The Englishman, the Frenchman and the Maire...

They say that language is 50% formal learning, 50% application and 100% communication. Well I experienced that recently at a meal at the house of some French friends in the village.

An Anglo/Franco mixture of some fifteen people, part family, part neighbours  and part friends, we arrived greeting each other in a mixture of tongues and accents. From the patois of the Mayenne and broad Scotts, to the softer Loire tones and the open vowels of middle England, and, amongst our midst, the marie of the village and his wife.

Between us we had a variety of linguistic skills, from the truly bi-linguist (well actually multi linguist) to a mixture of language knowledge, learnt or acquired in our own respective  journeys through life. And, just as with international flights or voyages, whose timetables are set to the country of arrival /departure, our default language was French. We ate some excellent cuisine, drank some wonderful wines and all relaxed into that happy ambience, which is generated by good folk having a good time.

We had first met our French hosts some years ago at a  local village fete, where we had shared a communal meal, of vast meat proportions, all washed down by good red wine or local cidre. The husband spoke English & wanted to practise so it was agreed that he'd speak English & myself French. I was struck by how similar in looks one of his daughters was to him and tried to express this, "votre fille vous resemble/la fille et pere avoir le meme visage". Clumsy, but effective  I thought , but not fully understood so the daughter was asked to help translate. "They have the same face", I asserted. "Face?", replied the daughter, at which point the mother burst out laughing. It seems that the  word,'face' in English, sounds to the French ear like 'fesses', which is buttocks or bum! So here was I boldly asserting that father & daughter had a derriere resemblance.

Needless to say & thankfully, this linguistic faux pas was the beginning of a friendship  and here we were again sharing good food & communication.

After many stories, jokes and bilingual exchanges, over many courses and several changes of wine, it was decided that we should all play Scrabble. Two mixed nationality teams were set up & two scrabble sets appeared as if by magic. This was to be a bilingual game. Either language to be used, with the nationals of that language being the judge of the accuracy of the language & words in question.

Not a great lover of games and particularly word games, my husband quickly realised that he had no option, but to participate, if international relations were to remain intact. Everyone busied around, moving chairs, mixing nationalities and charging glasses until the scene was set. At this point the marie declared 'political immunity', stating that it was a politically strategic game and hence in order to be neutral he had to opt out. Strange as he was the only political person in the room and even stranger when he then proceeded to move between the two games; advising, studying, tutting and nodding in equal measures.

Its a curious mental experience trying to put together random letters to match your visual memory from two different languages; your brain goes into a strange overload. The letters 'z,y,v' were more usable in French and high scorers plus, 'au, ou , et', could all fill in those awkward gaps.

It was a great night; I learnt a lot of new words (not all repeatable) and developed new thinking skills. But above all I learnt the power of  'entente cordiale' and diplomacy. Our walking lexicon of a village marie, with his political manoeuvrings between the two teams, stole the day...he was the star.

Oh and how did my long complaining, 'I don't do games' husband fair?
Well he won hands down in both languages!

" C'est incroyable!"...

French pragmatism...oh la la

Well I've sampled the very adequate French health care system yet again. Reluctant though I was to step into the medical quagmire I had to do so as the pain in my side did not go.

In short, within five days all was checked, solution found & on the road to recovery. Cost in euros, just over two hundred, cost in peace of mind & ability to sleep comfortably, beyond price.

As always the differences in the two systems (UK & France) intrigue & amuse and added to my continuing medical saga. First was the fact that you must always acknowledge social niceties even when in pain or fear, so you must greet appropriately, give due time for deliberation(at least twice the time you'd expect for a doctor to take in the UK) and show no response & certainly no humour in the face of the gravity of the procedure. Secondly you must always be aware of the French preoccupation with  fine food and all things relating to the eating etiquette & process. Its not simply, 'don't eat from midnight before the scan', its suggestions for light 'dinner' and a repeated emphasis to take ' a little bread, a little cheese~ a petit morsel in the car in order to sustain yourself between the clinic & home.

Then the clinic itself, the exterior resembled a small house with tubs of bright flowers situated on what appears to be a suburban road; bungalows & houses, people trimming hedges & walking dogs. Inside a state of the art medical facility run with military precision and polite efficiency. But then there's the pretty seating areas with tasteful art work & fake greenery and all the patients have to greet each other 'Bonjour Monsieur/ Dame',cant let the social niceties slip.

