicacies with the help of Hui Le. At the completion of the session, the students played with their Jianzi incorporating a variety of physical activities.

After an exquisite lunch, it was time to head to the Pasticceria, Tabaccheria, Libreria and Piazza in Room 10.3 for a session on Italian culture and language. Students prepared Italian postcards, ordered their drinks and pastries in Italian and had a conversation in the Piazza which we filmed.

The MLSHS Gate Languages Program seeks to assist its students to achieve their potential and promotes a wholistic approach to learning. Consequently the 2010 GATE cohort was given the opportunity to use the MacBooks to explore their Multiple Intelligences and conduct research using technology. It was a wonderful day enjoyed by everyone and the feedback was positive with many students commenting that they can’t wait for 2010 to arrive so they can come to MLSHS.

I must commend our Year 8 Tour Guides and Assistants, they were a wonderful endorsement for our school and made us proud with the way they interacted with and collaborated with the Year 7 students and staff. I must also commend the Languages staff that gave up so much valuable time (reports and exams were weighing on us heavily) in order to prepare and conduct the GATE Day. Mr Cheah, Mrs Chong, Mrs Le and Mrs Petale, your energy, effort, enthusiasm and willingness to go the extra mile was simply inspirational. I am sure that all concerned were left with a positive glow in the knowledge that the 2009 MLSHS GATE Day was a resounding success.

Joseph Millimaci

Exchange Of A Lifetime

2009-05-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

STUDENT HOSTS & EXCHANGE
Congratulations to Ellie Petricevic who has returned from
the trip of a lifetime to Colleferro in Italy. Ellie participated
in the WAATI Intercultura Exchange Program and lived with
her host family about 40 minutes from Rome.
Ellie went to school, had fun in the snow, celebrated Natale,
Capodanno e La Befana during her stay and forged a
lifelong friendship. Her host sister will be visiting in June
and staying with Ellie.
anto !
If you would like to host a student from Italy this year
please let your Italian teacher know as it is a wonderful way
to learn more about the language and culture of another
country. Bentornata Ellie, sei un’ambasciatrice favolosa e
siamo contenti che ti sei divertita cosi t

Native Speaker Program

2008-08-01T07:16:00.000-07:00

One of the strategies we use at MLSHS in the Languages Learning Area is the expertise of Native Speakers to assist our students with listening and speaking skills as well as linguistic explanations. We are lucky to have a great team and our students enjoy the interaction with our experts. In Italian we have Giada Dallicani who is from Verona (Mrs Basini's hometown). It has been a wonderful benefit to have Giada in our classroom. She has willingly assisted in a wide variety of roles and shares many aspects of language learning with our students. As a visual artist she can also share the secrets of Italy's vast visual treasure of masterpieces in our classes. Grazie Signora Dallicani per l'aiuto e l'entusiasmo che ci da ogni settimana.

J. Millimaci

International Year Of Languages

2008-08-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

At Mount Lawley we would like to mark this very special year for Language Learning by organising some exciting initiatives. We are a Special Languages School, but we are also privileged to have a fantastic SVAPA Program which includes music and media. Let's lock this year in history by inviting our students to produce artworks that illustrate the value of different languages, composing original pieces of music to which our Languages students can add lyrics in a variety of languages and script original drama performances to be performed in English and other languages and filmed for posterity. Parents please encourage your children to utilise their many creative talents for this momentous celebration. Below you can read how the concept was born and conceptualised.

J. Millimaci

"Languages are indeed essential to the identity of groups and individuals and to their peaceful coexistence. They constitute a strategic factor of progress towards sustainable development and a harmonious relationship between the global and the local context.... UNESCO therefore invites governments, United Nations organizations, civil society organizations, educational institutions, professional associations and all other stakeholders to increase their own activities to foster respect for, and the promotion and protection of all languages, particularly endangered languages, in all individual and collective contexts."Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO

Projects on languages and multilingualism take many forms – building capacity, research and analysis, raising awareness, supporting projects, developing networks, disseminating information - and have diverse outreach (local, regional or global). These activities are often interdisciplinary, but they can also address particular aspects of language issues, including:
Educational initiatives promoting inclusion and quality learning by supporting bi-and multi-lingual education, especially the use of the mother-tongue, at all levels and in formal and non-formal settings; including special attention to teacher training, literacy provision and health education.

