LinguaThinking places academic integrity, thoughtful learning, and intellectual development at the centre of its work. 

The comments below are not intended as marketing claims or endorsements, but rather as insights into students’ experiences of language learning as an intellectual process. They illustrate themes that matter deeply to LinguaThinking: developing confidence, analytical and critical thinking, engaging rigorously with literature and culture, and preparing for the demands of advanced study. 

A wider selection of reflections is available as a downloadable document for those who wish to explore them in more detail.

Themes emerging from student reflections:

Past students of Dr Catherine Buckwell frequently report sustained development across multiple dimensions of language study and intellectual engagement:

• Language skills: embedding topic-specific vocabulary, using verbs accurately across a range of contexts, and expressing nuanced opinions

• Critical engagement: constructing considered responses, critically evaluating ideas, and developing analytical and evaluative thinking

• Cultural literacy: thoughtful engagement with Francophone and Italian cultures, building and critically evaluating a rich range of examples from contemporary Francophone and Italian society, broader intellectual and intercultural awareness.

• Academic communication: fluent and confident use of complex linguistic structures, and sophisticated articulation of ideas in both written and spoken French or Italian.

• Independent learning: developing reflective long-lasting study habits and strategies that support ongoing intellectual growth, including advanced university-level study.

• Literary and film analysis: applying critical vocabulary and methods to interpret texts and films with depth and precision and situating texts within their historical and cultural frameworks.

• Confidence and motivation: an increased sense of confidence, engagement, and readiness to approach language learning rigorously.