Hello everybody!
There is a lot to say, but I will keep it short.
Before arriving to the new school I didn’t feel well, I was really nervous and stressed, but excited at the same time to discover something new. When I arrived there with Blandine, I was really impressed by the school…it’s so big that you could get lost in it! And of course that happened on our first day, but now it’s fine we can find our way ^^’'.
I felt really welcome by the students and especially by our coordinator. I also met other foreign people coming from Walloon, Spain, Germany and Poland on our first day because we had a drink all together, they are all nice people!
Now, Blandine and me have just came back from our training period and we've started attending school again since today!
I stop it here for this time. I hope you are all enjoying yourselves and that you are doing well wherever you are.
See you soon!
Kiss
Stéphanie
Friday, 29 February 2008
Jil in Cyprus
First of all, I want to say hi to each of you. I really hope everything is fine and that you enjoy every time of your experience.
As you know, I left Belgium the 25 of january, it's such a long time ago. This day was very strange because I didn't realise that I would leave my friends and family. I arrived in Limassol with my parents. They stayed there for 10 days. It was easier to find a flat with them because here there are a lot of appartements but these are for "kind woman"... We finally found one, a secure one. A beautiful one just near the sea and in the centre. Its location is perfect!
I was afraid to meet my teacher because the first impression and the first contact I had in Belgium was not good. But the first time we saw each other, it was just amazing. I'm really really lucky! She's a good person. She's great! We see each other a lot. This first contact with a cypriot person was like the other ones. The people here are incredible, they are very welcoming. I met my friends in the "Alliance Française" and also at school. There are all teachers... They show me the island, they take me out for dinner or to have a drink. We also relax in the sun.
I'm in Agia Varvara college. It's supposed to be the worst school in Limassol. In fact, the students are the poorest of Limassol. The school is situated in a factory area. It's really strange because they are active, motivated and very noisy. When they want to say something they just shout! But they don't stop, it's always this same noise. They are like monsters! I'm not used to it! But anyway, the pupils are adorable and cute! It's going to be be difficult to leave them....
So that's it for the moment, I really can talk about Cyprus for hours...but you have other things to do!
And a special message for Gwen and for Rachid:
Good luck to both of you, I'm with you!
Jil
As you know, I left Belgium the 25 of january, it's such a long time ago. This day was very strange because I didn't realise that I would leave my friends and family. I arrived in Limassol with my parents. They stayed there for 10 days. It was easier to find a flat with them because here there are a lot of appartements but these are for "kind woman"... We finally found one, a secure one. A beautiful one just near the sea and in the centre. Its location is perfect!
I was afraid to meet my teacher because the first impression and the first contact I had in Belgium was not good. But the first time we saw each other, it was just amazing. I'm really really lucky! She's a good person. She's great! We see each other a lot. This first contact with a cypriot person was like the other ones. The people here are incredible, they are very welcoming. I met my friends in the "Alliance Française" and also at school. There are all teachers... They show me the island, they take me out for dinner or to have a drink. We also relax in the sun.
I'm in Agia Varvara college. It's supposed to be the worst school in Limassol. In fact, the students are the poorest of Limassol. The school is situated in a factory area. It's really strange because they are active, motivated and very noisy. When they want to say something they just shout! But they don't stop, it's always this same noise. They are like monsters! I'm not used to it! But anyway, the pupils are adorable and cute! It's going to be be difficult to leave them....
So that's it for the moment, I really can talk about Cyprus for hours...but you have other things to do!
And a special message for Gwen and for Rachid:
Good luck to both of you, I'm with you!
I miss you,
Take care,
Jil
Holland
Hi everybody!
At first, I have to admit that I was afraid to go away. Being alone in another country scared me. But I knew that it was necessary and that I would learn a lot, not only about the language but also about myself and my relationships with the others. How was I to envole in a foreign country? I had many fears but they disappered quite rapidly.
Actually "rapidly" is a bit too enthusiastic. I took me around a week to feel better and ultimately integrated in my new country. The very first day, I was sad and very shy. My first challenge was to go to the other roomates and introduce myself to them. It turned out to be dead easy. They asked me a lot of questions and seemed interested in me, which reassured me. The following morning, I went to school. There also, the people were very welcoming. They showed the whole school to me, the different rooms, the cafeteria, the field, etc.
