Learning other languages enables children and young people to make connections with different people and their cultures and to play a fuller part as global citizens.

Learning through the languages area of the curriculum enables children and young people to:

• develop their ability to communicate their thoughts and feelings and respond to those of other people

• develop the high level of skills in listening, talking, reading and writing which are essential for learning, work and life

• use different media effectively for learning and communication

• develop a secure understanding of how language works, and use language well to communicate ideas and information in English and other languages

• exercise their intellectual curiosity by questioning and developing their understanding, and use creative and critical thinking to synthesise ideas and arguments

• enhance their enjoyment and their understanding of their own and other cultures through literature and other forms of language

• develop competence in different languages so that they can understand and communicate including, for some, in work settings.

It is important for the nation’s prosperity that young people are attracted to learning a modern language and that they become confident users of a modern language, well equipped with the skills needed in the new Europe and in the global marke

The ability to use language lies at the centre of thinking and learning. The interconnected nature of language learning lies at the heart of the modern languages experiences and outcomes. By the time they begin their study of a modern language in primary 1, learners will have acquired their home language(s) and will be beginning to study English in a school context.

Teachers are in an ideal position to help children build the target language alongside their undertstanding of English and in other home or community languages and to help them to learn a new language (for example, how to listen, speak, read, write and how to understand phonics), and how this will help them to learn a new language.

However, the learning of a new language also provides the opportunity to help learners to reflect on their first language and actively seek comparisons between the features of their first and second languages. In this way, teachers delivering modern languages have a unique contribution to make in helping learners not only to reflect on the skills required to learn a new language, but also to revisit, improve and understand more securely aspects of literacy in their first language.

At Berryhill children will begin learning French in Primary 6 and continue this into Primary 7, giving them a good grounding of a second language for progressing onto Secondary School.