2020 School Magazine

O ur journey with Japanese this year has covered a variety of interesting topics, helping us to further our understanding of the language and become more familiar with the Japanese culture. We explored some key differences between Japan and Australia, in terms of education, travel and technology. It was particularly interesting to learn about the variety of school events in the Japanese calendar and the strict rules upheld in some schools—like not being able to bring phones to school. Despite the current restrictions around travel, we also had some fun discussions about the good and bad points of tourism, the convenience of using mobile apps while travelling, and the emergence of virtual reality travel. We were surprised to learn how much Japanese innovation and culture has contributed to the world and our own daily lives. A number of different activities and projects helped our learning along the way. This year we made Japanese memes, we wrote and recorded some Australian parodies of the Japanese comedy show Why Did You Come to Japan? , and we practiced our kanji with water calligraphy. Our speaking sessions with Aya-sensei have been especially enjoyable, as they have given us experience in conversational Japanese. Juliet Thottunkal (11O) YEAR 12 CHINESE Y ear 12 Chinese has been a challenging yet rewarding experience for everyone involved. At the beginning of the year we explored the many benefits and disadvantages of social media, before investigating prevalent issues among teenagers—both Chinese and Australian. We learned about China’s education system, including the gruelling university entrance exam—the Gaokao—and even attempted some of the questions students who sit the exam must answer. Semester 2 got us thinking ahead to our graduation ceremony and our lives after school. We explored the Chinese flag raising ceremony, discussed our future plans and even learned the ins and outs of taking a gap year in China! There was a major focus on handwriting this year, as we vigorously geared up for our external exams. I have particularly enjoyed this component of the subject. Character writing is an extremely intricate process and practising it has helped to improve my patience and precision. I have loved every minute of studying Chinese and believe it will assist in whichever career path I choose to follow. Lily Lau-Coombs (12O) YEAR 10 LATIN T his year in Latin a ‘dead’ language came alive and helped us to explore and understand Roman culture. We learned new grammatical concepts, such as future tenses, verbal moods, and participles. We also covered key aspects of Roman history, including the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Roman civil wars, and the life of the great orator Cicero. This year’s assignment required us to get into the mindset of a translator and translate an English passage of our choice into Latin. The texts chosen were as varied as Dr Seuss’ Yertle the Turtle and Machiavelli’s The Prince . Throughout the year we have translated and analysed the works of some of Rome’s finest authors and poets. This has given us a glimpse of what to expect for senior Latin and we are excited to continue learning this fascinating language. Emilia Arba (10E) and Madison Danalis (10W) YEAR 11 JAPANESE YEAR 9 GERMAN W ith holidays limited to local trips, our study of Germany and the use of the future tense has helped us dream about what we will be able to do in a post-pandemic world. Learning about German culture has given us the chance to immerse ourselves in celebrations such as Easter, Christmas, Oktoberfest and the Day of German Unity. The class has bonded over problems with verb and noun endings and all the while we have been careful to maintain ‘die soziale distanzierung’ (social distancing). Studying a language helps you to become more aware of the differences between cultures, but it also reminds you how alike we all are. The german word for the weight gain associated with periods of lockdown is ‘Coronaspeck’ (corona-bacon) and no-one needs to learn from home for too long to understand that! Louise Campbell (9O)

82 | BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2020