Entry # 5

Hello Blogger!

In this article, I will compare English culture with French culture

Cultural Observations

In my host organization, I didn't see any religious symbols but, I noticed that in French schools there is always a cross. At the children world academy, there are many paintings, posters, colors and advertisements that the students did. There is so many that I find it over loaded because in french schools there is much less clutter. 

After that, the only music I heard is children singing the body song. 

People around me also told me that they were reading the suburban newspaper as well as  The News and Chronicle. They also told me that they listen to 800 AM radio (CJAD). 

For the holidays, english people are giving more importance to Canada Day, Christmas and Thanksgiving. And French speaking quebecers are celebrating St-Jean baptiste day and attach less importance to traditional occasions. But like french culture, traditions is loosing significance. 

English around me

Almost every time I go to my internship, I read a book for the kids. On my last visit to my internship, I read a book called: Being Bossy. During my reading, I paid attention to my pronunciation and the meaning of the words. I also used some of my idioms. One time, I asked a kid to repeat what he said to me and I still didn't understand so I said "Its all greek to me". Also, a kid didn't want to play a game and I told him two idioms in the same sentence "Its a piece of a cake we're all in the same boat". This is how I introduced my idioms.

New words and expressions

During my reading, I noticed a few words that I learned. The book was about a little girl being bossy. I learned words like leapfrog (a game), frighten others (scare someone),  bribe (to corrupt someone), crowded (a bunch of people), etc. 

My internship is better that what I expected. Talk to you soon.

Catherine

Here is a drawing were a little girl wrote I LVOE U CATHERINE <3

Entry #4 - Halloween is coming soon

Hello Blogger!

Yesterday was my 4th day of internship and we organized halloween!

Linguistic interference

In my internship experience, I do have some interference between French and English. The first one is called "cognate", which means I say some words in English that are the same in French. Like example, we were putting our coats on and I told a kid to "attach" his coat, but I should have said "zip-up" your coat. I said that because in french, most of the time, we say "Attache ton manteau". Also, I still have a lot of difficulty to place the words in the right place in a sentence especially in the interrogative sentences. Those challenge me and sometimes the children ask me to repeat what I've said. In this case, I try to find another way to say what I have to say. This helps me to listen more carefully how people speak around me. 

Immersion VS Classroom

Learning english in an immersion is a lot different. In a classroom, you have to listen a lot and practice less. But in an immersion you practice a lot and you also listen , but you're in an english environment. For me its better because in a kinesthetic type, which means I need physical experience to understand. In addition, in a classroom, I'm with my friends and I don't always speak in english but in my immersion, I have to communicate in English to include myself.

New words and Expressions

Like I said at the beggining, yesterday, we prepared some stuff for Halloween. The kids and I did some drawing and arts and crafts. Some kids drew a bat, a bale of hay, a scarecrow, etc. In the future, I'll use most of these words around halloween time.

                                                           This is my ghost ;)

Third day!

Hello!
Last week was my third time in Children's World Academy and here is how it goes.

Interactions

On the third day, I played outside with the kids and I learned a lot of new words and expressions. When I first got into the classroom where all the kids were eating their snacks, they were all excited to see me. I could see that in their body language because they all came to hug me. :) When we went outside, the kids went to play in the "jungle gym". I did learn this word because I asked them what it was called. After playing and interacting with the kids, one of the little girls, Kyana, said: "see you later alligator". This expression was new to me. Also, interacting and listening to their tone of voice (kids speak fast and are sometimes hard to understand) is very helpful to get used to an english environment. 

Observations

I couldn't see a big difference between english culture and french culture, but they are some observations. All the kids are very polite and call every person by their name but they add miss or mister before. 

In addition, the kids are almost all sharing with each other and they include everyone. They are not mean between each other and they are mixed. 

New words and expressions

I did learn of lot of new words. Every time I don't know or I don't understand a word, I ask the kids and they like to help me. During play outside, a child asked me to make a knot because his shoes weren't tied.  Also, they asked me to get a ball on the other side of the fence and to catch them into the jungle gym.

These are few situations where I learned vocabulary but I also learned: hay, clean neatly, see you later  alligator, etc.

The internship is going well so far and I love what I do. Talk to you next week ;)

Here is another drawing for a student called Catherine! What a nice name ;)

Official day!

Hello Blogger,

Yesterday, Wednesday the 9th was my first official day of internship, I was a little bit stressed but everything went perfectly.

My Observations

First of all, they were very welcoming and they introduced me to everybody in the school. I think that english people are more friendly then french people are. After that, I was placed in the 4-5 year old group. I was pretty excited to be in this group. The main observation I could say is that I had to adapt myself and pay more attention on how they pronounced the words.  I often asked them to repeat what they said because it wasn't clear. 

Language

I did a lot of activities with them, for example, I took the initiative to make a game where I was drawing pictures and the kids had to guess what it was. During this time, I have learned what a dragonfly was. The teacher also read a book where a mouse was tip-tapping and this  word was new to me, as well as tippy toes. We played most of the time in the yard where I learned words like skipping, jumping rope, fence, etc.

Things To Improve

In addition, I have learned to listen carefully and to make sure that I understand what the children were telling me. And also, I didn't hesitate to ask for clarification.

I can't wait to see them again and to learn more! ;)

Catherine


Here is a drawing one of a children made me 

The first meeting

Specific language goals

First of all, in my internship experience, I want to speak more fluently and learn new vocabulary. I also need to improve the form of my sentences and to place the right word in the right place.

Language learning strategies

To help me in improving my L2, I have to talk to myself. Which means I have to prepare myself mentally by creating dialogues and thinking before saying something. 

After that I'll have to practise, this internship is giving me a great opportunity to learn english and to be better. Even if the people around me speak french, I'll speak english and I'll take guesses so they can correct my mistakes. 

Repeating my mistakes will also help me to say it correctly next time.

The meeting with my host

Yesterday was my first meeting with my host at Children's World Academy. I met the principal David Estok. It was short and sweet, we arranged our schedules and talked about which group I would be in. During the meeting I asked him to repeat a word I didn't understand because he spoke fast and with an accent I didn't understand but the word was quit simple it was " what about physical?". Other than that, I understand most of what he said.

Expectations

My first word was "cool"! It's my first experience of Internship and I don't really know what to expect from my first day, but I am very excited to begin!

I hope i'm going to be able to practice a lot because the school is an immersion program so there's many french classes. Finally, I'm sure it's going to be an amazing experience.

Thanks for reading! 

And I'll write to you soon!

Catherine