RENMARK High School placed first in an online global language competition recently for the first time in seven years.
More than 100 students participated and aced the annual Education Perfect Language World Championships, answering over half a million questions in 30 different languages.
Renmark High School French and Spanish teacher Jasmine Sotiroulis described the students’ performance as “incredible”.
“At Renmark High, we teach three different languages – French, Spanish and Greek – and not all students study them all,” Mrs Sotiroulis said.
“To have students answer questions in 30 different languages was incredible.
“A lot of the students were self-taught and others already had a bit of background knowledge in some of the languages.
“The students also found languages that had similar words and sounds to ones they already knew – like Spanish and Italian – and they found it easy to pick up.”
Mrs Sotiroulis said as well as placing first overall in the 101 to 500 student category globally, the school also achieved a number of other accolades.
“The school placed first in the 101 to 500 student category nationally and internationally, individual students came first in languages globally and others ranked in the top 10,” she said.
“I am so proud of my students and I loved seeing them learn and grow throughout the competition.”
Year 11 student Wyatt Neef, who aced German and French, said although the process was long, he enjoyed the “thrill” of competing.
“The competition went for a week and we each had eight hours a day to do it,” he said.
“We did the competition at home and during breaks and I was glued to my screen.
“I participated in the competition for the first-time last year and came second. This year I knew what I was in for and had a goal to finish first and I did.
“The thrill of being online, beating others and answering the questions as quickly as possible
was great.”
Wyatt described the competition as educational.
“I did other languages than German and French and I learnt more than I thought I would,” he said.
“I can basically count to 10 in so many languages and I learnt a lot of Italian, which I really enjoyed.”
Wyatt said he hopes to continue learning languages in the future.
“I love being bilingual,” he said.
“It has opened so many doors for me and I can’t wait to travel one day and further my vocabulary.”