SEDBERGH School pupils are more 'culturally aware' than ever before after a successful German exchange visit.

Fifteen pupils in Years 9-12 have just returned from Bayreuth, a town in northern Bavaria, after visiting the Graf-Munster-Gymnasium Grammar School.

Pupils stayed with host families and took lessons at GMG, and enjoyed a tour of the town, opera house, and local villages and attractions.

Head of Modern Foreign Languages Andrew Loughe said: "The advantages of pupils experiencing a school exchange are indisputable.

"The linguistic development and cultural awareness they gain from the experience will stand them in good stead for their exams and future study, whether or not they go on to study German at A Level or at undergraduate level.

"The group were well prepared for the visit and all had a throughly enjoyable time, and have come back to school with renewed enthusiasm and commitment."

Adele Fairclough, from near Dent, said: "A commonly used excuse for not learning a foreign language is that ‘everyone speaks English’ - as if this in itself is justification enough.

"Yet, not only does learning another language greatly improve your memory, it also improves your understanding of different cultures.

"Things like idiom, for example, can often reveal something of a particular culture’s history, yet are difficult to translate, and so knowledge of the language in which they’re used is essential to understanding them fully.

"School exchanges, like the one with Bayreuth, really enhance one’s learning of a foreign language, as you are completely immersed in it.

"You read it on signs and in newspapers, and hear it on TV and the radio, not to mention spoken by the family you are staying with. Even something as simple as ordering a coffee improves your linguistic ability.

"Finally, to return to my earlier point, it is simply not true that everyone speaks English. In fact, throughout the entire exchange, I spoke not a word of English with my German family, with the parents constantly apologising (in German) for their ‘poor English’, and I really feel that I, and my German, benefitted a lot from this.”