Languages

In Learning Languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language, develop their capacity to learn further languages, and explore different world views in relation to their own.

What is Learning Languages about?

Learning a new language provides a means of communicating with people from another culture and exploring one’s own personal world.

Languages are inseparably linked to the social and cultural contexts in which they are used. Languages and cultures play a key role in developing our personal, group, national, and human identities. Every language has its own ways of expressing meanings; each has intrinsic value and special significance for its users.

This learning area provides the framework for the teaching and learning of languages that are additional to the language of instruction. Level 1 of the curriculum is the entry level for students with no prior knowledge of the language being learned, regardless of their school year.

Why study a language?

Languages link people locally and globally. They are spoken in the community, used internationally, and play a role in shaping the world. Oral, written, and visual forms of language link us to the past and give us access to new and different streams of thought and to beliefs and cultural practices.

Te reo Māori and New Zealand sign language (NZSL) are official languages of New Zealand. Because of New Zealand’s close relationships with the peoples of the Pacific, Pasifika languages also have a special place. By learning an additional language and its related culture, students come to appreciate that languages and cultures are systems that are organised and used in particular ways to achieve meaning. Learning a new language extends students’ linguistic and cultural understanding and their ability to interact appropriately with other speakers. Interaction in a new language, whether face to face or technologically facilitated, introduces them to new ways of thinking about, questioning, and interpreting the world and their place in it. Through such interaction students acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes that equip them for living in a world of diverse peoples, languages, and cultures. As they move between, and respond to, different languages and different cultural practices, they are challenged to consider their own identities and assumptions.

As they learn a language, students develop their understanding of the power of language. They discover new ways of learning, new ways of knowing, and more about their own capabilities. Learning a language provides students with the cognitive tools and strategies to learn further languages and to increase their understanding of their own language(s) and culture(s).

Year 7 to Year 10

Languages offered in Year 7 and 8 are French, Spanish, te reo Māori and Chinese. All students have a two terms taster course for each language in Year 7 and Year 8 so they can choose the language they want to study in Year 9.  

All students learn a language at Year 9. They can choose between te reo Māori, French, Spanish or Chinese.  

This course is preparing students to work at Levels 1 and 2 of the New Zealand Curriculum. It integrates language and culture and provides a variety of opportunities for listening, speaking, presenting and performing, viewing, reading and writing. The focus at this level is on developing communication skills.  

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Subjects in this Faculty

Flight Attendant, Interpreter, Editor, Foreign Policy Officer, Workplace Relations Adviser, Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Importer/Exporter, Immigration Officer, Kaiwhakaako Māori, Chef, Translator, Private Teacher/Tutor, Copywriter, Art Director (Film, Television or Stage), Historian, Artistic Director, Film and Video Editor, Barrister, Author, Elected Government Representative, Journalist, Sales and Marketing Manager, Customs Broker/Freight Forwarder, Importer/Exporter, Aeroplane Pilot, Air Traffic Controller, Flight Attendant, Hotel/Motel Manager, Outdoor Recreation Guide/Instructor, Workplace Relations Adviser, Tour Guide, Travel Agent/Adviser, Cook, Holiday Park Manager, Advertising Specialist, Copywriter, Registered Nurse, Actor, Art Director (Film, Television or Stage), Historian, Artist, Counsellor, Elected Government Representative, Paramedic, Police Officer, Emergency Management Officer, Corrections Officer, Firefighter, Funeral Director/Embalmer, Security Officer/Guard, Probation Officer, Intelligence Officer,