Entry #1 : My first meeting

Hi everyone!

Last week, on Thursday November 15th, I entered the building where my internship takes place for the very first time. It is a linguistic school called GEOS Languages Plus where qualified teachers are helping people to improve their language skills. Also, GEOS Languages Plus isn't just located in Quebec, the enterprise has schools in many places in the world like Vancouver, London and Los Angeles. The one I'll be working at is in Montreal, on  Sherbrooke street West.

So, I went there to meet with my host and discuss topics with her like how many hours I'll work per week, what I am going to do, etc. I was really nervous at first, but everybody I talked to was so welcoming and kind that I immediately calmed down. I was actually surprised to see how nice everyone was to me. Truth to be told, I used to think that anglophone people were a little bit snobby ... What a false thought ! My host was really understanding and attentive to what I was saying. In the end, everything went pretty well and there was no reason to be afraid or anxious. 

One of the questions she asked me during our meeting was to tell her my expectations about my internship in their company. It was really hard to answer immediately because I never took the time to really think about it before. Therefore, as went home after I left the linguistic school, I reflected on what would have been my ideal answer and here's what I came up with :

- I'm expecting to help the teacher by being in contact with the students a lot and helping them if they have difficulties. I also expect to find out if being a teacher is really what I want to do as a career since there's nothing better than an immersion in the working place to know if you like it or not. But mostly, I expect to have a great time and enjoy my experience.

- My goals are : to improve my English skills, obviously ; to develop effective learning strategies ; to live a totally new experience that will help me in the future ; and to develop my teaching skills.

To make sure that I achieve my goals, I'm going to use some of the learning strategies that we saw in class. I chose the ones that I think will be the most reliable and that will be useful to me :

- To have a low inhibition

- To constantly search for meanings

- To analyse speeches

- And to communicate in whichever way possible

I'm really exited to start this new experience. Based on my first impression, I think I couldn't have chosen a better place to do my internship. It's going to be a great adventure, so don't forget to pass by sometimes to see how it is going so far ! 

Bye