Projects in the field of science aimed at enhancing communication and collaboration between scientific researchers and institutions across linguistic divides; translating and disseminating scientific materials to communities in order to overcome language barriers; recognizing the central role of vernacular languages in indigenous ways of knowing.
Social and human sciences projects focusing on languages and human and cultural rights, migrations and urbanization and other social issues (e.g. exclusion and poverty).
Culture-centered projects on cultural diversity, dialogue and exchange, protecting cultural heritage, safeguarding endangered languages (i.e. through translations and publications for instance).

Communication and information initiatives that concentrate on building knowledge societies in which everyone can participate and benefit; promoting universal access to information and wider access to ICTs by ensuring the use of a greater number of languages; promoting cultural and linguistic diversity in the media and international information networks.

http://www.un.org/events/iyl/index.shtml

Au Revoir Bertrand !

2008-08-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about being at Mount Lawley is the opportunity we get to meet interesting people from all over the world. Bertrand was so popular with students and teachers alike that it was sad to see him go. Today was his last day at our school. Luckily he allowed us to interview him on video so we will get the opportunity to see and hear him on a regular basis while practising our French. Merci bien a` Sandra and Anna-Vicky for the wonderful job they did interviewing him (and in turn being interviewed by him). Once they hve edited the footage it will be available on our blog. Bertrand's stay gave me an opportunity to practice my francais, and reminded me that language learning is like any other skill; if you don't use it, you lose it ! Here are some of Bertrand's impressions of his stay with us.

Monsieur Millimaci

Bonjour, je m'appelle Bertrand. Je suis francais et je vais vous raconter si mon sejour en australie m'a plu ou pas. Pour commencer, l'australie m'a plu sur le sur le pint de la propreter je trouve que la ville de perth est assez propre contrairment a ma ville. Et les gens se respectent plus entre eux ils se parlent poliment et se respectent entre eux. L'Australie est un beau pays et je suis satisfait de mon voyage en Australie plus precisement a Perth mais dommage qu' il n'y est pas eu plus de soleil !!!

Hello, I am Bertrand. I am French, and I am going to tell you about my stay in Australia and whether I liked it or not. To start with, I liked Australia, because I find that Perth is quite big compared to my home town. The people respect each other more and are very polite and respectful. Australia is beautiful and I am very happy with my trip, especially Perth, but it's a pity that there wasn't more sunshine !!!

Meet Emily Edwards

2008-07-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have always felt it is important to acknowledge and recognise our past students. The connection binds our past with our future. To discover where the journey of life has taken our past students is one of the fascinations of teaching for me. I am proud to introduce the first of a new series in our blog, a "Where Are They Now" section that will give past students an opportunity to share their experience with the present students and pass on their wisdom. My thanks to Mrs Chong who is an inspirational educator for organising this first entry. Her committment to the teaching of Chinese is evident by the fact that even while she is overseas, away from our school (and sorely missed) she continues to communicate with her students, past and present, albeit electronically. In fact this afternoon, another of her past students, Iris, came into the office looking for Mrs Chong. It was clear that as she looked at the photos by Mrs Chong's desk, Iris had fond memories of her time at Mount Lawley and in particular her language studies which she continues to pursue. We hope we will hear from her in her own blog entry soon, but for now it is time to say thank you to our Inaugural Past Student, Emily Edwards. I am sure you will agree, she has benefitted from her language studies in many ways and her success is due to her determination and persistence. Emily we are very proud of your achievements and look forward to the continuation of your relationship with the Languages Learning Area at Mount Lawley.

My LOTE Experience

I graduated from Mount Lawley Senior High School in 2001, after entering on the Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Program in Year Eight. I studied Mandarin and French to TEE level, and this opened up many opportunities for me, both during and beyond my high school years. Today Mandarin is an indispensable part of my job as a Project Officer at the China Desk of the Department of Industry and Resources.

In Year 10, I visited China with classmates and students from other schools. In Year 11, my whole French class went to France. Both trips were a combination of sightseeing and language experience, particularly as we had home-stay arrangements, but mostly they were fun. They also gave me some of the encouragement I needed to persevere with language study in spite of the fact that I did not always get the best academic results in language classes.

