Category Archives: Events and Competitions

SPANISH FLASH FICTION 2025: THE WINNERS

July 16, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

We are delighted to publish the winning entries for this year’s Spanish Flash Fiction competition. We’ll be publishing the runners up and the highly commended entries for both languages in each age category over the coming weeks.

Thank you and huge congratulations to everyone who entered! The Spanish judging panel were extremely impressed with all the entries we received this year (over 450 of them!), and commented the following about the competition:

We greatly enjoyed reading all of this year’s entries and, as always, were impressed with the level of creativity and inventiveness. We particularly liked the stories that were playful with their perspectives and structure, which we could see had come from moments of personal thought and showcased different opinions and ways of seeing. It was wonderful to see a good command of Spanish throughout, as well as an ability to manipulate the language imaginatively.

Without further ado, here are the winning stories! We hope you enjoy reading them as much as the judges did.

Thank you and huge congratulations to everyone who entered!

Year 7-9 Winner

Emociones coloridas

Los colores se esconden unos de otros. Se esconden para no ser juzgados. El rojo es el amor, se esconde donde cree que no
puede ser encontrado. El amarillo se
esconde no muy cerca pero no muy lejos. El resto de los colores, púrpura es creatividad, blanco es verdad, naranja es ansiedad, verde es naturaleza y crecimiento, están esperando ser encontrados. Ellos esperan ser juzgados por azul, tristeza. Pero azul está triste
porque todos se esconden de él.
Entonces se dieron cuenta que está bien estar triste a veces. Todos se fueron juntos y se volvieron rosa, consuelo.

– Grace Fulcher, Year 9

Year 10-11 Winner

Cesación

-273.15

Cero absoluto. Donde todo termina, donde el tiempo simplemente cesa. El café me quema las manos, pero ya no siento su calor. Mis dedos, fríos como un demonio, a su alrededor. El mundo sigue moviéndose, pero yo estoy quieto. Dicen que el calor es vida pero ¿y si la calma es la respuesta? En mi mente, los átomos se congelan, y el caos desaparece. El universo se detiene en un suspiro, congelado en el tiempo. Y aún así, sigo aquí, atrapado en un mundo que no quiere dejarme ir.

– Anonymous, Year 10

Year 12-13 Winner

La Piña es la soberana de todas las frutas. Dondequiera que vaya, otras frutas se postran o se levantan y aplauden cuando se declara su nombre. Sobre su cabeza se asienta una corona esmeralda, mientras
lleva una armadura de docenas de otras frutas, cuidadosamente elaboradas en cuchillitos que protege su pulpa dorada. Al comerla, produce una mezcla de sabor y picor que causa un sentimiento de hermoso dolor; tan feroz que se dice que hasta hace llorar a las cebollas. Una reliquia cotidiana que ha sobrevivido desde los Mayas, por eso no es de extrañar que su herencia aún viva.

– Gabriel Dada, Year 12

¡Felicidades a todos los ganadores!

Events and Competitions, French

FRENCH FLASH FICTION 2025: THE WINNERS

July 9, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

We are delighted to publish the winning entries for this year’s French Flash Fiction competition. We’ll be publishing the winning entries for Spanish, as well as the runners up and the highly commended entries for both languages in each age category over the coming weeks.

Thank you and huge congratulations to everyone who entered! The French judging panel were extremely impressed with all the entries we received this year (over 847 of them!), and commented the following about the competition:

Thank you all for another year of delightful and intriguing stories. In just a hundred words, you impressed us with pieces about family love, mischievous cats, talking music boxes, aeroplane fiascos, mysterious mirrors, alien invasions, snail restauranteurs, and doner kebabs. We particularly enjoyed the creative range of literary styles: verse poetry and prose, theatre and slang, riddles and tongue-twisters. Congratulations to all of you for your courage in experimenting with language in such fascinating ways.

Without further ado, here are the winning stories! We hope you enjoy reading them as much as the judges did.

Years 7-9 winner

La berceuse d’une libellule
J’ai vu
Les dinosaures apparaître et disparaître,
Le continent de Pangée se diviser en sept morceaux,
Le roi être né,
Les sorcières brûlées,
Versailles en silence,
L’archiduc assassiné,
Des alliances formées
Et brisées,
La Pologne envahie,
Des innocents morts,
Des livres détruits,
A huit heures le port-aux- perles en décombre.
La bombe,
Une nouvelle guerre.
La terre se réchauffe.
Une libellule presque invisible se repose par terre,
Sa petite tête baissée,
Ses ailes cassées,
Elle ne voit plus.

