Year 8 European Day of Languages Karaoke Competition
Our Year 8s took part in a European Day of Languages Karaoke Competition. Four energetic classes took part in the challenge with all of them putting in their best effort to attempt to be named winners! Each class had spent a bit of lesson time practising and adding some actions to their performances.
Mrs Routledge, Teacher of French comments, “Music is such a wonderful way to learn a language; it helps increase your vocabulary, reflects trends of what words are cool and slang and can really help with listening and pronunciation skills. We have been really impressed with how enthusiastic the pupils have been about learning their songs – they chose some pretty fast ones and that can be tough to keep up with!”
The competition started with the pupils singing “La Bamba” all together to warm their voices up. Mrs Routledge's class was up first, singing “Dingue” by French Comorian rapper Soprano. Next up Miss Shopova’s class sang “Mariposas” by Aitana and Sangiovanni. After that Miss Gonzalez Rodriguez’s enthusiastic class sang Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) by Shakira. Madame Barth’s class then finished the competition by singing “Ego” by Willy William.
Mr Routledge and Mrs Millington were the judges of the competition, and after much deliberation, Mrs Routledge’s class were declared the winners!
The event finished off with the whole year joining together to sing “Ramenez La Coupe à la Maison” by Vegedream, a favourite with many pupils from the last World Cup.
“Our annual Year 8 Karaoke Competition was a fantastic opportunity to discover and learn songs in a different language. Pupils enjoyed singing in both French and Spanish; they made a real effort with pronunciation and even included some choreography. I really hope that this will inspire them to be curious about other cultures and want to explore international music further”. - Mme B.
Judges' Comments:
Mr Routledge, Director of Learning, said, “Judging this competition with Mrs Millington was a real challenge – it was fantastic to see so much energy and passion going into singing in foreign languages. The study of languages has benefits lasting well beyond school; it is a way of becoming empathetic with other cultures and nations, as well as a strong developer of our own native language. As we seek to develop pupils at RHS with a strong global outlook, I am delighted with the obvious and infectious enthusiasm our Year 8 pupils demonstrated for their language learning.”
Mrs Millington, Head of Year 8, said, “It was fantastic to see such enthusiasm from all the Year 8s during this year’s MFL karaoke competition. It is nerve-wracking enough to get up and perform in front of your peers, but to do this in a different language is commendable. The standard this year was high, but Mrs Routledge’s French class were victorious with their rendition of 'Dingue'. Well done to all who took part!”
Pupils’ Comments
“It was good fun and it was nice to hear songs in different languages” - Skye F.
“It was great to do something different outside the classroom with the whole year group” - Delaney D.
“I have learned new words such as DINGUE which means crazy and I have learned to actually have fun singing in front of the school and people who I don't really know” - Victoria P
“The reason why I loved the experience in the karaoke was because we all had so much fun singing and dancing to the song we learnt; ”Dingue’’. I learnt the lyrics, which has led me to learning some French; for example, the title translated into English was ‘’crazy’’. Another singer from France I really like is Indila; she produces graceful songs and is one of my inspirations. I listen to a great song from her all the time, ‘’ Dernière Danse’’. Other countries of songs I love are Asian; I’ve also listened to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Cantonese, French, Spanish and more types. Learning different languages from songs is something I’ve never regretted doing.
I am fluent in Cantonese, English, Japanese and Mandarin, but I am very enthusiastic about French, and I will continue to build my love for it; it’s a difficult language but that’s why I like it. Many thanks to the languages teachers who made this happen, you all gave me a wonderful experience in languages.” - Berenice L
“It taught me that there are some lovely songs in alternate languages, and you can still enjoy them, even if you don't understand a word that they are saying!” - Ed S
“I enjoyed the karaoke because I got to learn some more French words and slang and it was a really fun lesson. I also got to learn other languages and learn about what types of songs they have in Spain and France. It was nice to compete against all of my friends and to do a lesson with the whole year. My favourite international singer is Mika, who is Lebanese, because he wrote many popular songs such as “Lollipop” and many more. It was the most fun lesson I have ever had because we could all have fun whilst still learning many things.” - Maisie W
“I enjoyed taking part in the karaoke competition, not only because we won it, but it was fun singing in another language and listening to other classes. Our class song was called Dingue by Soprano. It was upbeat and very difficult to sing in the chorus because of the pronunciation. Mostly I learnt that singing in a language you don't know is extremely difficult, but it was a fun challenge. My favourite language is French because I know how to speak some of it. I haven't listened to much French music apart from during our lessons with Mrs Routledge. I enjoy learning French and sometimes we study French songs to help with our vocabulary. I would definitely recommend it.” - Hermione L
“We started with the song Dingue by Soprano, bringing energy and craziness to the Burns Recital Hall, singing about freedom and joy which made the room clap with amusement” - Zane L
“The first group was my group/Mrs Routledge's class. We were the best group... we sang a French song called "Dingue". The song is telling the doctors that they are not crazy.” - Joann-Debbrah O