Going into Year 11 I noticed many of my friends dropping out of language study to concentrate on other subjects. While I didn’t necessarily get as high a TER as I might have otherwise, I definitely feel that my decision to continue with both languages paid off. Thankfully today more and more Universities are providing extra credit for students who take languages in the TEE.

In Year 11, I was selected for the AFS-Australia China Council Short Study Program and spent one month studying in Beijing with nine other Mandarin language students from around Australia. Over the month my Chinese improved but more importantly I was inspired to work harder at improving my Chinese skills. In Beijing we were introduced to older Australian students who were studying at a Chinese university as part of the Australia China Council’s Australian Young Scholars in China Program. I was impressed by their skills but also encouraged by the fact that they had no background in Chinese besides studying it at high school, and no advantage over me; I could hope to become as good as them.

On returning to Perth I applied for, and won, a fully funded place in the Australian Young Scholars in China program, and spent the year after high school living, and studying Mandarin, in Beijing, and travelling around China.

Back in Perth I continued my studies in Mandarin and completed a degree in Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia and then a Masters degree in International Affairs at the Australian National University. While I credit my periods of study in China with the language skills I have today, those opportunities were open to me because I started in high school. Starting language study early is definitely an important advantage, many university language students have told me that they wished they had had the opportunity or the foresight to start studying a second language at school.

I graduated from university last year and now work with the China team in the Western Australian Global Network at the Department of Industry and Resources. The China team is responsible for maintaining and enhancing WA’s relationship with China including both trade and cultural exchange. Our role is to promote trade and investment with Western Australia, and identify business opportunities for WA companies in China and also opportunities for cultural co-operation such as student exchanges. We organise a number of special activities with our sister state, Zhejiang. We research and provide up-to-date trade and cultural information on China. We also assist WA ministers when they go on official visits to China and we host VIP visitors from China when they come to WA and help arrange their itineraries. My job is very diverse and everyday I am doing something different. Most of us in the China team speak Chinese, some were born in China, others, like me, were born in Australia. Generally, our visitors are delighted and flattered that we make the effort to speak to them in Chinese.

Emily Edwards

A New Semester

2008-07-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

Welcome back everyone for a new semester of learning ! We have a new French exchange student with us, his name is Bertrand. He will be with us until the 31st July, please make him feel welcome. Here is his introduction. Have a great Term 3 tout le monde !

Bonjour, je m’appelle Bertrand, je suis francais et j’ai 15 ans. Je suis a Perth pendant un mois, Durant mon sejour, je suis pendant deux semaines dans “Mount Lawley Senior High School” pour me familiariser avec l’anglais. J’habite a coter de Biarritz dans un petit village qui s’appelle Hasparren. Ce village se situe` au sud-ouest de la france. J’ai une grande soeur de 19 ans et un petit frere de 13 ans. Mon pere est dentiste et ma mere est pharmacienne.

Hello, my name is Bertrand, I am 15 years. I will be in Perth for one month, during my holidays, I will spend two weeks in “Mount Lawley Senior High School” to improve my English skills. In France I live in a little village next to Biarritz. This village is located in the south west of France. I have one older sister and one younger brother. They are 19 and 13 years old. My father is a dentist and my mother is a chemist.

Lucy Dean For World Chinese Competition

2008-07-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

In the Australian preliminary contest for the first Chinese Bridge (Hanyuqiao) Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign high school students held on 21 June, Lucy Dean of Mount Lawley Senior High School came third and is one of three students representing Australia to compete in China in July.

For her three minute speech, Lucy spoke on her recent school China trip and she sang a song of her favourite Taiwanese group for her cultural test.

Lucy began learning Chinese from a close Chinese friend and the internet in Year 10, enrolled to take up Chinese in year 11 and is taking it as a TEE subject this year. Next year, she plans to study in China at Zhejiang University.

Lucy, you are an inspiration to other language students and you demonstrate that where there is a will there is a way, congratulations !

Chinese Bridge Competition

2008-07-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

Mount Lawley Senior High School students of Chinese exhibit winning ways at the Chinese Bridge Competition.

In the 2008 Australia-China Council National Chinese Speaking (Hanyuqiao) Competition State Final held on May 24, Year 11 student, Darcy Rowe and Year 10 student Monte Masarei came second and third in the Chinese Second Language section. Mathew Donaldson came third in the Chinese First Language Section. Students who also did well were Kayla Gray and Alex Tate. Congratulations! The judges praised our students for their participation and their ability to be natural in Chinese especially when Mathew threw in “Wo wangle” which means “I have forgotten (my speech)’.