So I finally get to the ultra scanning & x ray part, the working area of the clinic and everything is done very precisely, though all a little surprisingly. Now usually in such circumstances the NHS provide a back fastening unflattering coverall robe & cover most of the not needed parts like legs or upper torso with sheets or blankets. So I was curious to see what the French would do; fashionable over garments,'haute couture'? No, simply strip off ! I asked for clarification, in case my language skills had let me down but no, take off all your clothes & lie on the bench, the doctor will arrive soon.

I've always criticised the prudishness of the English system which insists on covering every possible unnecessary inch. Even at the point of imminently giving birth, having rushed into the cottage hospital, I was asked in the UK to "neatly fold my clothes & put my legs into the green cotton covers", the phrase 'bugger off' was shortly overtaken by the later stages of  labour contractions. But  in France, here I was no robe, nor sheet to hide my modesty, feeling somewhat vulnerable awaiting the doctor.

And when he arrived, looking like a  lab technician, white coat, high buttoned and jeans, I was questioned about my medical history for some five or more minutes, all the time stark naked lain on this bench, bizarre! Then came the internal examination, now to not go into too much detail in England the apparatus is covered in what resembles a plastic bag, not so in France; obvious really a 'French Letter' and a choice of colours! pragmatism


               
So what has this to do with a small French school? Well everything, because this necessity for social politeness & courtesy, but also the down to earth pragmatism is key to how the system works. The children are expected to always be polite & show good manners, but the practicalities of life are to be used & not hampered by health & safety or big business greed. 


In my professional life I was always aware of the security of schools; the access to buildings, the codes for classrooms or offices, everything secured down, the educational world on high alert. But here in rural France life has more trust & there are practical necessities, hence the small school room opens up, from a door with no security lock onto a playground with no codes or buzzers.


 Children play peacefully, not hampered with fears of the outside world. True we need to raise children in a safe environment & teach them to be aware of danger, but we don't need to stifle their existence in that world & make it a fearful place. 

So every Monday morning I rattle open the rusty bolt, cross the rough pot holed yard and open the classroom door. I enter their world as a trusted adult and bring to it, I hope, a little of the world of language  and the magic of learning.

Nuances and nods

Language is a complex combination of written, read, heard  & spoken structures. To be fluent you need to, 'be able to express one]
yourself easily and articulately', ' to speak or write language easily & accurately'; but the key is in the word  'fluent' itself; from the Latin 'fluere', fluency should be flowing & smooth.

Getting that flow, is bigger than the nuances of the individual components of a language, greater than just the structure, the spelling, grammar or pronunciation. Its primarily about its communication and for that you need empathy.

You can know all the words, have a grasp of the grammar and understand the written & read text, but without empathy for that language & its culture, your communication will not  ' flow'.

One of the best examples of this is in the use of body language which communicates the meaning, not just directly, but   also indicates you have a knowledge beyond the actual words.

 Travelling in India some years ago the men in the group became fascinated with the head actions of Indian males towards them. In the male world misinterpreting body language is potentially a dangerous activity and, if not read correctly, can end up in a fight. Described as drawing a figure of eight whilst your head is suspended from a fixed point, each guy in the group was intent to master this, so as to fit the cultural norm & stay safe. Turns out it is done increasingly when the person is anxious or nervous, but a lack of this action shows a lack of understanding on the part of the listener.

So it was a few years ago in rural France when there was a minor dispute about who was entitled to put animals on our land. Based on confusion  between the local farmer and a French horse breeder, both of whom believed  they could put their respective animals on our land, my husband Ron set about resolving this potential dispute. It was not an insolvable problem, but in dialect French  and French body language, not easy. 
It went like this:

• Farmer & Horseman stand facing each other, closer than English norm.
• Ron stands equally close feeling uncomfortable.
• Two Frenchman put their hands on their hips & continue talking.
• Ron copies the action looking confused.
• Frenchmen's voices get louder & arms are crossed.
• Ron slowly, uncertainly crosses his arms.
• Silence!
• Ron attempts to intercede.
• Silence!
• More loud French upward turned palms & classic shrug.
• Ron stands still, unsure.
• Frenchmen shake hands vigorously clap each othe on the back & laugh.deal done!
• Ron laughs nervously, deal done, not sure what!
• Two Frenchmen, resolved, "Calvados monsieur,ah oui"

 It turns out that they simply agreed to share the land & put both cows & horse on the land. It wasn't a problem, but it wasn't just the words that communicated the interaction it was the actions and it only flowed in French.

People often refer to the Gaelic shrug but like all languages there are so many degrees of any one action & so many possible actions, your fluency depends on your imitative skills. 

