Language trip to Emirates Stadium

Report by Ms Alnajafi
Since the start of January, the Modern Foreign Languages department have teamed up with Arsenal Double Club to encourage language acquisition through football and sports terminology. Year 8 students at MBS have had their football caps on and taken part in a range of classroom and outdoor activities to communicate on the pitch in both Spanish and French. A huge thank you to members of the PE department for their support with this.

To celebrate the end of this unit, Ms Alnajafi arranged an opportunity for students to visit Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium on Wednesday for a VIP tour and languages quiz. Students were selected upon a strong application form and personal statement in Spanish or French. On Tuesday 12th February Ms Alnajafi, Ms Legg and Ms Fine took 30 students to visit the stadium. The visit began with a tour of the Arsenal museum which boasted the team’s rich history and cabinets of trophies. Students were then taken to the Director’s Lounge to sit in VIP seats and soak in a panoramic view of the stadium.

We then began the languages quiz in pairs which involved solving riddles, clues and acrostic poems in Spanish or French. Throughout the quiz, students saw the Away and Home changing rooms; the pitch; the players’ hydrotherapy spa and the media rooms where Unai Emery and Koscielny congregrate with members of the press after a match.

At the end of the tour, the pair with the most correct answers won a set of medals. But it doesn’t stop there...all students were awarded with an Arsenal Double Club certificate and T-shirt. The lovely Kassym was also selected to win a signed T-shirt from Laurent Koscielny for his impressive knowledge of football language!

Overall, the visit was a success and students thoroughly enjoyed the trip. A huge thank you to Steve from Arsenal Double Club for hosting us at Emirates and we hope to launch this initiative again next academic year!