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Family to revel in language learning rivalry
The strong rivalry between France and Italy will take on a particularly Australian accent in the months ahead for the Douglas family of Buderim.
All five family members have signed up for short course language programs starting in July at the University of the Sunshine Coast, with two of the family favouring French and the other three leaning towards Italian.
Ian Douglas, who owns Mooloolaba Yacht Brokers, wants to improve his French as his company imports yachts from France.
Youngest daughter Kelly will travel with him to the Paris Boat Show later this year and she, too, hopes to attain some fluency in French.
Her sisters, Shanna and Abby, and mum, Jenny, said they had always wanted to learn a second language and were fascinated by the Italian culture.
Shanna said she expected a family showdown, featuring plenty of interesting pronunciation, when the two groups battle to become the fastest learners.
“We’ll try to outdo each other in French and Italian, that’s for sure. There will definitely be some form of competition happening,” she said.
The eight-week language programs in French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish will begin at the University of the Sunshine Coast in late July.
Course organiser Elizabeth Henzell said the eight-week Interact courses were structured to ensure personal attention and to enable students to interact with native speakers.
Beginners’ classes in all seven languages and Level 2 in French will be held each Tuesday night from 24 July to 11 September from 6.30-8.30pm.
Level 2 classes in the other six languages, as well as Level 3 in French, will be held each Wednesday night from 25 July to 12 September from 6.30-8.30pm.
Students must register for the courses by contacting Elizabeth Henzell on 0409 523 130, 5459 4724 or at <ehenzel2@usc.edu.au>. The cost of $260 includes all materials.
Ms Henzell said the courses were fun and had a unique teaching structure.
“Weeks one, three, five and seven are teaching nights with grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary building being the focus,” she said.
“Weeks two, four, six and eight are the native speaker nights when the students get to work with native speakers doing language activities.
“The ratio of one native speaker to five students ensures that students get the opportunity to fast-track their audio and pronunciation skills.”