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MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES 11
U4 Spanish
Exchange Trip To
San Sebastián
Emily Manning, U4N
On the morning of Saturday 29 October, fourteen U4
Spanish students set off to Heathrow. Our destination:
the cultural city of San Sebastián in northern Spain.
From the moment we loaded our luggage onto the
coach to our landing in Bilbao we were buzzing with
excitement. Finally, we would meet our exchange
partners! But when we saw them standing on the side
of the road waiting for us, the nerves kicked in. The
skills we had picked up during our Spanish conversation
lessons were about to be put to the test!
After a well-earned sleep on Saturday night, we spent Sunday touring
San Sebastián with our exchange partners. It was very cloudy and
misty, which made the view of the mountains and sea quite eerie.
Nonetheless, we were extremely lucky during the rest of the week;
highs of 20+
o
C and lots of sunshine. The next day we all visited Mount
Igueldo via funicular, and the views were stunning. Tuesday was a
bank holiday which was spent with the families. Here my Spanish
was really tested, as my partner’s family came over and asked lots
of questions! On Wednesday we took a day trip to Bilbao, including
a visit to the Guggenheim Museum. Its modern architecture was
very impressive. On our final day we visited San Sebastián’s Cider
Museum. As well as learning about how the cider was made, we had
the opportunity to taste it, along with some natural apple juice that
we made from the produce of the nearby orchard. Then, we drove
to Tolosa, where we visited the International Puppet Museum. It was
interesting but I, and other members of the group, found some of
the puppets quite creepy. The colourful buildings made some lovely
photos. Finally, we went to the picturesque town of Hondarribia, near
the French border. The buildings reminded me of doll’s houses, and
we walked down the pier where we could get a good view of France.
That evening I had the chance to try some typical food from San
Sebastián, all of which was amazing. It was then that I realised the
teachers were right about the city’s renowned gastronomy!
The journey to the airport the following morning was a sad one; none
of us wanted to leave. We had all had a great week, seen some really
interesting places, tried great new food, improved our Spanish and
made some amazing friends who we can’t wait to see again in March!
A huge thanks on everyone’s behalf to Mr Urreaga, Miss Morales and
our partners at Axular Lizeoa for an unforgettable trip.
Almodóvar On The
Edge –A Spanish
Film Study Day
Umayair Ullah, U6N
A day at the British Film Institute gave the L6 A
Level Hispanists a chance to learn all about the films
directed by Pedro Almodóvar – best known for his
award-winning films such a
s Volver
and
Women on
the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
.
Having known little about Almodóvar before, we were all excited to
find out more. The day began with some clip-based presentations
of Almodóvar’s films. The study day was aimed at A Level Spanish
students from all over the country. The focus of the morning
presentations was on Almodóvar’s style of directing and we learnt
about common themes in his films such as his use of intertextuality
between his movies and his use of character archetypes, as well as
how he cast his characters.
It was interesting to learn about Almodóvar’s clever and unusual
filming techniques and more about the cinematography used, for
example the difference that using a wide angle shot would have
compared to a close up. The day was very interactive and the
presenters got everybody involved by playing clips from Almodóvar’s
films and asking us to note the different shots used in certain scenes
and how they affected us.
In the next presentation, we were taught about Almodóvar’s use of
mise-en-scène to represent marginalised
groups of people. We learnt that all of
Almodóvar’s films try to feature strong
female characters, as a way of trying
to break stereotypes and also send his
audience subliminal messages about the
problems with modern society.
Finally, we were given a chance to relax
and watch one of Almodóvar’s most
famous films –
Volver
. After having
learnt so much about Almodóvar’s
aims and techniques, it was a great
opportunity for us to see all of this in
action and watch his films in a new light.