MFL Alumni

A Welcome Return

Amarilda Tokaj, a former full Leigh student, delivered an inspiring and emotional virtual talk to our Year 9s and Year 11s in order to advertise the opportunities which Modern Foreign Languages can offer at Post-16 and afterwards.

Our students asked her a range of questions about her own experience with languages at The Leigh Academy in GCSE, Post-16, and currently as a young adult.

After her A-Level, Amarilda decided to pursue languages at university. She explained that languages helped with more than her linguistic skills but also to gain more self-confidence, when she decided to spend a gap year in France. She found a job in Paris where she did not know anyone, right in the middle of the pandemic. When she came back to England last year, she noticed that she obtained more job interviews than her peers. The people leading these interviews were often impressed by her journey. Amarilda now works in a prestigious jewellery store.

Her singular journey demonstrates how much languages can help individuals to gain more self-confidence and to acquire a rich set of personal skills which are invaluable to stand out in the job market.

Furthermore, this illustrates how strong our community is by Amarilda returning to The Leigh to help our current cohort to make sage decisions for their future.

Mrs Julia Collins, Principal, also shared her own experience with languages, having studied French at GCSE and A-Level too. In university, she decided to spend a year abroad in the south-east of France, in Grenoble. This was one of her best life experiences as it built her resilience and allowed her to access new experiences such as snowboarding and skiing. As she studied in a French university, all the lectures were in French which immersed her further into the cultural and linguistic aspect of France.

Mr. T. Hurth - Director of Learning for Modern Foreign Language