Summer 2013 - The Independent Schools' Modern Language ...

of expressing themselves clearly and accurately at such length has developed
tier skills. I supervised a pupil who wrote her essay on Ionesco and the Theatre
of the Absurd which was intelligently and cogently argued in French and
with barely a grammatical mistake in sight. Perhaps they should all have to
do something like that.
27th to 29th May 2013
Accompanied a visit by our IB students to Brussels. The ostensible reason for
the trip was to appreciate aspects of internationalism so often overlooked
when we follow the IB Diploma in the UK. But it did make me think that there
would be some excellent opportunities in Brussels for students of French. It is
a predominantly French speaking city of a manageable size, with markets,
chocolate factories to visit (heaven for the girls), museums and art galleries
(the Magritte museum is a must) and some fascinating architecture. On this
visit I particularly enjoyed seeing the Horta Museum, house of the art nouveau
architect who did much to shape the city as we see it today and the
Comic Strip Centre, housed in an old art nouveau department store. What is
more, if ever one wanted to promote la francophonie, where easier to get to
(barely 2 hours by Eurostar from London)?
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