Making foreign languages relevant to students is one of the best ways to encourage learning a language, according to the new head of languages at Marlborough Girls' College, in Blenheim.
Hilary Hunt started in the role this year and said languages do not exist on their own, but in the context of ordinary life.
"I'm trying to make it an everyday experience. If I find a French restaurant with French-speaking staff, I'll set up conversation assessments where students order food in French."
Inviting guests to classes, food and immersing students in the language were also ways to bring the languages alive for students.
Year 9 French students were learning basic instructions and if they needed to go to the toilet, they had to ask in French, she said.
Formerly the head teacher of French at Mt Maunganui College, Mrs Hunt also spent three years teaching at Paris-Sorbonne University and a year at a kindergarten and cram school in Taiwan.
As the head of languages, she oversees the French, Spanish and te reo language staff at the college.
At Paris-Sorbonne, Mrs Hunt taught English for a range of degree subjects that all required students to learn another language.
Being in a classroom seems to run in her blood as a fourth generation teacher, albeit reluctantly.
"My mum was a head of department of languages and taught French." Each generation said they would not get into teaching, but always found their way there, she said.
"I was planning to be a lawyer."
Mrs Hunt studied for her masters in French politics at Auckland University, has a certificate in Arabic studies and also a graduate diploma in teaching and a diploma of law from Waikato University.
- The Marlborough Express
SIMON WONG
New role: Marlborough Girls' College's new head of languages Hilary Hunt
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