Entry #5

                         Cultural observations

    -  A lot of cultural objects are displayed in the host organization. Firstly, inside all the classrooms, there are some posters with children's names on them.

 -   Others posters were stuck up on the opposite wall where the children's bithdays were written down.

- The letters of the alphabets were spread  out on the walls and ladybirds represented the group name.


 

                                     The reading

The majority of the educators that I've interviewed read newspapers , during the internship ( when they have time). '' The Gazette''  '' Metro'' and ''24h''  were the most populars for the variety of information inside them.

                         The celebration of different holidays

    The majority of the educators that I've interviewed said to me that they don't celebrate the different holidays. I must say that all of the educators have different origins , so it can influenced the fact that they don't celebrate. I asked them about Christmas celebration and they all said that it was their favourite celebration.

                           The Christmas preparation

        I asked three educators about how they prepared for the Christmas holiday. The first , Lailing Codjoe is half Jamaican and half African. She told me that on  december 25 she is with her family. All together , they eat turkey , ham , rice and salad. , for this special supper. After that , they read the bible and opened their gifts. Lailing said that in her childhood , she was raised in a Christian home , but she is Prostestant but she doesn't goes at the Church .



The second educator was Nelly Paultre a Haitian. She said that the Christmas holiday is really sacred  for her. She is going to Christmas mass with all her family and after , together , they eat  turkey , ham , rice and salad. Afer that , they  sing some songs and opened gifts , at the end. She said that she was practicing Christian so she goes to the mass.

                                  Cultural observation

The other cultures I have been exposed  are the Spanish , Asian and Indian children. They were all really interesting. I've learned that some of these children didn't have enough motivation for talking in English or in French , so they just didn't opened their mouth when I asked them a question.

                    The type of English I have been exposed to:

I've been exposed to different expressions during my internship. The first one was '' Every dog has it's day''. This expression means that each man can have a bad period and after it disappears  and everything turns right.
For example: When a child cries after the educator talk to him and after everything goes well.

The other expression that I've been exposed was '' Beggers can't be a chooser''. When a child asks Lailing for a privilege  , but it's not quite what he wanted , after she sees it , she can't ask for another one.


I read a lot of books in front of the class. They were books about Thanksgiving  and Halloween. It was interesting , because  I learned new words at the same time.
 
On the other hand , I had the opportunity to use my idiom '' It's all Greek to me'' , but nobody understood me , unfortunately.


                                    Rewards and challenges:
The most difficult aspect for me was trying interacted with other children who didn't understand me.

But the best part was being with children and talking with them to enrich myself. Interacting and learning  about new cultures  was  totally fabulous.

Byebye ,


See you soon for new experiences!



 

Entry #4

                My linguistic interference

  On this third day of internship , I saw the French language has interfered with my communication in the English language . Effectively, when I didn’t know how to construct a good sentence , I picked french words that were similar to English. 

                                   The challenge

    One of the challenges caused by linguistic interference was trying to interacted with children who didn’t understand me. My accent can’t helped , in this situation. For example , when I questioned a child he answered me oinan other way. So, when I attempted to reformulate my point of view , my accent spoiled all my ideas.

 

   On the other hand, when I used the expression ‘’ it’s all Greek to me ‘’ , during an activity with some children , my word reached their target  for the educators . My accent and the pronunciation of certain words were mediocre. All of these observations contributed to my progress as a language learner , because I can see  my  week points : my pronunciation and my accent) to improve.

 

 

 

 

 

                            The difference between being an internship

                                                     vs

                                       being in a classroom           

 

     I saw a difference between being in a language immersion situation  and being in a language classroom. Firstly , when I was in my internship I was able to use the words and structures the in a better way for me and talk about what I want no matter if it was the right moment.  I was able to acquire language without a structured classroom setting , because I listened to the instructions that the educators gave me. I can said that it was like doing improvisation , because I talked  about  anything with the children.

 

  The language learning strategy that have been effective for me is ‘’practicing’’, because I always talked in English and repeated a lot of the same words in my head , to assimilate them. With this strategy they will stay in my head for a long time. Also, ‘’ the mnemonic techniques’’ strategy was really effective for me. When I didn’t know the meaning of certain words, I made cognitions with others words and associations.

 

 

 

                  New words, structures and  a new expression

''Put it away'' was a structure that I heard a lot of the time , during my internship.This structure served to make myself understood by  the children in saying ( stop playing) ! , when it was not  the time. Also , when we're going to the bathroom , the term ‘’ dry your hands’’ helped me a lot to tell the children what they must do after  washing  their hands. The expression ‘’ Every dog has is day’’ was used by an educator , when a child cried in the morning. Obviously , the child didn’t understand what was the meaning of this expression. Basically,
it means that every person has their bad days , but after it passed. In the future, I could use this expression , when one of my friends doesn’t feel good. What’s about the two word. I could use these two terms when I will be in a situation in my future job with children.

