Special Highlights B O N V O YA G E
EN By Christina Popowski
F R ANCE !
Thirteen SAS students began their summer break this year with a 10-day trip to France. They were accompanied by their teachers MS French teacher, Karen McDowell and HS French teacher, Christina Popowski. The first 7 days of the trip were spent in the picturesque Atlantic seaside town of Biarritz where students stayed with local families and were immersed in the French language and local Basque culture. Mornings were spent perfecting one’s French at a local language school and each afternoon student engaged in hands-on activities in which they had to apply their French. In general the students enjoyed their home stays and most agreed that they had truly benefited from the experience. According to freshman, Emma Sheldon, “The home stay was the best possible way for me to learn French better, because our host parents didn’t speak any English. This forced me to speak French all the time.” Another student, freshman, Emily Brotman also enjoyed her home stay experience but added that the home stay taught her common expressions that “actual” French people use but aren’t necessarily taught in textbooks or French class.“It’s good to know these kinds of words and phrases because they help you sound more natural when you are speaking with a native French speaker.” While staying with their host families, students were able to experience French culture first hand. Students learned how “close knit” French families are; how “cool” French teenagers are and that they also watch the television shows Friends, CSI and Charmed; all dubbed into French of course. The home stay also gave students the opportunity to experience what a typical French family eats at home. One student commented that his home stay experience taught him that the French “eat a ton of cheese.” Another two students will never forget the word for pasta in French (pâtes), because they found themselves in a situation in which they had to warn the family about a pot, overflowing with pasta, which has been left to boil on the stove. (Unfortunately the students couldn’t figure out how to turn off the stove.) The small town atmosphere of Biarritz ensured a comfortable opportunity for students to “absorb” everyday life in a French town before heading to the much larger and faster paced city of Paris. Sophomore, Daksha Rajagopalan, commented that she really liked the laidback French way of life that she was able to observe while staying with her host family in Biarritz. She also found the locals to be very friendly, something she wasn’t expecting. The last 3 days of the trip were spent in Paris where students experienced the famous sights, neighborhoods and museums of the most visited city in the world. The two French teachers were most eager to share their long list of favorite sights in Paris. These included, among others, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Orsay Art Museum, the Champs-Elysées, the Arc de Triomphe, the Montmartre quarter, the famous Opera House where the musical “Phantom of the Opera” takes place and the Luxembourg Gardens. Students also enjoyed an excellent guided tour of the Louvre Museum and a very animated guided tour of the Marais quarter. Students traveled all around Paris using the Métro as their means of transport but they also did their fair share of walking. Freshman, Christopher Jackson liked this aspect of the trip because it “gave us a chance to travel like the locals.” Looking back, all of the participants of this year’s trip to France, chaperones included, had many meaningful experiences. Everyone came away with great memories, as well as a new respect for French culture, cuisine and history. Best of all and much to the delight of Ms. McDowell and Ms. Popowski, all returned to Singapore with a renewed desire to keep learning French!
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