– Alexandra Davies, Year 9

Years 10-11 winner

Une énigme pour vous…
Je brise la glace sans un bruit;
Une étoile filante au milieu de la nuit.
J’éclaire la journée,
Mais je ne suis pas le soleil.
Je travaille le mieux
Quand tout semble désespéré.
Je peux être en retard,
Mais jamais trop vite.
Je n’utilise pas de mots;
La langue la plus pratique.
Je me cache parmi les étrangers,
Mais je suis seulement en train de reposer,
Un diamant brut,
Beau une fois révélé.
Le reflet d’un coeur heureux,
Je ne veux jamais dire adieu.
Qu’est-ce que je suis?
Un vrai sourire.

– Ayami Ginneliya, Year 10

Years 12-13 winner

Les Mots Qu’on Traduit Pas
Un mur contient chaque mot; l’encre coule. Si l’on pose le doigt, n’importe quel mot peut être tracé ; les autres restent invisibles.
Je suis assis, observant la mer anglaise. Juste la semaine dernière, j’étais à Pont Neuf, me sentant un peu frileux.
Il semble que j’aie l’air troublé. Ma tante, locale, m’introduit à Falmouth, puis sourit bienveillamment. “You’ll adapt,” dit-elle.
Sur le sable, elle écrit « peace ». Moi, je trace dépaysement.
Les vagues effacent nos mots, mais la rémanence demeure. Et c’est très bien comme ça. Au-delà des actualités et banalités, il existe un calme dans les mots qu’on traduit pas.

– Sela Keliane Diasivi, Year 12

Félicitations à tous nos gagnants!

Events and Competitions, Teachers

2025 Language Teachers’ Conference

June 27, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

Here at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, we are delighted to share details about this year’s Language Teachers’ Conference which will take place on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 September 2025 at Somerville College, Oxford.

Our annual conference has developed out of the Sir Robert Taylor Society (named after the founder of the Faculty’s Languages Library), a network of teachers of Modern Foreign Languages in secondary schools, academics from the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford, and others interested in MFL.

This conference is now a core aspect of the Faculty’s Schools Liaison work, and provides a unique forum for interaction and exchange between the University and teachers. It offers teachers the chance to spend a night in an Oxford college, to attend various taster lectures and discussions, and to ask our academics and admissions tutors questions about our courses, research, and supporting students’ applications to Oxford.

Conference Programme

2025 sees us re-invigorating our standard conference programme to make it more interactive and collaborative. For the first time, the Conference will have a theme – ‘Collaboration and Connections’ – which will underpin all of the sessions and talks that are taking place across the two days. We hope that, by creating more space for meaningful discussions, teacher-led content, and undergraduate student perspectives, the event will provide more useful opportunities for delegates and Faculty members to share best practice, network, and learn from one another.

We are pleased to be holding the conference at Somerville College once again after a successful event last year. Somerville was established in 1879 as a hall for women, who were barred from the university at the time, and throughout its history it has remained committed to equality. Today, Somerville marries beautiful architecture with a proud emphasis on inclusivity and diversity.

Prospective students and their families look around Somerville College

The full provisional event programme can be found here and more information about the conference is available here.

A particular highlight of this year’s programme is scheduled for Saturday morning – our ‘Collaboration carousel’ session will involve invited MFL teachers speaking about the exciting and innovative projects they have been working on within their school or local area to promote language learning.

Delegate rates and booking

Below are the various rates and ticket options available for both state and independent school teachers.

	State school rate	Independent school rate
Full conference, including accommodation and breakfast	£150	£300
Full conference, excluding accommodation	£100	£220
Friday only	£50	£110
Saturday only	£50	£110

Please visit our online bookings webpage to secure your place. You will need to create an account (or log in if you’ve used our website before) and select the right rate for your school type and length of attendance. Bookings will close on Monday 8th September.

We have a select number of fully subsidised places available for non-selective state schools. The Faculty has some funding set aside to cover the cost of the conference ticket and to reimburse reasonable travel expenses for teachers from these schools travelling to and from Oxford. Preference will be given to schools that either:

have never attended the conference before (or that have not attended in the last few years);
are located in areas of the country from which fewer students attend University;
have high proportions of students on Free School Meals.

If you wish to apply for one of these places, please fill in this very short form by Tuesday 1^st July at midday.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing you in September!

Events and Competitions, German, German Literature, Recommended Reading, Resources for language study

A German Classic Prize 2025 – Rainer Maria Rilke’s New Poems (Neue Gedichte)

June 11, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

The Oxford German Network are delighted to announce the launch of this year’s ‘A German Classic’- our annual essay competition for sixth-form students. This year we would like to invite you to read with us a selection of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926), widely regarded as one of the most important German-language poets.

