A pair of students from the Victorian School of Languages (VSL) in Dandenong have topped the state.
Borbala Szalo, a student of Hungarian, and Sanya Verma, a Hindi student, each received the top score in Victoria for their language studies.
They were honoured with prestigious 2021 Premier’s Awards.
On top of their five-day-a-week schooling, Ms Verma and Ms Szalo attended VSL either face-to-face or by remote learning on Saturday mornings in 2020.
Starting Hindi classes in Year 7, Ms Verma wanted to learn to read and write the language and improve her oral skills.
She believes being able to communicate with others is a unique skill that we all need to have, VSL South East area manager Heather Rae said.
“She explains that if you want to succeed in VCE, you need to stand out in your ideas and the way you think.”
Ms Verma hopes to work the field of data science and IT and believes her language skills will help take her career to a world platform.
She said that 2020 was challenging for all students.
“I think all language learners will agree that the hardest aspect was not being able to practise our oral skills due to the lack of verbal communication through online classes,” Ms Verma said.
“I was able to overcome this difficulty by putting more effort into speaking Hindi at home with my family, communicating with relatives in India and watching Hindi news to improve my listening and speaking skills.”
Meanwhile, Ms Szalo chose to study at the VSL because Hungarian was not offered at her school.
She quickly came to enjoy learning about Hungary’s history and culture, as well as speaking her heritage language with proficiency and skill.
“In terms of overall language improvement, my advice to younger students would be to immerse yourself in the language outside the classroom,” Ms Szalo said.
“A great way to do this is through entertainment, like reading or watching movies.”
Ms Szalo aims to study science and engineering, with hopes to work in a meteorology or engineering field.
The VSL’s language program is offered by the Department of Education and Training to students from foundation to Year 12 who do not have access to the study of those languages in their own school.
Classes are available to students from Government, Catholic and Independent schools.
The Dandenong centre is based at Dandenong High School. It offers courses in Chinese, Dari, Filipino, Hindi, Hungarian, Kannada, Persian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Turkish and Urdu classes on Saturdays through school terms.
Further languages are also offered at Hampton Park, Berwick, Carwatha (Noble Park) and Mentone.
Details: www.vsl.vic.edu.au or 9474 0500.
