On Friday the 13th of March, Stockholm International school celebrated their second annual language fair. Similar to the last one, apart from that this was an opportunity for the students of grade 9 and 10 to express their knowledge of the current foreign language they are studying, be it French, Spanish, Swedish or English. The evening was themed “Heroes”, and all of the students presented their heroes in various ways, either in groups or individually.

At 16:30, the presentations began simultaneously as different languages performed in different classrooms. The students studying French, worked in groups and structured their presentations as short plays in French. Some plays were about the zombie apocalypse which I found, and I’m sure the audience would agree, very pleasantly entertaining! Not to mention the quality acting skills and use of expressions of some which really helped raise the standard. The topic of the night was incorporated by the survivors being saved by their hero, which to the disappointment of some girls, unfortunately wasn’t Brad Pitt… A couple of other oral presentations were done in the form of a conversation about various characters in the past and their love stories and lives. At one point I even recall having spotted Spider-Man somewhere in the mix of the ‘French room’, however I unfortunately have no further explanation as to why as he refused to pose for the camera and disappeared. I guess only Peter Parker can photograph Spider-Man after all!

The English language section consisted of students putting themselves in the shoes of their role models and heroes and going through an interview structured presentation about their career with their teacher. I enjoyed it and thought it was a creative idea to live ‘a day in the life’ of their favourite character or celebrity. Each student had some sort of presentation or poster to accompany their presentations.

The Spanish language section were presenting in the form of a play, presentation, games and music. Typically representing the Spanish culture; it was fun, entertaining and even involved the audience taking part as well!

Last but not least; the Swedish students… the students were giving individual presentations in Swedish about their heroes and who inspires them, varying from volunteer workers to athletes to parents, all of the students talked with passion about who inspired them and in most cases really captured the audience’s attention. Taking turns one by one and giving the audience and teacher an opportunity to ask question at the end. This was a simple and very effective way to express knowledge and share inspirations with fellow students.

Once all the classes finished, all the students got together in the main hall and enjoyed food from the buffet to mark an evening and a whole education with such diversity.

Admittedly, I was blown away by the knowledge which some people have acquired over the course of the year. For example some people in the English class who have recently moved here are making impressive progress. Again, some students doing whole presentations in French without a script and as if that was not enough, they had the accents dialled too! I enjoyed participating and it makes me proud to be part of a school that values acquiring languages and sees their importance for the future development of every individual. Congratulations to all who put the hard work in and contributed to such an event which continues to promote the school and radiates with positivity.