I found this out  recently, because I am very good at mimicking facial & body actions, I don't think about it I just find myself doing them & have become quite proficient in female French body language. Problem is my actual spoken language does not always match my non verbal communication, so fellow conversationalists will often assume I know much more than I do & talk even faster, assuming complete comprehension. Suddenly the conversation came to a question, there was a silence, all eyes turned to me! I shrugged as best I could and uttered the cover all local phrase, 'bah non', it seemed to work, but I was left only half sure what I'd disagreed with.

You need all the aspects of communication to be fluent. Unfortunately in my case recently I was more, 'going with the flow' than 'flowing'.Still, as the advert advises, 'Every little helps' and I do love France!
 'bah oui...exactement...bah oui'

Positively Speaking

My latest lesson  teachingEnglish and  I am left pondering how to encourage more speaking, how I can get the French children to venture into the vital world of verbal communication,


There's something about the formality & grammatical correctness of teaching in France which means the children are fine with the written or read word / with the convergent and single answer response, but struggle with choice or possible different answers. They are used to everything being marked, its right or wrong; no maybe, no nearly and certainly no points for initiative or effort.

So today I began to wonder if their system & way of working was making me adapt my teaching; was I asking for one word answers, expecting single correct answers? I was trying to get them to remember and talk about the days of the week and latterly the concept of 'next' as in the next day or the person next to you, but because they didn't want to make a mistake verbally they were hesitant. They knew the names & order of the days, they knew the concept of  'next / prochaine ', but choosing to take a chance and answer, no thank you. Better if they could take turns or be chosen to speak.And then there were the multiple choice questions, now they're a nightmare!

Our previous 'Let's Speak' language students (French wishing to improve their spoken English) had told us that every error was marked even if the sentence worked, if it was not formally the 'one correct' answer, then it was wrong. Hence for them, written grammar or read prose with closed (single answer) questions were easy to score highly, but they felt inadequate orally because they misused a word, shortened a phrase or mispronounced a.... But language is about communication, getting the message across and 'guessing', 'having a go', trying to put words together, even reading inflection & body language are all vital facets to fluency.

Strange then that in the teaching of a language in France more emphasis seems to be put on correctness and less on actually getting the meaning across.After all we don't normally assess oral / aural communication by how correctly its written or spelt. That would be like measuring land in fathoms or the sea in acres. So most French people pass through the education system with a good grounding of grammatical English but no confidence to speak it, afraid that if its not perfect it will be wrong & ridiculed.

This concept of failure is,it seems, deeply woven into the education system. Children pass  through the primary school system ('marernalle' & 'primaire') in descending numerical order, unlike their UK counterparts who ascend in order. However if they do not make their grades for that year, they fail the year  and have to repeat that year. This is not an uncommon event and is accepted by students who then must repeat the year with children younger than them. Akin to the Victorian 'Standards', whereby you only passed through the standards if you achieved the grade and passed the tests, this is a system which, from the very start acknowledges failure and advances success.  

So when it comes to getting the children to take a risk, have a go the failure is not just a fear of, but a probable reality. So I wonder what those children & their families would make of a letter  recently sent by a Welsh school to all their pupils about to take Standard Attainment Tests. All credit to the school in question, this is a brilliant piece of positivity and I thoroughly approve.

   

Two Blogs One Life...

Back in France and about to return to my voluntary teaching in the small village school.

Its been 18 months since I last taught there;  a year of cancer diagnosis,operations & treatments. So  I am on the eve of writing a piece which actually applies to both the blogs I maintain;  www.frenchchalk.blogspot.fr  and www.diagnosisjournal.blogspot.com ; a strange feeling, my two worlds colliding.

So what am I going to teach, well what else but family. "Je m'appelle Md. Machin, et vous?" I start again, mostly new / different children and  I needs must return to basics; names, introductions and family.

Very apt, in that, in France and particularly rural France,  ' mon famille' is all important. Indeed it was my family that was so important in my journey to recovery. More than a ' basic social unit related to one another', my family close & family of friends near & far have given me the encouragement to keep going.


So when I talk with the children and when we share our languages & experiences, it will mean so much more now.I will be communicating between my two worlds, merging  my France in France & my life with and of cancer.

So, Monday, in that small classroom will indeed be a joy; the joy of teaching, sharing, laughing, encouraging; in short the joy of living and that is difficult to write a lesson plan for. 

