on the French school system, vacation planning, language Tandems and getting locked in a mailroom

It's hard to believe I've been teaching for almost two weeks now, where has the time gone? In a nutshell, I love my classes. The teacher's, who are all super nice and helpful, give me lots of ideas and resources and keep me well posted on what they're covering in class so I can expand on that in my lessons. So far though I haven't really been able to do "my own thing" since the teachers are all keen on me focusing on specific topics, or helping the Terminale (last year) students prepare for their BAC exit exam at the end of the school year. So far my lessons have ranged from learning about Canadian Thanksgiving, to the differences between the British, American and Canadian school systems, to the use of cell phones, to grading oral presentations. The students have been super, they're very friendly, well-behaved, and their knowledge of English ranges from so-so to excellent. I find, however, that most of the students are extremely timid when speaking, or would rather say nothing at all than make mistakes. If they don't know how to say something they'll just whisper to the person next to them for help. Over the next while I hope to create a more open and comfortable learning environment, where the kids can feel free to say what they like without fear of reprimand for making a mistake. This could prove difficult; although the teachers here are extremely friendly, there is a definite disconnect between students and teachers here. Teaching is much more rigid and formal, students aren't even allowed to sit down until they are told to by the teacher. Talking in class is harshly reprimanded and students are "punished" much more easily, I feel, for seemingly minute offenses. Students are also openly ridiculed in front of their peers for making mistakes, especially when homework or tests are handed back. There is little positive reinforcement here. Pile that on top of the students 8am-5pm, Monday to Saturday school week (well, Saturday classes are only in the morning) with up to 7 classes per day, homework, preparing for their extremely stressful and difficult final exit exam that will determine their future...well, I get the feeling high school students here feel a tad more pressure than their North American counterparts. Something I can't quite get used to, given the system I'm used to back home where students are regarded more as adults with their own opinions and freedom to choose their path through school, get days off to watch sports games, have school spirit, the arts, a yearbook for christ's sake! I really want to make this year fun for the students, which, considering the expectations teacher's have for them, is proving to be a challenge. However, I remain optimistic that, by the end of the year, students will feel comfortable enough to speak their mind (in Canadian English, eh) and give me a high-five now and then. And hopefully, look back on their year of high school with that crazy Canadian assistant with the funny accent in a positive light...hm, seems I have my work cut out for me!

So, with the second week of school almost finished, that means only one thing...TOUSSAINT VACATION! Yes, these children have a ridiculous amount of holiday time in the given school year, including 12 days for Toussaint (or All Saint's Day). And I just so happen to be spending it with a lovely group of other English assistants in Nancy-Metz, heading down to Provence, the south of France, for some sun in Marseille, Toulon, Cannes, Nice and Monaco (if all the trains are running as they should, all striking considered). Last weekend we all sat down to figure out our itinerary, trains and hostels. We've got our accommodation booked, bought our train tickets to and from our respective cities, and are ready for a fantastic holiday discovering another part of this wonderful country!

So recently, in response to the ads Kerstin and I put up at the University of Nancy, I've gotten about 4-5 people interested in swapping French-English conversation with me! I was keeping my fingers crossed for just one...So I've responded to 3, I don't think I can handle more than that in my schedule at the moment (yes, I know I only work 12 hours a week...but you'd be surprised how busy I've been keeping!). I met my first "tandem" on Tuesday afternoon, a very nice student by the name of Anne-Laure. She's in her first year of her Masters in FLE (French as a Foreign Language) at the university. We met downtown at Les Artistes, and immediately upon meeting and exchanging a few words, with a confused look on her face, she said "I get the impression you don't really need help with your French!" Apparently she was expecting someone who was still in the process of learning the language. However I explained that this was more of an opportunity for me to practice the language with a native speaker and to pick up on expressions, slang terms, colloquialisms that you only get when speaking with a real Frenchie. So over the course of an hour and a half, we chatted and got to know each other and had a very lovely time in general. Turns out she doesn't study English and hasn't taken it since high school and has forgotten most of it, but is trying to get back into speaking. Suffice to say we didn't speak much English, but she made an effort and that's all that matters! Plus it was a bit hard to concentrate when a giant parade of angry French demonstrators marched by for about half our time there, right outside. Leave it to me to choose a downtown café on a strike day...Anyhoos, I'm looking forward to more weekly meetings with Anne-Laure and my other Tandems!

Finally, to round off my blog with a little anecdote, I got locked in the mailbox room yesterday. Yes, locked inside. How did that happen, you ask? Well, I went, for the first time, to check our little mailbox. (Kerstin and I just use the school's address to receive mail, the administrator just puts everything in our cubbies. It wasn't until last week we finally got our mailbox key for our "real" address, which neither of us are going to use anyways.) The mailbox room can be entered 2 ways - from a door on the side street in which we enter the school grounds (the mailman enters this door to drop off mail, and hence has a key to enter) and through another door on the inside of the school grounds, in one of the apartment buildings. What I didn't know, was, that the 2nd door locks from the inside (so that the mailman can't enter the apartment building, and thus, the school grounds). So I go inside, open our mailbox, remove the pile of flyers and junk mail, and try, unsuccessfully, to reopen the door. So I think, hm, ok, I'll just go out the other door, onto the street, and buzz Kerstin to let me back in (I hadn't thought of bringing my purse, why would I need my keys or cell phone to get the mail?) Oh, no luck, it's locked from the inside too. Crap. So I'm stuck in this little room, no way out on either side, with no cell phone. Slightly panic-stricken (and feeling quite retarded for having locked myself in a mailroom) I consider hollering for help. However, luckily, the inside door has iron bars at the top and bottom...large enough to reach my arm through, reach up, and turn the handle. SUCCESS! I must've looked like an idiot to anyone who passed by the outside door (it's glass), but I managed to get myself out of one sticky situation. Moral of the story: always bring a friend to hold open the mailroom door while you fetch the mail.

That's all for now, 'til next time!