French students impress their hosts in Brussels

Students studying French at the College earned glowing praise for their command of the language from both their host school and locals alike during their visit to the Belgian capital of Brussels.

Seven students took the short trip over the North Sea to join up with the Institute Saint Francois De Sales school in a town called Ath in the Brussels region, which is a predominantly Francophone (French-speaking) area, rather than Dutch or German parts of Belgium.

"They are students that the College should be incredibly proud of.”

Chris Moss, English Teacher

In an educational and cultural trip, the students spent time with their Belgian counterparts in lessons and gained a real insight into how learning is approached outside of the UK. Birkenhead Sixth Form College French teacher, Viviane Ouvradou, created an authentic environment right from the start, conducting all of her communication with the students in French, which the students followed suit with in the partner school and beyond, including interactions with local shopkeepers and service staff.

First year, Hannah Stuthridge, returned home enthused by the trip, emphasising that the less ‘touristy’ element of working with the continental students in the school was the highlight of their time in the Belgian capital.

Hannah said: “It was amazing. It wasn’t just a sightseeing tour; being part of the Belgian school was the best part, and meeting the people that we’d been writing to.”

Hannah was also selected for a daunting public speaking duty while at the school.

 

She said: “I had to do a presentation in French about Liverpool in front of the whole class. It was scary but my French is good so I was able to make some jokes about our stereotypes and what we get up to. The Belgian students were really engaged and didn’t seem bored and understood me, which was a great feeling, because it’s hard enough doing a presentation in English!”

Hannah described how learning about the history, culture and everyday life, including a guided tour of the city centre (in French, of course!) is actually a component of her A Level studies, with students having lessons about culture and customs in France and the surrounding areas to further enhance their future employability.

She concluded by explaining that being immersed in the language offers the best possible learning experience, saying: “My French ability has progressed by a huge amount from going. We had to speak in French the whole time because the town went to wasn’t really English-speaking, there are only a handful of English teachers in the school. A lot of the students couldn’t speak English too, so using our French constantly has helped us massively.”

Accompanying the students on the trip was English teacher, Chris Moss, who said upon returning: “Our contact teacher in the Institute Saint Francis de Sales, Madame Schultz, sang the students’ praises, mentioning how attentive and engaged they were in everything they participated in, and how open and enthusiastic they were too. They are students that the College should be incredibly proud of.”

Chris continued by explaining his role on the trip, making use of him being the only member of the group that didn’t speak the native language.

He said: “The students were excellent with their French. Vivienne spoke in French for the vast majority of the trip, so I would then ask what had been said and the students would have to translate back to me.

“We were doing the same thing in restaurants and shops too. I would tell the students what I wanted and they would then speak to the local shopkeepers and waiting-on staff for me in French. I pointed out to one shopkeeper that Rachael (Kendall) was my translator for the day, and she told me what an excellent translator Rachael was and what a good job she was doing.”

French teacher, Viviane Ouvradou, said: "I'd like to show our appreciation for the kindness and maturity of the Belgian students and the devotion of their teacher,  who received us warmly and took time out of thier busy lives to take us to visit their local area. Mrs Schutz was attentive enough to arrange for our students to experience a range of lessons, taking into account our students' subject choices. She also organised for us to visit the town of Tournai and contributed to ensure our students were well looked after. They were exceptional hosts, and we thank them very much."

The trip wouldn’t be complete without sampling the local cuisine, (which Hannah described as ‘really posh!’) and the students even had a traditional Belgian cooking lesson, along with nights at the theatre and the cinema, all in the local language.