My LOTE Experience
I graduated from Mount Lawley Senior High School in 2001, after entering on the Languages Other Than English (LOTE) Program in Year Eight. I studied Mandarin and French to TEE level, and this opened up many opportunities for me, both during and beyond my high school years. Today Mandarin is an indispensable part of my job as a Project Officer at the China Desk of the Department of Industry and Resources.
In Year 10, I visited China with classmates and students from other schools. In Year 11, my whole French class went to France. Both trips were a combination of sightseeing and language experience, particularly as we had home-stay arrangements, but mostly they were fun. They also gave me some of the encouragement I needed to persevere with language study in spite of the fact that I did not always get the best academic results in language classes.
Going into Year 11 I noticed many of my friends dropping out of language study to concentrate on other subjects. While I didn’t necessarily get as high a TER as I might have otherwise, I definitely feel that my decision to continue with both languages paid off. Thankfully today more and more Universities are providing extra credit for students who take languages in the TEE.
In Year 11, I was selected for the AFS-Australia China Council Short Study Program and spent one month studying in Beijing with nine other Mandarin language students from around Australia. Over the month my Chinese improved but more importantly I was inspired to work harder at improving my Chinese skills. In Beijing we were introduced to older Australian students who were studying at a Chinese university as part of the Australia China Council’s Australian Young Scholars in China Program. I was impressed by their skills but also encouraged by the fact that they had no background in Chinese besides studying it at high school, and no advantage over me; I could hope to become as good as them.
On returning to Perth I applied for, and won, a fully funded place in the Australian Young Scholars in China program, and spent the year after high school living, and studying Mandarin, in Beijing, and travelling around China.
Back in Perth I continued my studies in Mandarin and completed a degree in Asian Studies at the University of Western Australia and then a Masters degree in International Affairs at the Australian National University. While I credit my periods of study in China with the language skills I have today, those opportunities were open to me because I started in high school. Starting language study early is definitely an important advantage, many university language students have told me that they wished they had had the opportunity or the foresight to start studying a second language at school.
I graduated from university last year and now work with the China team in the Western Australian Global Network at the Department of Industry and Resources. The China team is responsible for maintaining and enhancing WA’s relationship with China including both trade and cultural exchange. Our role is to promote trade and investment with Western Australia, and identify business opportunities for WA companies in China and also opportunities for cultural co-operation such as student exchanges. We organise a number of special activities with our sister state, Zhejiang. We research and provide up-to-date trade and cultural information on China. We also assist WA ministers when they go on official visits to China and we host VIP visitors from China when they come to WA and help arrange their itineraries. My job is very diverse and everyday I am doing something different. Most of us in the China team speak Chinese, some were born in China, others, like me, were born in Australia. Generally, our visitors are delighted and flattered that we make the effort to speak to them in Chinese.
Emily Edwards
