Quebec Trip
Thirty-two eighth grade students of French from the York Middle School recently returned home from a three-day French immersion trip to Québec City. The trip, in its 13th consecutive year, was led by French teacher Stephanie Carbonneau as well as Principal Maling, School Counselor Dow, and Nurse Moore.
According Mme. Carbonneau, “This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn that they can understand and be understood in French outside their classroom with real people in the real world. French does exist beyond my classroom walls! It is very important for students to see the language standards they are trying to master in action.” She added that, “Part of learning any language is learning about the people, history and the culture of the places where the language that students are studying is spoken. Seeing these things in person is as important to language learning as playing an actual game is to an athlete that runs drills and trains all year. It means much, much more when the students can experience these things and see these places first-hand.”
On their first night, students went toboggan sliding at les Glissades de la Terrasse, the famous toboggan slide on the boardwalk next to the Château Frontenac, 300 feet above the St. Lawrence River. Several students, wore GoPro cameras attached to their heads or bravely used their iPhones to film the exciting experience.
Students began learning about the history of Québec on Thursday evening at an interactive lesson about the epic battle that was fought in Québec City in 1759, changing the course of history. This workshop was presented by the staff of the National Battlefields Commission, an agency of the Canadian federal government. Students eagerly participated learning the history firsthand by reenacting musket loading, cannon firing and battlefield surgery. Emma Tinervin spent the rest of the trip with only one leg ;)
On Friday morning, the eighth graders visited Quebec City’s famous Hotel de Glace (Ice Hotel), a real hotel made from snow and ice (one of two such hotels in the world) where guests actually sleep in sleeping bags on thick pelts placed on beds made of blocks of ice. Students spent the afternoon learning the quintessentially Canadian sport of curling. Troy Nelson said he enjoyed curling “because I like sports and this is one I had never tried before. A lot harder than it looks!” The day ended with a visit to a French-Canadian cabane à sucre where the students had an authentic, all-you-can-eat sugar-shack dinner, then learned some traditional songs and folk dances.
On the last day, the students enjoyed a 8 km dogsledding adventure. Bradford Newton said, “I really liked dog sledding. The dogs really loved what they were doing. I will definitely remember that part of my trip very well. I need to get a dogsled.” Kristen Leroux added, “I was very surprised how good they were and they responded almost immediately to the words me or my sled partner said. And the puppies were really cute!”
Many students tried eating Poutine (a French-Canadian dish made with French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds).
Chase Marshall said, “From the food to the accommodations to the activities, I can only say positive things about my time in Québec. 10/10!
“This is has been an annual tradition for French students at York for the past 13 years,” said Mme Carbonneau, “which really motivates and inspires them. They come back to class more determined than ever to continue their study of French. This is especially true when I can tie in what students need to know and be able to do with the French language with what they now really want to talk about. Their pictures and their amazing experiences in Québec serve as a springboard to more advanced French and active engagement in meeting the language standards.” This year’s group will be creating scrapbooks narrating in the past tense what they did in Québec as well as sharing with their French Pen pals their trip memories.
According to Nora Pulsifer’s parents, she can’t stop talking about the trip. She added, “Best. Trip. Ever. Definitely going back someday.”
When asked what they would remember most about their trip, 8th graders said ,“Everything.” The students unanimously agreed but Aidan Martin stated it best, “This was a great trip. Something I will remember forever.”
Daphne Stratton-Gignac added, “The trip was amazing! The full schedule allowed for us to learn and experience all parts of Quebecois history and heritage, and the enthusiastic and interactive method of teaching made it fun!”