So here's my draft:           Lesson Plan for Life
OBJECTIVE: To share the joy of family close & far and understand how special they are
SYLLABUS / SCHEME/ PLAN: Learning intentions & Prior Learning
To communicate the emotion, recognise the limits and learn & apply prior life skills.
OUTCOMES:Key vocabulary & resources needed
Hope, positivity, resourcefulness and love
LEARNING ACTIVITIES: Warm up, differentiation and measurable goals.
So many years, so many faces and so much of the path trod. Yet still a lot to learn...
ASSESSMNET & EVALUATION:
Living & loving....

Now that's what OFSTED would call, ' Outstanding'

The 80 / 20 Rule

It never ceases to amaze me that  the fundamentals of teaching apply across the board; all ages, subjects & abilities, teaching is an art with scientific principles.

My husband  has started some  volunteer tutoring with a local amateur art group and loving it. So each Wednesday evening he is considering & preparing for Thursdays adventure at the adult learning chalk face. He is meticulous in his preparation, clear in his intentions and, despite all those years in university teaching, still has some pre performance nerves.  Our roles have currently changed, no longer me worrying about the village school on a Sunday afternoon, well at least not until after Easter, but my other half  in the same shoes; bigger shoes and different language to overcome.

He is a firm believer in good preparation, but allowance of  flexibility; something left open, to chance. Might be a question, a technique, learner curiosity or just the interest of the day, but there has to be some development element  Fortunately we learnt our craft when creativity & flexibility were seen as equal bedfellows with planning & assessment, we are not bound, by curriculum, standards or thought processes to one single line of  teaching. We can maintain the momentum, achieve the goals, fulfil the targets and be creative, it what gives  teachers
 'the edge'.
The same applied when we came to plan our short presentation for the planning group of the local town Art Festival. There was so much we could say, quote & explain, but we keep it simple & allowed for listener participation. The result a clean and attractive one sheet overview of our small French Art Holiday Business Abientot Art (see our Facebook Page: Art Holidays Abientot) 

But just in case any of you are under the allusion that we teach in a, 'flying by the seat of your pants', Hippy Dippy, 60's manner, here's the theory to back the words.
Its called 'The Pareto Principle' or 'Law of the vital few' and is based on the work of economist Vilfredo  Pareto. It states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects comes from 20% of the causes and is used as a business rule of thumb in looking at outcomes v workload. For example, its reckoned that 80% of any  business comes from 20% of the clients, so its better to put the effort into that 20%.

Certainly you can work to increase the 80% result, but  returns are relatively low simply adds to the workload stress, without increasing the outcome. Now stress is a much maligned word. We  need a certain amount  of stress to function. Its the tension that we call excitement , a rush, adrenaline or endomorphin surge or arousal and we even seek it out in our work, hobbies, holidays. Its what makes a problem become a challenge, a danger into a dare and a difficulty into a competition. We need that edge, that adaptability & creativity it also makes the best teachers.

So remember the next time someone challenges your approach or infers a lack of planning, its the Pareto Principle. The 'Law of the Vital Few'.

Divergency...its all in a brush stroke

A guest to our art holiday retreat, which we run from the farm in the Pays de la Loire, was fascinated by her own left / right dominance. Having always assumed she was right side dominant, she had found some preferences for her left hand and so was experimenting with both writing & drawing with her left hand.

My previous studies and work experience as an Advisory Teacher for Literacy & SEN (psychology & dyslexia) meant I had dealt a great deal with learning stlyes, teaching methods and the physical & psychological links of development.

Many a great thinker, Einstein & Leonardo to name but two, has been whole brain functioning / multi dominance. Indeed I believe we all have degrees of cross over in the usage of those two precious hemispheres that constitute the 'wet computer', of our brain. We have developed from seeing only natures curves & light to perceiving man made angularity and artificial light.

Our ancestors, not so many generations back, would have used whatever cognitive or dexterity skills genetics and / or the environment had given them. it is only more recently, in the history of mans evolution, when we measure things largely convergently and, when everyday survival needs are resolved, can we afford the luxury of considering our own functioning.

We are hard wired to seek solutions, but when & how we analyse is dictated by a large number of variables. Some spend lifetimes in academic or analytical pursuit, others look for application and process. Whatever way we cannot avoid our 'fault finding' internal chart, its our way of synthesising the world around us.

Recently I relearnt, via a language French guest, Aristotle's philosophical statement to prove our individual existence...'Je pense, donc je suis'. So in answer to our budding left handed artist.

'If you think you are left side dominant, therefore you probably are'. Well that's what I feel, I think!