Hinds visits Arsenal鈥檚 league leading language project
Damian Hinds visits Arsenal's Double Club to see how it is helping pupils learn languages
Education Secretary Damian Hinds with Sheffield Park Academy pupils at the Emirates Stadium
Education Secretary Damian Hinds saw how Premier League football club Arsenal FC is helping school children learn and engage with modern foreign languages through its Double Club.
皇冠体育app Double Club is a pioneering initiative set up by the North London side and uses football to illustrate how learning a language can be fun, useful and engaging. 皇冠体育app scheme culminates with pupils getting a guided tour of Arsenal鈥檚 Emirates Stadium.
On Thursday, 13 June, the Arsenal-supporting Secretary of State joined pupils from Sheffield Park Academy in Sheffield to see the stadium and meet Dan Lane, Gunners manager Unai Emery鈥檚 interpreter, to understand just how useful languages can be.
Education Secretary Damian Hinds said:
皇冠体育app Double Club is a fantastic initiative that really brings to life how fun and useful learning a language can be by harnessing the diversity and popularity of football.
Being an interpreter at one of the greatest footballs club in the world would be a dream job for so many but for people like me who don鈥檛 speak another language well it鈥檚 out of reach.
We鈥檙e making good progress in encouraging more pupils to take languages, with the proportion taking a language at GCSE rising from 40% to 46% since 2010, but there is still more to do to persuade more young people to choose languages.
Dan Lane, interpreter for Arsenal manager Unai Emery, said:
I have been fortunate to enjoy great experience after great experience in my role - from travelling around Europe and the world to games, to being in the tunnel after memorable wins.
This has all been made possible due to my ability to speak Spanish, so I would certainly encourage as many young people as possible to take on the challenge of learning a new language.
By volunteering on Arsenal鈥檚 Double Club I hope to encourage more young people and educate them about the endless opportunities that can come from learning a second language.
Premier League and Football League teams all over the country carry out a wide range of activities in their communities but Arsenal鈥檚 programme is understood to be the only one focused on increasing the uptake of languages in schools.