Qld school wins worldwide language competition

A group of clever and motivated Queensland students has outclassed 1,000 schools from 12 countries to win a global online language competition.

Education, Training and Employment Minister John-Paul Langbroek today praised Benowa State High School’s students and teachers for their hard work and determination to win the Language Perfect World Championships for the third consecutive year.

“It gives me great pride, especially on the day of our first State of Origin to celebrate Benowa’s Junior Secondary students’ score of 1.5 million, more than double the number of its two closest rivals – Girraween High School and North Sydney Girls’ High School in New South Wales,” Mr Langbroek said.

“It’s wonderful to see schools like Benowa continuing to set the international standard in the world’s largest online languages competition”.

Four Queensland students were the best in the world in the following languages: Varsity College (Chinese), Mackay North State High School (Tongan), Brisbane State High School (Italian), and Benowa State High School (Greek).

Another Benowa student performed well across numerous languages to take second place in the most questions answered category, clocking up a staggering 43,194 questions.

“More than 250 Junior Secondary language students at Benowa took part answering 3,739,268 questions in 17 languages,” he said.

The Language Perfect Championships is a New Zealand-based, annual competition that allows students to learn by translating between English and a foreign language and competing with other students from all over the world.

Mr Langbroek said Benowa students had worked hard to retain their world championship crown during the 10-day competition from 20 to 30 May.

“This is a significant achievement and shows the dedication of Benowa’s language teachers who are working hard to improve student performance,” he said.

Benowa State High School Executive Principal Mark Rickard said winning the competition had created an increased interest in the study of languages with the school introducing Italian and Spanish classes this year in addition to French and Japanese.

“Part of our strategy has been to link the competition to the curriculum where student participation and results are part of assessment,” Mr Rickard said.

Mr Langbroek also congratulated All Saints Anglican School, Tamborine Mountain State High School, Robina State High School and Townsville Grammar School on their success in being in the top five in Queensland.

[ENDS] 5 June 2013

Media contact: Minister’s Office 3237 1000