“I am very much impressed by the level of the students’ French,” said Jean-Thierry Le Bougnec from the Alliance Francaise Paris last week when he visited San Andrea College, Mgarr.

Head of school Mrs Audrey Galea said the school’s policy in teaching foreign languages goes beyond the mere teaching of grammar and conversation. “Our teachers introduce French to the students by bringing France to our classes,” stated the headmistress. This approach is certainly bearing fruits, agreed Mr Le Bougnec who was also impressed with the students’ knowledge of French culture.

The French instructor called on the school to inspect the projects done by the second-, third- and fourth-year French language students.

Mrs Galea said the school promotes the language in a number of ways. Besides an internal annual competition called Question Pour Un Champion, the French department organises a Crêpe Week, a gastronomic day in collaboration with the Italian Department of the school and an exhibition of students’ work showing French landmarks and elements of French culture.

The school is also the holder of La Coupe de l’Ambassador for the second consecutive year.

Mr Le Bougnec said he is very pleased with the way French is taught at San Andrea College. He said the college is in line with the teaching techniques of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR), a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe. The framework is included in the Language Learning for European Citizenship project of the Council of Europe.