On Wednesday 27 November, we attended Operation Language at Reading School. We got to hear from Alison Brunier about her use of languages in the World Health Organisation and also from Sophie Heywood from Reading University about language degrees and where they can take you. We were then tasked to make a website, 3 social media posts and present a presentation about a current healthcare related topic in either French, German or Spanish. Aside from this, we were asked questions about our topic and conversed about it in our target language. When presenting, we had to have half of us speaking in the target language and the other half translating what we said so all the audience could understand, the translators then had to translate questions from English to the target language for the presenters to answer. We were in groups of 5-6 people made up of people from different schools, so it was a great opportunity to get to know people you have never met before but share similar interests with. We created our project around abortion rights and split the tasks so we could finish in time, the whole group got on really well and we were able to successfully complete all tasks, even if we were a bit rushed for time at the end. Presenting to so many people in French definitely seemed like a daunting task, especially without having notes or really a prepared speech, but it ended up going well and our group came out as 2nd place!
Zara, Lower VI
Working in small groups with students from schools across Berkshire, we created a presentation in Spanish (as well as a website and 3 social media posts) about ‘The year of the ….”. Our group did ‘The year of sobriety” and crafted a presentation about how we (if we were WHO) would aim to educate young people about the harmful effects of illegal substances and would campaign for the decriminalisation of illegal substances so that addicts who were struggling could look for help without the fear of jail time. The room was split into 3 rooms to present to each other before three finalists presented in front of the whole room (and not to brag but our group won the popular vote!). We had to present in Spanish without a script and two of the group interpreted into English for the other students to understand.
Overall we found it a very enjoyable experience. It was very fun to get to work with students from other schools on a subject that we enjoy. It taught us a lot about how to present and interpret and we feel we have come away from the experience with more confidence speaking the language.
Molly, Lower VI
It was a real pleasure to see how well our students engaged with the tasks and the wide range of topics they explored demonstrated their knowledge of current issues relating to global health. It was a great opportunity to showcase the qualities on The Abbey student profile: well informed, confident communicators and apt thinkers with a great deal of empathy for the world around them.
We are very proud that Cara’s and Chloe’s team were the overall winners for their French presentation ‘2025 the international year of young carers’. Well done to all participants- what an inspiring event!
Mme Berrow