In addition to our essay competition, we introduce a Discovery Section designed especially for those with no prior knowledge of German, making the competition more accessible than ever.

We have put together a free study pack, including a set of multimedia materials, that will help you delve into Rilke’s compelling poems, even if it’s the first time you’ve read a poem.

Selected poems:

Der Panther (The Panther)
Das Einhorn (The Unicorn)
Jugend-Bildnis meines Vaters (Portrait of My Father as a Young Man)
Römische Fontäne (Roman Fountain)
Das Karussell (The Merry-Go-Round)
Spanische Tänzerin (Spanish Dancer)
Archaïscher Torso Apollos (Archaic Torso of Apollo)
Papageien-Park (The Parrot House)
Die Flamingos (The Flamingos)
Der Ball (The Ball)

Prizes:

Up to three prizes will be awarded for each section:

for the essay competition, we will award a first prize of £500, a second prize of £300, and a third prize of £100
for the discovery section, we will award a first prize of £200, a second prize of £100, and a third prize of £50.

Prizes will only be awarded if work is of sufficient merit. All entrants will receive a prize certificate or a certificate of participation.

Study Packs:

Throughout July, we will be publishing ideas for further reading and free multimedia resources, including a series of podcast episodes we recorded especially for this competition, on our website.

We also encourage all students interested in entering the competition to email their UK correspondence address to the Prize Coordinator Santhia Velasco Kittlaus (germanclassic@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk) by 12 noon on 10
July to receive a free study pack.

After 10 July, study packs will be posted for free to those who request them by this date. If you get in touch after this date, we cannot guarantee to post you a full pack, but we will email you a copy of the secondary literature reader.

Eligibility:

Entrants must fulfil the following requirements as of September 2025:

be beginning their final year of full-time study at a secondary school in the UK (upper sixth form, Year 13 or S6 in Scotland);
be between the ages of 16 and 18;
hold a GCSE, IGCSE or equivalent qualification (in German for the essay) offered in the UK;
be resident in the United Kingdom. Entrants are not, however, expected to have prior experience of studying German literature.

Entries can be submitted via two online forms — here and here. The deadline for submitting your entry is Monday 8th September at 12 noon.

More details about the prize — including essay questions, submission guidelines, judging criteria, and more — can be found here.

Viel Glück!

Events and Competitions, French, Spanish

2025 Flash Fiction Competition Results

June 4, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

In December 2024, we launched our annual Flash Fiction competitions, which closed at the end of March. The competitions were open to students in Years 7 to 13, who were tasked with writing a short story of no more than 100 words in French and/or Spanish.

We had an incredible response, with entries coming in from all areas across the country! In total, we received over 1200 submissions across the two languages!

We would like to thank everyone who entered the competition and commend you all for your hard work and creativity in writing a piece of fiction in a different language. This is a challenging exercise, and a significant achievement – congratulations all!

We are delighted to be able to announce the winners, runners up, and highly commended entries for each language below. We will be publishing the stories over the summer so you can read them for yourselves.

French

In the Years 7-9 category, the winner is Alexandra Davies. The runners-up are Christian Thomas and Poppy Simblet.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Tabitha Bridgeman, Sarwin Shangar, Ellie Malloch, Jemima James, Prem Patel, Dhilan Thanki, Laonie Caron, Silvia Herratt, and Eva Gracovia.

In the Years 10-11 category, the winner is Ayami Ginneliya. The runners-up are Benedict Onalo and Arthur Mourot.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Maryam Zulqarnain, Will Eyre, Todd Graham, Zara Amjad, Faith Obum-Uchendu, Elizabella Macleay-Wood, Florence Datta, Izzy Anderson, Aayushi Dhelaria, and Antoinette Aluge.

In the Years 12-13 category, the winner is Sela Keliane Diasivi. The runner-ups are Nini Ren and Ka Kin Andreas Lam.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Sofia McAllister, Dominica Kay-Shuttleworth, Eddie Henderson, Eva Saunders, Preona Mohan, Gia Namoa, Luke Roberts, Amelia Richardson, Andreea Denisa Taranu, and Annabelle Lavin.

The French judging panel were very impressed with this year’s submitted stories, and commented the following about all the entries:

Thank you all for another year of delightful and intriguing stories. In just a hundred words, you impressed us with pieces about family love, mischievous cats, talking music boxes, aeroplane fiascos, mysterious mirrors, alien invasions, snail restauranteurs, and doner kebabs. We particularly enjoyed the creative range of literary styles: verse poetry and prose, theatre and slang, riddles and tongue-twisters. Congratulations to all of you for your courage in experimenting with language in such fascinating ways.

