Wycombe Abbey Pupil is named Overall Winner in the Lancaster University Modern Languages Essay Competition
28 June 2023 - Academic
Congratulations to Poppy (LVI) who has won the French language category in the Lancaster University Modern Languages in Schools Prize 2022-2023. This is an annual competition to encourage GCSE and A level pupils to practice their language skills and write thought-provoking essays.
The judge for Poppy’s essay said, ‘This is an excellent essay, well done! You have a clear structure which is easy to follow and you are making relevant points for the topic. At university, we would encourage you to keep developing the language to make it even a bit more idiomatic, and your connectors to smooth the transitions a bit, but this is already a very strong essay – I hope that you are considering continuing with French!’
Read Poppy’s thoughts below.
Having recently participated in the annual Lancaster University Modern Languages in Schools Prize, it was a wonderful surprise to find out that I had been named overall winner in the essay competition.
I entered the French language category by submitting an essay entitled What are the values of speaking several languages in the modern professional world? The word count for my essay was limited to a maximum of 500 words, and so I had to embrace the challenge of putting forward my ideas in a concise manner, whilst still trying to incorporate sophisticated language into my writing.
I found the task of writing this essay enormously interesting and rewarding, as it encouraged me to consider the importance of language-learning as a skill practised not just in the classroom, but also within a formal employment setting. The title provoked me to explore a wide range of benefits associated with speaking several languages in the modern professional world, including the ability to build strong relationships with clients and colleagues; the reduction of translation costs; and the promotion of diversity and inclusion within the workplace. I very much enjoyed writing the essay for this competition and would highly recommend it to any Sixth Form Language pupils, especially those considering studying Modern Languages beyond A level.
Poppy
LVI
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