Cape students visit France
Based in Vitre, in northwest France, where they stayed with host families, students visited D-Day landing beaches and World War II monuments, Mont Saint Michel and Saint-Malo before heading to the nation’s legendary capital for two days.
Before the trip, students corresponded with French pen pals and then stayed with their penpal families, said French instructor Holly Criswell, who coordinated the trip.
The students said they learned quit a bit about French and American culture, history and being teenagers.
Ninth-grader McKinnon de Kuyper said, “The trip didn’t just open our eyes to history, but also to society.” Her classmate Ariel Gordon said she learned teenagers are basically the same everywhere; but, the students said people in France were nicer than they are in America.
McKinnon said, “It’s a lot more about living in the moment there, but here, it’s always about what’s next.”
Not all Cape students went equipped with stellar French skills, but they worked it out with their peers. Some pairs used the opportunity to practice their second languages with native speakers, while in other sets the French students spoke French and the Americans English. McKinnon said she and her correspondent developed their own kind of Franglish.
Cape students attended school with their French correspondents, most of whom had been studying English for several years. Criswell said, “Language learning is definitely more of a priority in Europe. A program like ours is unique for the area, and for the country.”
Language barriers presented a bit of a challenge, but Jenny West said she was able to teach her host family’s young children some English. Ariel and Hunter Graves said French-English dictionaries were well used during the trip. While the French students and their families used words and phrases common to British English – Vitre is in an area near the English Channel – the French students love American music, said Jenny.
Free time with the families the first night gave everyone time to break the ice, said Jenny.
The Cape students had plenty of time to interact with their host families over characteristically long French lunches and dinners. Erika Polner said, “The dinners last forever and everyone gets along.”
The students said they bonded as a group and made lasting friendships with their French counterparts. There was one instance, however, in which the two groups did not see eye to eye, and that was when the group visited World War II monuments, an emotional part of the trip for some American students. Hunter said, “We cried, and they were taking pictures for their MySpace.” Jenny said it was difficult to watch other people from other groups who joked and laughed at a place that was so emotional for her and her classmates.
French is declining in high schools as more students turn to Spanish, as the country sees a growing prevalence of Spanish speakers, said Criswell, who teaches at the Ninth Grade Campus. Students have only to be enrolled in a French class to take the trip, she said. It’s a way to encourage students to learn the language.
The Cape Henlopen French Exchange Program has been taking Cape students to France and bringing French students to the Cape Region since 2005. Gail Fitzgerald and Marie Robinson, two retired French teachers, started the program, said Criswell, a Cape graduate who is in her first year teaching for the district after 12 years teaching French in other schools.
This year marks the third time Cape students have traveled to France in the program, she said. In October, French students will arrive in the Cape Region for a week, said Criswell.
The French sister program focuses on 10th-grade students, and more than 60 want to come here, she said.
Eleven of this year’s trip students were ninth-graders.
