Entry #7 : Practice makes perfect

Dialogue 1 :
Context  -  Students from my class and I were sitting in the class waiting for the teacher, called Narinée, to arrive. All of them are beginner in French and they are having a hard time with pronunciation.

Student (really confident to say it the right way) : Où est narine ?
Me : What ?
Student : I said ''Où est narine''.
Me (confused) : Well ... they're here (point my nostrils), aren't they?
Student : What ? Narine is in your nose ?
Me : ... I think I didn't understand something ...
Student : I'm asking where is the teacher !
Me : Oh ! (burst into laughter) You mean Narinée !
Student : Yeah, that's what I said.
Me : No, you said 'narine' not 'Narinée'. You were asking where the nostrils were !

And then everybody laughed. It was a really funny situation. Still, it made me realized that mispronouncing a word can lead to big confusion. I'm planning on being careful about that.


Dialogue 2 :
Context  -  A few students and I were sitting in the lounge before the class. We were having an informal conversation about where we live.

Student 1 : I'm not used to live in Montreal. It's so cold here.
Student 2 : I don't think it's that bad.
Student 1 : Dude ! You serious ? We're freezing outside.
Student 2 : Of course you think it's cold, man, you're from Mexico ! You've probably never seen snow of your life, right?
Student 3 : Don't worry, man. You'll get use to it soon.

What proves that this is an informal conversation are the nicknames ''man'' and ''dude'' which you DO NOT USE for a formal conversation. It's really unprofessional and way too familiar.
I use those kind of nicknames all the time, but I realized it is a bad habit. I remember that one time when I almost used ''man'' in a formal conversation with a teacher. I froze when I realized it was really inappropriate and I reformulated my sentence right away.

Entry #6 : Breaking it down

How has your English improved so far during your internship?

Listening Comprehension

At the beginning of my internship, some of the conversations I overheard were sometimes hard to understand but it wasn't due to the syntax or the vocabulary. The problem was more about the subjects. I haven't studied neither in teaching or administration so it was hard sometimes to understand exactly what the staff wanted me to do. Nevertheless, as time passed by, I started to understand better the tasks I was asked to do. That was due to one of the strategies I've used the most : analyzing. I thought about all the possible meanings and deducted that the most plausible one was the right one.

Accent

I don't think my English accent really improved during my internship mainly because I wasn't only surrounded by anglophones. There were a lot of people around me who were also learning English but they still had their respective accent. Few of the students I worked with were real anglophones and I didn't really had the chance to have proper chat with them. Therefor, it was hard for me to practice my accent. I still have some problem with the ''th'' pronunciation. I wish I had the chance to practice it more during my internship but I'm confident that I'll be able to do so in a near future. 

Fluency

Even though I was already fluent in English during my internship, I think it improved a little bit. Mainly in the spoken part of the language (I barely practice the written part during my internship). Even though, I still have problem with my fluency because of my shyness. I'm so afraid of making mistakes that I refrain myself from using some words that are hard to say. I've tried to lower my inhibition, but it wasn't a success.

Humour

I barely saw any difference between anglophone and francophone humour. It's hard for me to talk about the anglophone culture in particularly because more than half the people I've been working with were not anglophones. Almost every students were coming from other countries and they still some difficulties with their English. However, there was that time when I heard one them talking about the job he had in Peru. He explained that at that time he barely knew English at all and he had an anglophone client who didn't speak Spanish. They had a really hard time understanding each other and the way he told us his story was really funny. He used so many gesture and facial expressions!

Accuracy

I might be fluent in English, I still make mistakes when I talk. For example, I'm having a hard time pronouncing the ''th'' sound and I often forget to pronounce the ''s'' that the end of plural words. I also tend to forget the verb ''speak'', who knows why ! I almost always use the verb ''talk'' instead of ''speak'' when it's suppose to be the other way around. 

Entry #8 : Overall reflection

My internship is coming to its end. It makes me a little sad because I really enjoyed myself at GEOS. Lately, I've been thinking about what my internship brought me so far. I realized that not all the goals I wished to achieve did so. For example, my first goal, which was to improve my English, wasn't a big success. It was already pretty easy for me to speak in English before my internship so, of course, I didn't expect to learn a lot about this language. However, I thought I'd probably learn about new structure or vocabulary, but it wasn't the case. I learned some words, but not much. I think the problem was that the internship was maybe too short, or that I didn't go frequently enough. My second goal was to develop effective learning strategies. In my opinion, this one was a success. I've been analyzing my environment, the conversations and the people around me a lot. My internship teached me how to use this kind of a strategies way better than in class since I've been able to use it in real life. My third goal was to live a new experience that would help me in the future and that's exactly how I would qualified it. I have no doubt that it will be really helpful in the future. I've been able to see what the real job of a teacher is and it gave me even more motivation. Finally, my last goal was to develop my teaching skills. I'm not sure I can say that I've really improved my teaching skills, but at least I had the chance to experience a different kind of school and different kinds of classes.

        I've also been concerned about the strategies I've used. Some one them were really useful, and some ... not that much! To constantly search for meanings and to analyse speeches were really effective. I've used those strategies a lot and they allowed me to see the English language from a whole new point of view. However, even if I've been trying to lower my inhibition, it hasn't been a real success. It's something that can't be changed so easily. I also wanted to try labeling the things around me, but since I was in a public place it wasn't possible ... Or it would have been weird, wouldn't it ?

        Still, even though I haven't learned a lot about vocabulary and syntax, I have to admit I do see a difference between my speeches before and after my internship. This is difference is mainly in the way I speak with the people in English. I'm a little more formal than I used to be. Also, there's a difference in my motivation. I'm now completely sure I want to be a teacher in the future. The teachers I've been working with at GEOS really inspired me. I realized I really like the anglophone culture and I want to be able to share with others by becoming an English teacher.

        I still haven't wrote my ''thank you'' note to my host, but I will do it for sure. My host have been such a great help to me. She worked hard to make me comfortable in the school and she was really attentive. It's all thanks to her if my internship went so well.

         Finally, I would definitely recommend this internship to every student who is interest to teaching. GEOS has a really pleasant atmosphere and the staff is really welcoming. If I ever have the chance to teach at such a nice place, I will not hesitate even a second !