Each candidate was required to deliver two and a half minutes on a self-selected topic, draw a random topic and deliver a speech of one minute. The winner of each section competes at the national Chinese Teachers’ conference which is held in Canberra this year.

The five Mt Lawley Senior High School students are keen Chinese Language learners. Darcy who won an Australia-China Council Scholarship to study in China for four weeks in 2007 spoke on learning Chinese. Monte and Mathew spoke on their hobbies. Monte had visited China twice and Mathew lived in China for a year. Kayla and Alex have both visited China.

Once again congratulations to all these students, you demonstrate the value that learning a new language can add to your life experience.

The Great Tour Of China

2008-06-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

During the April Term 1 holiday break fifty MLSHS students and nine teachers embarked on a three week tour of China. The tour group included students of Chinese, Music and the Arts.

Highlights of the visit included climbing the Great Wall, a visit to Xi’an to see the Terracotta Warriors, attending Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s presentation at Beijing University (five lucky students and our Principal Mr Milton Butcher were invited), getting to Shanghai Airport in six minutes on the Shanghai Maglev Train and many more.

Apart from sightseeing, activities in Anhui Province and Hangzhou were school-based. The visits to schools in Anhui Province were assisted and supported by the Foreign Affairs Division of the Anhui Provincial Education Department. In Hefei the visitors were divided into three groups to visit three schools. Students at these school showed the Australian students traditional Chinese arts and crafts and performed Chinese musical items and dances.

The next stop in Anhui was our sister school, Anqing Number 1 Middle School. Seven students lived in homes of Chinese students. All students were hosted by the Anqing school for an evening. In Tunxi, the group visited an old township and ancient street.

While in China the our School Senior Concert band performed in various venues, including the Temple of Heaven Park. Combined concerts were held at Hefei 168 Middle School, Anqing Number 1 Middle School and Tunxi Number 1 Middle School.

Before leaving China via Shanghai, students and teachers visited our sister school in Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Number 14 and performed for the school. This relationship has been in operation for over 10 years and students from both schools have exchanged visits on a number of occasions. MLSHS students of Chinese stayed with Chinese families, participated in school activities, basketball games and competitions. They took part in hands-on classes in Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting as well as opera-mask painting activities.

The students and teachers were given the cultural experience of a lifetime. They watched an acrobatic show, a Tang Dynasty musical and dance show, Anqing’s famous Huangmei opera and Chinese musical items presented by students of the schools we visited.

The tour was extremely successful in the exchange of Australian and Chinese cultures and promoting sister-school partnerships.

MLSHS is now looking forward to hosting students and teachers from Anqing Number 1 Middle School in August.

Another Lawley Language Legend

2008-06-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sondra is a Year 11 Italian student. She received her Certificate of Excellence because she is always ready to further her Italian studies beyond the classroom. Sondra translated the lyrics to “What A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong into Italian. She hopes to record the Italian version and share it with our Italian language students. Sondra came to Mount Lawley in 2008 from Lesmurdie Senior High School. Her interests include music, she has been playing trombone since she was ten and she is a member of the Senior School Band. She enjoys studying Italian because it interests her to be able to communicate with people from a different culture. She hopes to study music at WAAPA in 2010. Congratulations Sondra on being one of our inaugural winners !

Sondra e` una studentessa d’italiano in Anno 11. Ha ricevuto il Premio D’Eccelenza perche` e` sempre pronta a migliorare i suoi studi d’italiano al di la` dell’aula. Sondra ha tradotto il testo della canzone “What A Wonderful World” di Louis Armstrong in italiano. Spera di incidere la versione italiana e condividerla con i nostri studenti d’italiano. Sondra e` venuta a Mount Lawley nel 2008 dalla Scuola Superiore a Lesmurdie. I suoi interessi includono la musica, suona la tromba da quando aveva dieci anni e fa parte dell’orchestra di scuola. Le piace studiare l’italiano perche` le interessa essere capace di communicare con la gente di un’altra cultura. Nel 2010 spera di studiare Musica a WAAPA. Congratulazioni Sondra per essere una dei primi vincitori linguistici !

