Pen Pals

I don't know whether it's the fact that the sun is finally shining or that my sleep cycles have finally got control of themselves, but I'm feeling quite positive and Pollyanna-esque today.

Lots of jobs and school work to be done, of course, but still - a refreshing sense of optimism.

It could certainly be - in part - due to the downright hilarious lesson I had yesterday.

My quatrième class are easily my favourite. They're that lovely age of (13 - 14) where they're so awkward and funny and still figuring out who they are and so easy to embarrass and very sweet and earnest. 

To try and give them some practice using their English in a "real" way (as opposed to just in the classroom) I've organised a good old fashioned Pen Pal exchange with my old school in Adelaide. And my kids are SO excited about it. It's so easy to forget that they've grown up with email - and Facebook to a lesser extent - so they've never really hand written letters to an overseas pen-pal. Their enthusiasm for this task is delightful.

Yesterday during class we were brainstorming what they should write in their first, introductory letter about themselves and I was telling them a bit about the school and life in Adelaide which turned into a bit of a lesson on Australia (and the floods, of course, which I'll touch on later).

And -  naturally - we got onto cultural stereotypes and expectations. They were all complaining that France is boring and  asking "why would anyone want to come to France when you live in Australia" and I tried to explain how, for Aussies, France is exotic, and cultured and how the French have a reputation for being "cool" and "chic" which had them all laughing their heads off. "French people aren't cool!" they howled at me.

They in turn asked me the standard questions I've been asked a hundred times now:  if people in Australia really say "Crikey!" (yes - I'm looking at my husband, who also says "G'day" *shakes head*) say "throw a shrimp on the Bar-bie" (ew - No) and are called "Sheila" or "Bruce" (yes and yes).
More giggling and typical questions about beaches, kangaroos, sharks, whether we get snow etc. 

We then talked about French stereotypes.
And this is pretty much where the lesson descended into absolute chaos.

I drew a picture of the stereotypical French man on the board. He looked exactly like this:

The kids found this HILARIOUS and were all yelling out
"add some cheese!"
"he needs a cigarette!"
"and onions around his neck! - what? - yeah! ONIONS!"
"and un cafe!"

- and I said he had to be called Pierre or Jean-Jacques
- and then gave him a speech bubble saying "Oh la la!" and "Zut! Alors .."

which then led to me explaining how I continue to be so disappointed that, despite what my French workbook told me, no-one in France ever says "Sacre Bleu!!"

Guess what these kids are all saying now?
Yep. I've started a movement.

Sacre Bleu! 

Such a fun lesson. Sometimes it is truly great being a teacher.
Collective excitement and enthsuiasm are infectious.

I'll let you know how the Pen Pal exchange 2011 shapes up - and whether I have to censor any of their letters! Two girls have specifically asked me if they can have boy pen-pals so I'm not quite sure what they hope to be getting out of this exchange!


And to finish with - a musical number:

When Katie and I were driving up to Bridgewater for New Years Eve festivities, she had this song playing. I couldn't get it out of my head. I have since iTuned (is that a verb? It should be) Brooke Fraser's whole album and it's faboosh.

This song will cheer you up if you're having a bad day, it's a real thigh-slapper/foot-stomper (caveat - the film clip isn't that great - but the song's great and she's awesome.)

So I dedicate this musical number to my blog-friend and sort of pen-pal, Sara Louise from Sara in Le Petit Village who I know is having a bad day.
Bisous x