It’s 8.45am on a grey May morning and I’m sitting in a classroom being asked about my work, in French, by one of the friendly teachers at French in Normandy, ESL’s partner school in Rouen.
This isn’t actually my French course itself; it’s the placement test, which is done entirely orally with no gap-fill or grammar exercises. I struggle as I try to work out the French word for spreadsheet! I do manage to communicate that I work in an office in London, as the UK Regional Manager of a language travel agency, and that I am, in effect, trying out my own product. The teacher asks all the new students different questions about ourselves to keep us on our toes. My new potential classmates are from all over the World – the USA, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Switzerland…. After everyone speaks we are taken on a tour of the school and by the time it’s finished we are shown a list on the noticeboard of who is in which class. Ellen, the American, and I are in Benedicte’s class joining 7 students who have already spent some weeks at the school. Benedicte asks us to sit apart so we don’t speak to each other in English!
Benedicte’s theme for the week is art. All the reading, speaking and listening exercises we do in class are based around this topic. This throws me a little, as I don’t even know how to talk about impressionist paintings in English! However, our teacher stresses that it’s not important how much we know, just that we learn about the French language through the theme of discussing Monet, Pissaro, Sisley and other artists associated with Normandy. The week’s lessons will conclude with a class visit to the Musée des Beaux-Arts in the centre of Rouen during which we will all choose a painting and present it to the rest of the class. The second week we have a different teacher, whose name is Victor. His topic for the week is sustainable development; a topic that is very relevant to us at ESL. We look at it from all kinds of angles and it facilitates lively discussion. It is very interesting to have different teachers for each week, as it exposes the students to different language teaching and learning styles as well as different French pronunciation and vocabulary.
Throughout the week the school offers a range of interesting activities for students including visits to historic Rouen, cultural seminars a theatre trip, a visit to an art exhibition, and (my personal highlight) a Norman cheese tasting afternoon – my only regret is that due to French licensing law they could not open a couple of bottles of vin rouge to go with it!
At the weekend, tying in with the art theme, the school organizes a trip to Monet’s house at Giverny with its spectacular gardens. On the Sunday I choose to arrange my own trip to Chateau de Versailles, a huge statement of power from France’s long-gone absolutist monarchy, which is only an hour by car from Rouen. On several occasions I visit the Jardins des Plantes – Rouen’s botanical garden – which provides a beautiful space to go on the rare occasions the sun comes out, and space for my 2-year old daughter to run around, play games, see the Peacocks, go on the carousel and make her own attempts to learn French playing with the French toddlers there with their parents.
The school updates its many notice boards regularly with up to date information on what is going on in Rouen. For a fairly small city there’s a very wide range of arts events from dance to theatre to art exhibitions and cinema, and of course, no shortage of excellent restaurants!
Throughout my time in Rouen I am blessed with excellent accommodation. I am a difficult student to accommodate, as I travel with my wife and aforementioned daughter. She is a noisy toddler and I had initially been reluctant to choose to stay with a host family but it turns out to be ideal. The family we stay with is a charming retired couple that has a spacious garden, plenty of time to chat in French and play with my daughter, and (perhaps most importantly for a 2 year old) a cat and a dog! It is a huge benefit to my French to be able to come back and have a chat in the garden to Monsieur Vagnier while he is tinkering with his vintage motorbike, or to Madame Vagnier while she was cutting her plants.
She pops into the house from time to time for sweet things which my daughter might not normally be allowed! We have opted for a self-catering host family option and have our own annexe with a separate entrance. Monsieur Vagnier takes time to show us around Rouen one day, and takes us to see the historic parts of the city as well as the market where we can pick up some fantastic local cheeses, recently made crepes, pates and ciders.
In the past I have taken French courses before but have always been for just a week. Going for 2 weeks makes a huge difference to my progress. By the end of week one I am just adjusting to thinking in French and so I am really able to build on that immersion in the second week, and use some of the expressions and vocabulary I have picked up in class.
“My 2 weeks in Rouen are a huge success”
Linguistically my 2 weeks in Rouen are a huge success; the city has a great mix of modern shopping areas and historic buildings dating back to the 11th century (with the imposing gothic cathedral at the centre); there are not that many tourists making for an authentic immersion experience, and the food (as one expects of France) is wonderful!
An added bonus is that as I live on the South Coast of England I can get there by ferry and car and don’t have to fly. However, its proximity to the UK means that it gets the same weather; if there’s one drawback to French in Normandy this is it – mostly grey skies and good few days of rain. The weather can’t be helped, and if you’re looking to soak up the sun, Rouen is never going to be on your radar, but for teaching, people, food, culture, and language immersion, Rouen can’t be faulted!
What do you think?