Learning languages ‘fun’ for competition winning student
ENCORE un qui mord la poussiere — or in English, another one bites the dust.
Columba College pupil Angela Fu has won the year 12 National Spoken French Competition (Concours Oral), meaning she is now a fluent speaker of the French language, as well as English and Mandarin.
The 17yearold was shocked when it was announced she had won the competition organised by the Federation Nationale des Alliances de Francaises de NouvelleZelande Inc.
‘‘It’s a great achievement, but I never thought I would be one of those people that would win it.’’
Traditionally, the prize would be a twoweek trip to New Caledonia.
But given the situation with the Covid19 pandemic, it would be impossible for her to go.
So instead, she has won French books, courtesy of the New Caledonian Government.
‘‘New Caledonia would be an experience and a memory. But a book is something you can keep with you forever.
‘‘So I’m not too disappointed that I can’t go on the trip.’’
Angela said she started learning French when she was in year 8 because, ironically, the only two languages offered were French and Chinese.
‘‘I took French because I thought I might as well learn something new.
‘‘Learning a new language is fun. You’re not just learning how to speak, you’re embracing a new culture and history.
‘‘It makes you very knowledgeable about other countries and what different connotations languages can have.’’
While her penchant for languages would be useful in a career as a diplomat or translator, it was still too early to make the call on it as a career choice, she said.
‘‘I definitely want to keep learning French at university, but at this point, I think
I’m still too young to know what my future path will be.’’
Asked if three languages was enough to keep her occupied, or whether she had room in her vocabulary for another, she answered quick as a flash.
‘‘I’ll look at learning Spanish next. It’s very similar to French.
‘‘It’ll be fun.’’