In the French debate, we discussed a key situation that we face in the modern world, entitled: “l’Intelligence artificielle: cadeau ou fléau?” (“Artificial Intelligence: gift or curse?”). We split into groups, girls against boys, and had two debates, so that we were each able to argue for and against AI. This was helpful outside of the debate as well, as many of us may not have considered other opinions on the use and effects of artificial intelligence – in this way, we didn’t just learn about debating skills, but also opened our minds to this new technology.

For many of us, it was our first time debating – let alone debating in another language! It was a very enriching experience, as we not only deepened our knowledge of the differing viewpoints on AI, and both the good and the bad sides to it, but we also developed our listening and speaking skills. A specific area we had to work on was learning how to directly comment on a point that the opposition had just said, which proved challenging when faced with varying levels of fluency. This experience was exciting and we definitely felt that we improved our ability to speak on the spot. We are looking forward to doing some more debating in French in the future, and collaborating again with Reading School!

Isabella and Chloe

In Spanish, we took part in a debate with Reading school on the topic of “Bad Bunny: rompiendo estereotipos de género en la música latina.” (Bad Bunny: breaking gender stereotypes in Latín music) We discussed factors such as his use of nail polish and skirts, his lyrics and his political advocation.
This was such an enjoyable event and I feel like this has given me more confidence in my speaking skills and a greater understanding of all Bad Bunny stands for and how he presents himself.

Molly and Lily

In German, we debated the topic of whether phones should be allowed in school. There was a heated debate with very advanced and challenging vocab but as Abbey girls we persevered. It was a great opportunity to use our language abilities and develop our communication skills whilst meeting new people.

Zara and Lottie