Spanish

In the Years 7-9 category, the winner is Grace Fulcher. The runner up is Willa Stevenson.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Qaya Anand, Benjamin Brown, Maria Temowo, Sai Sudharshana Sathish Kumar, Ella Gabso, Momore Sina-Atanda, Kimora Newby, Chloe Crowther, Jasparan Leeson-Kings, and Zaynah Arshad.

In the Years 10-11 category, the winner is Anonymous. The runners-up are Jaami Sheikh and Jaya Sharma Patel.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Cecilia Linden, Anonymous, Anonymous, Tulaxsaa Sutharsan, Ilana Bartlette, Kashvi Maharshi, Isabel Marchi-Abatti, Jasmine Dix, Madeline Sandford, and Lalith Surapaneni.

In the Years 12-13 category, the winner is Gabriel Dada. The runners-up are Lydia Furniss and Ohemaa Ofosua Bruce Oppong-Agyare.

The judges also identified the following entrants as highly commended: Heloise Morel, Mahi Sainani, Melissa Muthama, Monica Singh, Thea Spackman, Yuet Ching Gabrielle Kam, Samiah Iqbal Kausar, Luke Roberts, Gagani Katugampala, and Amelie Pugsley.

The Spanish judging panel were very impressed with this year’s submitted stories, and commented the following about all the entries:

We greatly enjoyed reading all of this year’s entries and, as always, were impressed with the level of creativity and inventiveness. We particularly liked the stories that were playful with their perspectives and structure, which we could see had come from moments of personal thought and showcased different opinions and ways of seeing. It was wonderful to see a good command of Spanish throughout, as well as an ability to manipulate the language imaginatively.

****

Huge congratulations everyone – you should be very proud of your achievement!

Events and Competitions, Multilingualism, Portuguese, Teachers, Translation

Stephen Spender Prize 2025

May 28, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

Calling MFL, EAL and English teachers! Bring creative translation into the classroom this summer with the Stephen Spender Prize 2025!

The Stephen Spender Prize is an annual competition for poetry in translation that celebrates the creativity of young people across the UK and Ireland – and their teachers! The Prize has categories schools, teachers and individual young people, which welcome translations from all languages, as well as a special ‘Spotlight‘ strand that each year focuses on a different widely spoken home or heritage language.

Open for entries 1 May to 31 July | Free entry for all young people and teachers in the UK and Ireland!

Whether you’re an MLF, EAL or English teacher, and whatever the languages taught and spoken in your school community, the prize is a perfect way to engage students of all ages this summer term.

Teachers can register here to receive classroom inspiration and activity ideas throughout the prize window, and you can follow all the latest news on our website and social media channels below.

Ready to start planning and working on your entries? Visit our Guide for Teachers page for all the key information about the prize at a glance, and explore our Stephen Spender Prize Resources hub for Teaching Resources and Student Resources to guide you and your pupils through every step of entering the prize.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at prize@stephen-spender.org. We hope that many of you and your students will get involved this year!

Website: www.stephen-spender.org | X: @StephenSpender| Facebook: @StephenSpenderTrust | Instagram: @stephenspendertrust | Bluesky: @stephenspender.bsky.social

Events and Competitions, Teachers

Oxford Admissions Webinar series

May 21, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

St Hilda’s College is embarking on a webinar series for state school students that will look in detail at the Oxford admissions process and is aimed at students at different stages in their applications.

People punting on the River Cherwell, St Hilda’s College

Whilst information about the University of Oxford will be given, please note that the first and last talks will also focus on university in general and how to make informed decisions about the future.

The series involves a number of different online sessions, as follows:

Wednesday 18th June (16:00-16:45)- ‘How to choose a course and a university’

Thursday 19th June (19:00-20:00)- ‘An overview of the Oxford admissions process (for teachers)’

Wednesday 9th July 2025 (16:00-16:45)- ‘An overview of the Oxford admissions process (for students)’

Wednesday 16th July (16:00-16:45)- UCAS personal statement

These are all aimed at state school students (Years 10-13) and/or teachers, depending on the talk.

More information and the registration forms can be found here:
St Hilda’s College Outreach Webinars | St Hilda’s College Oxford

Please direct any questions towards outreach@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk.

Applying to study modern languages, Events and Competitions, Open Days, Student life, Studying at Oxford

Reminder: Modern Languages Open Day!

May 7, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

It’s not too late to register your place at our Modern Languages Open Day at the beautiful Examination Schools (75 – 81 High St, Oxford) on Saturday 17th May!

