Hisain Marzug, 15, has topped the leaderboard for April in a worldwide school language competition. Languagenut, the organisation that runs the competition, is a digital learning resource available to primary and secondary schools where students can access activities from educational games to exam style questions which cover four key areas; listening, speaking, reading and writing. Students earn points every time they complete an activity, and these points are used for the competition ranking. There are currently more than five million students registered to use the platform from across 32 countries.

Hisain, a Year 10 student at Outwood Academy Riverside, has been studying Spanish at school for two years and uses the platform to complement his education. He is currently timetabled to three hours of Spanish a week, attends GCSE Spanish after school revision in his own time and will sit GCSE Arabic.

Commenting on the achievement, Hisain said:

“I enjoy learning Spanish because the lessons are fun, as well as challenging when they need to be. I think learning a language is very beneficial and it’s a useful skill to have for the future, especially when looking for a job. I am very competitive so I really enjoyed this month’s competition and I learnt a lot of new vocabulary.”

Ms Ariz-Rivas, Head of Modern Foreign Languages at the academy, added:

“We are all immensely proud of Hisain here at Outwood Academy Riverside. He is a clear example that despite languages seeming difficult at first, going the extra mile is always worth it.

“He started Spanish only two years ago and he is now able to have fluid conversations and produce high quality writings that exceed our expectations of a Year 10 student. Clearly, all that time invested on Languagenut has paid off as Hisain has acquired a life skill that will open endless possibilities for his future.”

Hisain has received a letter of congratulations from Lee Wilson, CEO at Outwood Grange Academies Trust, along with a £30 cinema voucher and bilingual book.