Language students at OLMC have the opportunity to engage with poetry in their chosen language.
Each year, French students from Years 8 - 10 memorise and recite a French poem as part of the Alliance Française Berthe Mouchette competition. I would like to congratulate Juwel J. (AGLE) from Year 10 who was chosen to be a finalist in the competition this year. Félicitations, Juwel !
Meanwhile, Year 10 Italian students have been involved in writing poetry in Italian for the Dante Alighieri competition.
Ms Loretta Costa, Year 10 Italian teacher, has written the following piece below about this activity.
Fleur Davison
Languages Learning Leader
Dante Alighieri Original Poetry Competition
Year 10 students of Italian are currently writing their own original poems to enter the Dante Alighieri Poetry Competition 2022. Students have written various types of poems, such as free verse, narrative, rhymed, haiku and acrostic.
Without doubt, writing poetry can enhance a student’s creativity and ability to broaden vocabulary in a foreign language. At first some students are hesitant to write poetry and tend to think that they lack the skills, but they soon find that it can be a rewarding and enriching activity.
Le poesie sono pensieri che respirano con le parole!
“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost.
The use of poetry may help in developing writing and speaking in a foreign language. It may also help process experiences, emotions and visual descriptions. Reading poetry allows us to slow down, it may also help us to understand others and to develop new ideas.
Often poetry is broken into short, well thought out sentences making the writer consider every single word and where it is placed, as it can affect the rhythm and meaning of the poem.
Some of the topics students have chosen to write their poems on in Italian this year include: travel, immigration, environment, life, family, youth, childhood, pastimes, dreams, the seasons and the joy of reading.
Loretta Costa
Italian Teacher