Modern Languages Open Day 2022
photo (c) John Cairns

This event is a fantastic opportunity for students who are interested in learning more about our language courses, or who are still considering their options, as all of our languages will be represented at this Open Day:

French
German*
Spanish
Italian*
Russian*
Portuguese*
Modern Greek*
Czech with Slovak*
Polish*.

*All of these languages can be studied here at Oxford from beginners’ level.

Most of our Joint School degree combinations – languages with English, History, Philosophy etc. – will also be represented at the event.

Our Modern Languages Open Day is aimed primarily at Year 12 students and their parents/guardians/teachers, but Year 11 students who are starting to think about university study are equally welcome to attend.

The Open Day will offer an overview of our Modern Languages courses and a general Q&A for prospective students in the morning*, with individual language sessions and a Q&A session for parents’/guardians’/teachers in the afternoon. Tutors and current students from the Faculty will be available throughout the day to answer questions from prospective applicants and their companions.

*Please note that, due to restricted places, only one parent/guardian/teacher may accompany each student for the morning session.

You can view the event programme here.

Booking your place at this event is compulsory – you can register your attendance here. Bookings will close at midnight on 14th May 2025.

Any questions can be directed to schools.liaison@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk.

We look forward to seeing lots of you in May and welcoming you to Oxford!

Careers, Events and Competitions, French, German, Spanish, Why study languages?

GCHQ Language Outreach virtual sessions!

April 30, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

GCHQ are excited to invite teachers and their Year 8 & 9 students to participate in their upcoming GCHQ Language Outreach virtual sessions!

Our program aims to inspire and encourage students to explore new languages or advance their existing skills.

Session Overview:

Introduction to work at GCHQ

Discover the mission behind GCHQ and how languages play a significant part in our work.

Taster sessions

Engage in interactive sessions for Spanish, German and French, designed to provide students with a glimpse into each language and its culture.

We believe that exposing students to different languages can spark interest and motivate them to pursue language studies further. Please follow the guidance below if you feel this maybe of benefit to you and your students.

RSVP:

To confirm your participation, please fill out this Microsoft Form.

We understand that some school computer network policies may not allow access to hyperlinks so if you do encounter any issues, or would rather reply directly, please feel free to email Gordon54585@gchq.gov.uk with your attendance confirmation, choice of date and language. The slide above provides a brief breakdown of the session but we are happy to respond to any questions you may have or give more details.

Virtual session dates & times:

Friday 6^th June 2025, 11.30-12.30: French, Spanish, German

Wednesday 25^th June 2025, 10.30-11.30: French, Spanish, German

Tuesday 15^th July 2025, 13.30-14.30: French, Spanish, German

Applying to study modern languages, Events and Competitions, Studying at Oxford, Teachers

Oxford Admissions webinars

April 2, 2025 Schools Liaison Leave a comment

Keble College is running online sessions to provide information and guidance on aspects of the Oxford admissions process during the summer term. These offer opportunities to receive up-to-date advice and guidance on applying to Oxford, and have questions answered by University staff. All sessions are open to Year 12 (or equivalent) currently attending a UK state school or college, and/or those supporting a prospective student in this category.

Keble College and the Beecroft Building from University Parks

Please see the tables below for this year’s webinar schedule for prospective students and those supporting them.

Admissions Webinar Schedule: Summer 2025

Webinars for prospective students
Please note: sessions with the same title are duplicates

Date	Time	Session
Tuesday 27th May	2pm	Oxford Explained
Tuesday 27th May	4pm	Super-Curricular Activities
Wednesday 28th May	2pm	Personal Statements (new format)
Thursday 29th May	2pm	Preparing for Oxford Interviews
Monday 23rd June	7pm	Oxford Explained
Tuesday 24th June	7pm	Personal Statements (new format)
Thursday 26th June	7pm	Admissions Tests at Oxford
Monday 28th July	2pm	Super-Curricular Activities
Tuesday 29th July	2pm	Personal Statements (new format)
Wednesday 30th July	2pm	Admissions Tests at Oxford
Thursday 31st July	2pm	Preparing for Oxford Interviews

Parent, Carer & Supporter Webinars

Date	Time
Thursday 29th May	7pm
Tuesday 8th July	7pm
Thursday 31st July	7pm

Registration is open until 8am on the day of each webinar. You will be sent joining details after this time, regardless of when you register.

Any questions can be directed to outreach@keble.ox.ac.uk.

A blog for students and teachers of Years 11 to 13, and anyone else with an interest in Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures, written by the staff and students of Oxford University. Updated every Wednesday!