Lawley Language Legends

2008-06-18T01:19:00.000-07:00

This year we are recognising students in our Languages Program that demonstrate dedication and strive to excel. Our first recipient of the Lawley Language Legend award is a Year 12 Italian student. Auguri Kevin !

Kevin is a Year 12 Italian student. He received his Certificate of Excellence because he is always willing to assist his classmates with their Italian studies. Kevin came to Perth in 1999 from Modena in Italy. His interests include music, he has been playing guitar since he was fourteen. He enjoys studying Italian because it gives him the opportunity to further explore his native culture and language. He hopes to study Mechanical Engineering at UWA in 2009. Congratulations Kevin on being one of our inaugural winners !

Kevin e` uno studente d’italiano in Anno 12. Ha ricevuto il Premio D’Eccelenza perche` e` sempre disponibile ad aiutare i suoi compagni di classe nei loro studi d’italiano. Kevin e` venuto a Perth nel 1999 dalla Provincia di Modena in Italia. I suoi interessi includono la musica, suona la chitarra da quando aveva 14 anni. A lui piace studiare l’italiano perche` gli da l’opportunita` di esplorare la sua prima cultura e lingua. Spera di studiare l’ingegneria meccanica all’Universita` di Western Australia nel 2009. Congratulazioni Kevin per essere uno dei primi vincitori linguistici !

Where It All Begins

2008-06-17T06:51:00.000-07:00

Students from all over Western Australia interested in studying Languages with other Gifted and Talented students sit for a series of tests. The students that obtain the requisite score are invited to interview for a place in our Special Languages Program.

This year the interviews were held in our Specialist Building on a Saturday in May. Some of our Year 8, 9 and 10 Language Students volunteered to act as School Ambassadors and assist with the organisation and running of the event, including logistics and hospitality. Many parents attending the interviews commented positively on our students' behaviour. Well done Ambassadors !

It was a real pleasure meeting our prospective students and their parents and learning about their special interests and aspirations. Congratulations to the students that were accepted into the program, you have an exciting journey of linguistic dicovery ahead of you in 2009 ! Thank you to our wonderful Languages Team of Teachers for their enthusiasm and tireless efforts, including giving up their Saturday to participate in our selection panel. Your joire de vivre and vitalita` is a credit to you.

A Sense Of History

2008-06-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Mount Lawley High School first opened in 1955.
In 1971 it was developed into a Special Language School.
In 2006 work was completed on the "new" Mount Lawley Senior High School and a new era for the school began in earnest.

The focus for this blog is the area of Languages.
We are a Department of Education specialist high school offering special placement and programs in five languages including:
Chinese, French, German, Indonesian and Italian.

A group of high ability students is selected to form the Special Language Class. The students in this class study two languages over three years and continue with one or two languages to Year 12.

Over many years the students in the Languages Program have demonstrated high standards of proficiency in Languages by winning Subject Exhibitions and Certificates of Distinction in the Tertiary Entrance Examinations. Others have excelled in the privately organized language examinations held by Chinese, French, German and Italian associations. A significant number have won Department of Education scholarships enabling them to travel overseas to further their linguistic skills. Many of our students have pursued their Language studies at Western Australian Universities as well as universities overseas. Recently in the Uniview Magazine UWA PhD student Russell Harwood recalled that passionate Mandarin teachers at Mt Lawley Senior High School, Geoff Davis and Anita Chong, spurred his interest in the culture of China, and that a school visit during summer holidays further increased his appreciation of things Chinese. “When you learn a foreign language at school or university, only using it in the classroom, it seems quite abstract,” observed the UWA researcher. “However, on a visit to the country you become immersed in the language, speaking it every day and appreciating its
relevance and practical advantages.”

When Russell began studying the complex tonal challenges of Mandarin, he never suspected that his language studies marked the start of an incredible journey that would provide him with rewarding career prospects. This blog aims to highlight the achievements of Language students at MLSHS both past and present with the hope that it inspires others to embark on the rewarding journey that the study of languages can provide.

[The full article containing Russell's comments can be found at this url: http://www.publishing.uwa.edu.au/uniview/2008/uniview_Vol27No2_2008-06.pdf ]

The aim of our Languages program is to give students a varied, enjoyable program which provides them with every opportunity to develop linguistic skills as well as gain an appreciation and understanding of the culture whose language they are learning.