SCIE Language Faculty Week

The week before the National Day Holiday was the ‘Language Faculty Week’. During this week, the language faculty organised a variety of activities, in which students experienced the fun of language learning in a relaxing atmosphere.

Teachers’ Sharing

Escape Room

“Welcome. It seems you’ve taken the bait, as expected. Sherlock Holmes, the so-called ‘world’s greatest detective,’ has finally fallen into my hands. But this time, it’s not him I need to outwit… it’s you.”

This spine-chilling introduction played as one walked into the Escape Room constructed as one of the activities for the Languages Faculty week.

From searching for clues, to finding hidden number patterns, the race was now on to rescue Sherlock Holmes. Students, equipped with a set of props to aid their exciting adventure, were tasked to decipher hints within each section to complete the final mathematical task. With a time limit of 30 minutes, students raced to untangle the plethora of clues, leading them to a final lock that they would need to free the great detective.

Intricately designed themed sections – all linked to a classic English novel – were designed to create a fantastical atmosphere, in which students could immerse themselves and participate individually or in groups. A spectacular experience of heightened emotions, elaborate scenes and hijinks allowed students to forget the mundane and plunge into the depths of a harrowing escape.

Japanese Performance

Narrator: “Mina san. Genki desu ka?”

Audience: “Haai!”

This was prologue to the 2024 Japanese drama production held in Languages Faculty week. Traditionally, this has been a co-production from the Japanese and Drama departments. This year, tradition went out the door with an ambitious move from an evening performance in the Drama Studio to a lunchtime performance in Halo theatre … and a packed house of 200 students and teachers.

There was an audible buzz of anticipation as the audience took their seats around 12:55. Pre-curtain excitement was partially due to audience awareness that the 4-scene play about to unfold was based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award winning animated film, Spirited Away.

Under the direction of Ms. Bianca Lin, on-stage imagery brought the animation to life with Japanese costumes that evoked pre-modern Japan. The on-stage presence of the personified river god, (played by Jeff Xu), and other spiritual beings created a Shinto-esque atmosphere. The effect was to make the audience at times enthralled, at times sympathetic to the plight of the main character, Chihiro, (played by Heidi Wong), and at times laughing out loud at the on-stage mischief.

Visual effects helped to present locations and an all-cast song during the performance helped to bring out the talents of this group of students – incredibly, only one drama student amongst them. Under the guidance of Ms. Lisa Quan and Ms. Connie Fu, speaking lines were delivered and emoted in impeccable Japanese; monitors assisted the audience with Chinese and English translations.

A 1:30 a curtain call thanked the audience with a chorus of ‘arigato gozaimasu’, followed by rapturous applause.

The Mid Autumn Lantern Riddle Guessing

Traveling through three thousand years of history, the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2024 has arrived. Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in an elegant and poetic way and extending romance to the campus, is the theme of this year’s SCIE Mid-Autumn Festival Lantern Riddle Guessing activity.

On the afternoon of September 12, 2024, dozens of palace lanterns were lit in Shuiwei Square, and the Faculty week kicked off. Teachers and students came with excitement and rushed to participate in the riddle guessing and pot throwing activities.

In keeping with the school’s multi-lingual policy, riddles were offered in Chinese and English – shall we extend to Spanish, Japanese and French next year?

Thanks to HOD Margaret Deng and her team for putting on this event which was greatly enjoyed by SCIE students, allowing the students to fully feel the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival and also brought a lot of joy to the students.

1. Escape Room

2. Japanese Performance

3. Languages Quiz

4. Guest Speaker

5.Quote Trees

2. Japanese Performance

6. Book Share

7. The Mid Autumn Lantern Riddle Guessing

Teachers’ Sharing