Last Saturday. the 4th July 2015, I went to Newcastle airport to pick up Sylvia Neveu, my French colleague from the city of Bourges in central France.
She was on her way to Whitby for a surprise birthday holiday for her sister Emma.
Again , here I was acting as the guide, as the ambassador of our town, Middlesbrough and of our area.
Sylvia is the senior tutor of English and Spanish at the Institute Municipal d'éducation permanante in the city of Bourges , which is situated in the ancient area of Le Berry in Central France.
This love affair began in 2006, I visited Bourges and asked to meet someone/ anyone! who was teaching languages to adults. I was introduced to Sylvia and the team at IMEP.
I wanted to access authentic resources and native speakers of French for our learners at Middlesbrough Community Learning Service.
The love affair began, we experimented with different methods of transmitting live conversations, at first directly into the classroom, with varying success and a lot of interference, but a lot of fun!!
Then we had chance to share our experience with MOODLE, a Virtual Learning Environment or simply a website. We realised that at this time we , MCL were the experts in Middlesbrough. we shared our platform with IMEP and learners in France used our resources, whilst Sylvia and I developed shared resources.
We applied for a GRUNDTVIG programme and found partners in Greece and Spain to work with.
Our learners used the resources and we exchanged ideas and expertice, our International visitors were shown around the town, with a guided tour of our Town Hall.
A private visit to Bourges took place and the partnership became stronger.
How NOT to wear a French scarf!
Sylvia and the team worked with us in Middlesbrough, experienced the the Boro at the Riverside, curry, local beer and our hospitality.
Sylvia taught some of us how to wear a French scarf.
A group of learners from Bourges came to the area, rented a house in Staithes and met our learners in Middlesbrough.
In the meantime, possibilities of video communication got better and better. A second project was designed with new partners in Spain at La Escuela de Idiomas in La Corüna, in Germany at the Volkshochschule at Leinfeld Enterdingen near to Stuttgart and of course IMEP in Bourges in France.
We wanted to explore the use of tools such as SKYPE in order to practice our languages.
We used the amazing theme of 'El Camino de Santiago de Compostella' to design the project.
Learners in Middlesbrough, La Corüna,Bourges and Stuttgart were practising their languages through SKYPE informally, in their own time. They were exchanging cultural information alongside the price of everyday shopping and the price of petrol.
Dozens of students are still in touch with each other, they have visited each other, they have visited Middlesbrough, Great Ayton, to the area.
We won prizes for our work with Languages and technology.
The project has exceeded its objectives as it is totally sustainable, it has brought a new edge to the modern Language class, it is real, you can discuss what it is really like to live in France, in Spain, in Germany and in Middlesbrough, the North East and North Yorkshire.
The partnership is continuing, in spite of changes to the way that languages are offered to adults.it is growing stronger with partners in Russia and Italy on the horizon.
This Friday 10th July 2015, Sylvia and Emma are visiting MCL and one of our partner French classes and some students who are still involved or want to get involved with this amazing project, at the CLC on Acklam grange School site, they ARE GUESTS OF HONOUR!
Sylvia and Emma are our diplomats for Middlesbrough, Emma is bringing her granddaughter to see the Moors soon and Sylvia is talking about bringing a group of students back here.
This story has underpinned a fact that I have always argued, English speakers DO! want to learn another language and WE are pretty good at it!!
Sylvia, Bourges, je vous aime!
Because of this, we are now looking at at least 10 different languages on offer in Middlesbrough.
Contact Peter for more information at MCLS
01642 811400
07929781421
peter.samson@mcls.ac.uk
Check it out;
www.cafepierre.co.uk
Merci mille fois
Peter
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