Year 9 Linguists at Queen’s College, Oxford

On Thursday 29th February, five of our most talented Year 9 linguists visited The Queen’s College for an engaging day discovering what a career in languages at university and beyond could look like.

They attended a talk that busted myths about the utility and value of language learning, and a snapshot lecture from a Linguistics professor whose day consists of grappling with the intricacies of language and the human brain.

Our students learnt the basics of two ab initio (beginner) languages, such as Polish, Norwegian, and Portuguese, and used the skills they’ve developed in the classroom to subtitle a movie clip in the languages they currently study at Cheney. They listened to student volunteers’ views of their Oxford language degree courses, quizzed them about their plans for the future, and shared their favourite aspects of studying a language. Although the weather was not on our side throughout the journey to the College (il pleuvait des cordes, as the French might say!), our students made the very most of opportunities to engage with Year 9 linguists from other local Oxfordshire schools whilst experiencing some of what advanced language study offers at degree and career levels.

To find out about studying languages at Oxford, have a watch of this short YouTube clip.