We had a fantastic time celebrating the European Day of Languages on Friday 25^th September despite many restrictions from Covid-19.

As we were mainly teaching Sixth Form pupils on Friday morning, we had an interview with the wife of a famous sculptor in Brittany, France. Seenu Shanmugam, sculptor originally from India, arrived in France 15 years ago where he married a French woman called Gabrielle Bourgeois. When Seenu arrived in France, he could not speak much French but, after 6 months in Paris with an intensive language course, he quickly became fluent. After their short stay in Paris, they both chose to live in Brittany (Les Côtes d’Armor) because it reminded Seenu of where he had been brought up in the South East of India, Mamallapuram, or Mahabalipuram. Also, Les Côtes d’Armor are well known for the beautiful Pink Granite, a hard but amazing stone to sculpt.

During the interview with Gabrielle, the pupils asked many questions related to her family, the success of Seenu as a sculptor and more importantly the association of Seenu with “La Vallée des Saints” in Brittany where he has sculpted over 20 monumental sculptures since 2009. The aim of the interview was to show that languages are tools, but they allow you to have a successful career if you are able to speak new languages and adapt to new cultures.

Seenu was a very successful businessman in India and he had to speak English in order to make sure that his business worked. Then, once in France, he decided to learn French to integrate into the French Society/culture and become a successful sculptor. In Spanish, pupils enjoyed many games and quizzes in the target language.

Mme Agathe Webb - Head of MFL