Continuing professional development conferences and events

Teaching French to Young Learners 2003

 

20 July - 2 August 2003, Centre de Linguistique Appliquée, Besançon, France

A report by Nick Brown, Frederick Gough School, Lincolnshire who attended the Teaching French to Young Learners course in 2003

 

About the course

The two-week course was set in the beautiful and historic city of Besançon in the region that named and produces the lovely cheese of Franche- Comté. It isn’t a part of France I’d visited before but I certainly will again.

The option of travelling to Besançon with the group from Waterloo offered participants the chance to meet up and get to know each other before the course began and as an added bonus, travelling with CILT representatives, meant I wasn’t likely to get lost en route! Important with my sense of direction, and I have to say it was great fun chatting to a bunch of teachers from all over the country as we made our way across France and I highly recommend it.

Most of the group travelled collectively, though obviously we didn’t have to, and we represented an extremely wide mix of backgrounds and sectors. I’m secondary trained, work in a language college in North Lincolnshire and as Coordinator of Early language learning I regularly visit 5 local primary schools to deliver MFL lessons. I thoroughly enjoy this aspect of my work and this course offered me a chance to discuss, share ideas and learn so much more about it. All of the colleagues shared this enjoyment of pre KS3 languages and the conversation was very positive.

The city itself really is stunning and nestled in the bend of a river so you can’t get lost too easily, if you reach the bank you know you’ve taken a wrong turn! The hotel was comfortable and ideally situated bang in the centre, a stone’s throw from the university and right next to a lovely café. A place that was not only frequented, well you’ve got to eat sometime and it was only 16 paces from the breakfast room, but was also entertained on one evening by the British contingent. I think we put on a good show to all spectators.

Our raison d’être, is an international summer school hosted by the université de Franche-Comté. Each summer teachers of French from all over the world come together to further their knowledge of French language, culture and educational theory for the delivery of French across the age range. There were something like 48 nationalities present during our stay and in some classes we were mixed. There was a fantastic cosmopolitan feel to the place and it was incredible friendly.

Classes were fairly intensive, lasting all day or with evening sessions depending on what members of the group chose to study and there was a good choice and there were brilliant. Morning classes were with the wonderfully dressed, energetic and inspirational Hélène and tailor made for our group. A wealth of resources, ideas and techniques, without doubt these classes were the best course I’ve ever been on and we all learnt so much and had so much fun. A bunch of perfectly rational adults dancing about a room, throwing bits of coloured paper, chanting and being blindfolded!! The chant, ‘am stram gram’ was also fantastic. Only in MFL! We really did laugh. We were even provided with tapes and booklets of worksheets and ideas.

For the afternoons or evenings we followed classes or seminars that we selected, for example, I did Elements of French Culture and French for 7-11, the age group I work with in my primary programme. Working in mixed nationalities this was a fantastic opportunity to speak French and further my understanding of the subjects taken. It was great, we all shared our own experiences and got on well.

A variety of social activities were organised by the university, such as a daytrip to a local castle, film showings and even an evening where the course participants provided the entertainment, each ‘nationality’ doing a spot. The evening was something like the Eurovision song contest and carry on cabaret rolled into one. We managed a rendition of a drunken sailor, (Well, we’re a seafaring nation), and a traditional English country-dance. Various people also hired cars to explore the region or travelled as far as Dijon.

Overall the experience was nothing short of brilliant; I would highly recommend it to anyone involved in or interested in primary modern languages. I’m sure that all the participants of Besançon 2003 had a fantastic time, and I know that many others and I learnt so much. A lot I’m already using in my primary lessons. It was by far the most enjoyable, interesting and informative course I’ve ever been and an absolute must for any primary MFL teacher!