 

     

 See you soon:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entry #3

                               My second day

  On my second day of internship at Boys and Girls Club, I was assigned to a new group of children. The educators , Nelly and Lailing were really sympathetic and they introduced me at my new group. I saw a difference between this group and the other group that I was with. Firstly, they are twelve children , nine girls and three boys. I saw that this group was more culturaly diversify than the first one. Effectively, Two were from Québec, one from Morocco, two from Philippines , one from Yugoslavia , one from Spain and two from Egypt.
Two childrens don't know English and French language and the three quarter talk only in English. It's going to be a long day!

                              My interaction in English

  On the morning, it was  free time , so , I head down to the toy bin , where all the children playing. I asked questions to a lot of guys and girls about where they come from , what is their favourite , colour meal and movie. Some children answered me clearly , but I saw  misunderstood on  some kid's faces. For the children that don't understand my questions , I try to explain on an other way , like in trying  hand gestures to represent  my words. Unfortunately, sometimes it failed. For example, when a child didn't understand me , he just don't answered  and continue what he was doing . Yes , it was a big challenge to try interacted with a child who don't understand what I've said ! I noticed , that the children were really polite with me and coming up to me for playing. This interaction contribute to my progress as a language learner , because the way that I interacted with these children , has helped to strengthen my sense of observation and my ways of using my gesture with them.






              

                       My observations of anglophone culture

   When it was time to lunch , every kids opened their lunchboxes and I saw a diversity of food. It was fascinating to watch them eating. The kind of meals they ate were  fish ,  macaroni and  rice. When the kid's weren't eating  fast enough , Lailing helped with meals. She used the term '' miss'' and '' madame'', to start a conversation with the girls. I've noticed that Lailing and Nelly were not treating the children like babies  ( It's good to help get this through quickly). Also , when the children  used  a lack of full of respect , the educators raised their voices to speak for themselves. The anglophone environment is a really welcoming place  and I saw a difference between a place like this and and a francophone environment.  The educators wear Staff t-shirt and jeans. Finaly, I can say that there is no break  during  my internship , because the activities that we have with children were not that stressfull.

 

                           New words and structure

I learned new words  and new structures, during my internship . Particularly, when I ate with the children. '' Chew'' and '' swallow'' words were regularly iterated, so I really acquired theses words in my head. Also ,  when it was time to make the homeworks ( make a drawing) , I heard the sentence '' follow the dots''  a lot of time by the educators. I can use these words  when I will be with for my future children. Haha:)

That's it:)



Have a good day and see you next week:)           

Entry#2

My arrival:

When I arrived at my internship placement, I was well received . Kim , my educator was here for me. Inside the basement, there was a lot of colors on the walls and I could already feel a pleasant atmosphere.

 My impressions:

The first thing that strucked me , was the fact that each child whom where of various nationalities were bilinguals. English and french were priorities languages , in this environment.I can said that Boys and Girls club is a place where English language is essential and the most commonly spoken. I saw my childrens. They were eight. Five girls and three boys.

The interaction between some childrens was a little bit difficult , because they don't understand me when I talk to them , so I must improvise. I use techniques to make my students more comfortables.
For exemple , I read a story in English. On a way , it will help the child to understand English and on the other way it will help me to practice this language.

My new vocabulary

When I went to the bathroom with my group , I ask to Kim some advices:

1 .Some childrens had problem to catch the soap , so I must interact with them and give clear indications. I learned  that '' put your hand under the water'' and '' wash each finger'' will be the right sentences to make myself clear.

2. After the bathroom visit, we took a walk outside the basement. More specifically on the park situed beside the club. It was cold , so I advise my childs to ''put on'' their coats , so I can ''zip up '' them.

3. During the walk , I saw a flower that I remembered the name in French , but I forgot the name in English. Pissenlit was called '' dandy lion'' pour dent de lions . It was fulfilling!!!!

See you next week:)

Entry#1

   For my internship , I hope to accomplish specifics goals.
 Firstly, I want to develop  interaction with little childrens. Confront my fear of talking with new people , even if they are three years old , will be a big progression in my shyness. Also , learning new words take an important place in my internship.

  Obviously, the language learning strategy that I chose are '' using mnemonic techniques'' , because I must thinking of associations , words that sounds alike  and connecting words with pictures. All of theses techniques will helps me to understand better some sentences and structures.

  The other strategy is'' communicates in whichever way possible''. I chose this approach , because when I don't understand some words, I want to ask for help.That is to say , that I  claim for synonyms and gesture.

  Furthermore, my meeting with Emilie Gumy went off well. She was really listening at our questions and misunderstood. I can say that I expected to passed a great day, on the first Tuesday of October!!!