Plymouth College pupil, Claire Tinmanee, 14, has won the Key Stage 4 category of a regional languages competition. Claire took the non-native title in the Routes into Languages MFL Speaking Competition, held at the University of Bath.
With the most finalists from any school, Luc Dewulf, 17, was runner up in the Key Stage 5 near-native section. Claire and Luc made the final along with Victoria Vincent and Mae Dartnell after success at the sub-regional round in March.
Students from Plymouth College also competed in the 2013 competition, where Tom Daley, the Olympic Bronze Medallist, was runner up in the KS5 Non-native section. He later spoke about the importance of modern foreign languages at the regional final in Exeter in 2013.
Daley said at the event:
“I do all my interviews in Spanish, all my media in Spanish, I do lots of translations for Press Conferences when I am away as well”. Addressing the audience, Tom expressed why he believes it is important for young people to learn a language, “It does come in handy a lot for what I do and I think for anyone really, learning a language is one of the best things you could possibly do.”
Plymouth College in the rankings
Read a full list of the winners here: https://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/south-west/news/3817
Find out more about the Routes into Languages Competition here: https://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/about/