Today I gave a banana to a homeless woman.
I think I was a lot more excited about it than she was.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Pamplemousse
Nothing like an afternoon pamplemousse** to give you a welcome burst of energy.
So, the rest of this post has nothing to do with pamplemousse (or bursts of energy for that matter).
Earlier this week I taught at the stage d'anglais, which is basically a three-day intensive English course at the beginning of each school break. It is open to all high-school students in the district, and gives students a chance to "willingly" improve their English. In some cases parents force their kids to attend, so students aren't necessarily willing to listen. For instance, I had one boy who was drawing the entire time. When I took away his precious artwork, he proceeded to draw designs on his hand and arm. He didn't show up for day three of the stage. Oh well.
The rest of the students were pretty eager to learn, and I had fun teaching. They asked me if I would be back for the next stage, and told me I was "a very good English teacher." And yes, despite their constant tend to switch into French, they said all of these things in English. Progress !
On the last day, I had the students make "Top 5 Lists," involving important aspects of French culture. I told them to make Top 5 lists according to various themes like songs, movies, famous people, etc. The only requirement for the list content was that it had to be something well-known/popular in France. I got some interesting results. As you read on, please keep in mind that these lists were generated by high-schoolers, so this does not accurately reflect/portray French culture as a whole. You'll also notice that all lists do not contain five elements...I wasn't teaching math, but yes I'm pretty confident they can count to 5.
Songs
No Woman No Cry
Stairway to Heaven
Skyfall
Movies
Intouchables
Titanic
Zero Dark Thirty
Into the Wild
V for Vendetta
The Artist
Bands/Singers
Bruno Mars
Bob Marley
Kid Cudi
Psy.
Selah Sue
Adele
T.V. Series
The Simpsons
Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
One Tree Hill (called "Frères Scott" in French, which means "Scott Brothers")
Malcolm in the Middle (just called "Malcolm" in French)
American Wives
90210 Beverly Hills (phrases are always reversed in French...it's an adjective thing)
Famous People
Jean Dujardin
Nelson Mandela
Gandhi
Places/Things
Eiffel Tower
Jaconde (Mona Lisa)
The Louvre
Times Square
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Buckingham Palace
(a little New York heavy in my opinion)
Books
Harry Potter
I learned a lot from this lesson. Take from it what you will.
After the stage, I went out to lunch with the other English teachers from my school. We went to this cute little restaurant in Lunel, and the food was delicious. I took a few pictures of the magnificent desserts, so feast your eyes...
Well that's all for now folks !
xoxoxoxoxoxo
**For those curious readers out there... pamplemousse = grapefruit
So, the rest of this post has nothing to do with pamplemousse (or bursts of energy for that matter).
Earlier this week I taught at the stage d'anglais, which is basically a three-day intensive English course at the beginning of each school break. It is open to all high-school students in the district, and gives students a chance to "willingly" improve their English. In some cases parents force their kids to attend, so students aren't necessarily willing to listen. For instance, I had one boy who was drawing the entire time. When I took away his precious artwork, he proceeded to draw designs on his hand and arm. He didn't show up for day three of the stage. Oh well.
The rest of the students were pretty eager to learn, and I had fun teaching. They asked me if I would be back for the next stage, and told me I was "a very good English teacher." And yes, despite their constant tend to switch into French, they said all of these things in English. Progress !
On the last day, I had the students make "Top 5 Lists," involving important aspects of French culture. I told them to make Top 5 lists according to various themes like songs, movies, famous people, etc. The only requirement for the list content was that it had to be something well-known/popular in France. I got some interesting results. As you read on, please keep in mind that these lists were generated by high-schoolers, so this does not accurately reflect/portray French culture as a whole. You'll also notice that all lists do not contain five elements...I wasn't teaching math, but yes I'm pretty confident they can count to 5.
Songs
No Woman No Cry
Stairway to Heaven
Skyfall
Movies
Intouchables
Titanic
Zero Dark Thirty
Into the Wild
V for Vendetta
The Artist
Bands/Singers
Bruno Mars
Bob Marley
Kid Cudi
Psy.
Selah Sue
Adele
T.V. Series
The Simpsons
Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
One Tree Hill (called "Frères Scott" in French, which means "Scott Brothers")
Malcolm in the Middle (just called "Malcolm" in French)
American Wives
90210 Beverly Hills (phrases are always reversed in French...it's an adjective thing)
Famous People
Jean Dujardin
Nelson Mandela
Gandhi
Places/Things
Eiffel Tower
Jaconde (Mona Lisa)
The Louvre
Times Square
Statue of Liberty
Empire State Building
Buckingham Palace
(a little New York heavy in my opinion)
Books
Harry Potter
I learned a lot from this lesson. Take from it what you will.
After the stage, I went out to lunch with the other English teachers from my school. We went to this cute little restaurant in Lunel, and the food was delicious. I took a few pictures of the magnificent desserts, so feast your eyes...
 |
| I just loved the flower decor ! |
Well that's all for now folks !
xoxoxoxoxoxo
**For those curious readers out there... pamplemousse = grapefruit
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