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News | 16 April 2024

IES Lund wins gold in language competition

Last week, the national finals in Sweden’s biggest language competition, ILC, was held in Malmö. As many as seven IES schools got to the big final, with IES Lund taking home the prize in French.

The winning team in French included the year nine students Amanda Säfholm and Alia Al-Kattan from IES Lund, supported by their teacher Ms Anna Melin.

“My fantastic students Alia and Amanda were a dream team,” said Ms Melin. “They took the lead during the competition and never let go. They finished strong, winning by three points over their closest opponent. Most importantly they relished the experience and demonstrated how a foreign language enriches our students’ lives.”

Amanda and Alia explained what has helped them to get ready for the competition: “What’s most important is to practise a little every day and keep the language alive. It’s also very important to enjoy learning the language to find the right motivation. A good teacher of course also helps a lot.”

In the English competition, the team from IES Hässleholm consisting of Vidar Kristensson and Felicia Davidsson did a great job securing the bronze medal, cheered on by their teacher Mr Keir Quackenbush.

“Felicia and Vidar made full use of their sharp wits and niche know-how,” said Mr Quackenbush. “They found themselves neck-and-neck with two other teams in a noble struggle for the coveted third place on the podium. In the third sudden-death question, Vidar and Felicia succeeded in securing IES Hässleholm yet another trophy to add to our display case.”

The other IES schools in the finals were Halmstad, Nacka, Karlstad, Johanneberg, and Sundsvall. In the regionals, we also had teams from Helsingborg, Gävle, Täby, Liljeholmen, Bromma, Falun, Eskilstuna, and Kista. Congratulations to all the participating schools!

The International Language Competition (ILC) is an international language competition aiming to enhance students' knowledge of modern foreign languages and the students compete in English, French, German, Spanish, and Swedish.