This one is not far from the place where I live. The school is very impressive. I have 4 different teachers. As far as the 5th and 6th grade are concerned, I form them to the "BAC", which is set an oral exam, I will evaluate them with their own teacher.
I also teach in the 3rd and 4th grade. With those pupils, I practice mainly their oral skills. We watch movies, have some debates about it afterwards and so on.
When I go home, after school, I hang on with roommates and also sometimes have supper with other teachers from my school. It didn't happen very often, but it was very nice. Getting used to their accent was not easy, and I'm still working on it.
Well, that's it for the moment. I would like to wish you all the success possible in your experience and please enjoy yourself!
Take care,
Sandy,
Friday, 22 February 2008
Greetings from LEUVEN!
Hello 3LG,
First of all, I would like to wish you all, especially those who are far away from us, great courage!
As you know, Julie, Rachid, and myself are attending lessons in Leuven at Groep T.
I wasn't so nervous before going to Leuven on the 28th of January because I've been there once last year and had already experienced some day with Flemish people. What I was more curious about was the school itself. I wondered how big it was, how did it look like, and so on because it is a quiet well-known school after the university of Leuven.
The first two weeks were what they call 'Project' weeks. It has to do with cooperative working and multiculturalism within schools. I really enjoyed the workshops which taught me a lot about group works.
During our first workshop in groups, a strange guy with extremely strange hair, supposed to be our English teacher, enterred the room and looked for us for a quick presentation and welcoming. He suggested to have a lunch together the day after in order to know us beter and tell us what he is expecting from us during the following three months.
At lunch, Mr De Roy (our English teacher) had also invited other students from his class and we had a great time together. I was really facinated by this teacher because he made a lot of things in the previous years. He lived and taught 7 years in Korea , worked several years for the Oxford Univerity Press, and many other experiences like those! FACINATING!
We started this week with our English lessons and I must say the students in Leuven have a great level of English compared with ours! I was really impressed.
What also impressed me, is the way students 'treat' their teacher. In Leuven students have a special relationship with their theacher. They behave as if the teachers were their friends or sometimes even a relative. It has its good sides like it has its bad...
We begin our training period the 25th of February till the 7th of March and we also have one week training in May, strange isn't it?
I hope you'll also meet interesting people like we do here in Leuven!
Enjoy your stay!
Miss you!
Mel
First of all, I would like to wish you all, especially those who are far away from us, great courage!
As you know, Julie, Rachid, and myself are attending lessons in Leuven at Groep T.
I wasn't so nervous before going to Leuven on the 28th of January because I've been there once last year and had already experienced some day with Flemish people. What I was more curious about was the school itself. I wondered how big it was, how did it look like, and so on because it is a quiet well-known school after the university of Leuven.
The first two weeks were what they call 'Project' weeks. It has to do with cooperative working and multiculturalism within schools. I really enjoyed the workshops which taught me a lot about group works.
During our first workshop in groups, a strange guy with extremely strange hair, supposed to be our English teacher, enterred the room and looked for us for a quick presentation and welcoming. He suggested to have a lunch together the day after in order to know us beter and tell us what he is expecting from us during the following three months.
At lunch, Mr De Roy (our English teacher) had also invited other students from his class and we had a great time together. I was really facinated by this teacher because he made a lot of things in the previous years. He lived and taught 7 years in Korea , worked several years for the Oxford Univerity Press, and many other experiences like those! FACINATING!
We started this week with our English lessons and I must say the students in Leuven have a great level of English compared with ours! I was really impressed.
What also impressed me, is the way students 'treat' their teacher. In Leuven students have a special relationship with their theacher. They behave as if the teachers were their friends or sometimes even a relative. It has its good sides like it has its bad...
We begin our training period the 25th of February till the 7th of March and we also have one week training in May, strange isn't it?
I hope you'll also meet interesting people like we do here in Leuven!
Enjoy your stay!
Miss you!
Mel
Ireland
Hi everybody,
I'm glad to see everything is ok for you. Here I would say it's difficult for me because I'm in a very small village and there are no public transports so if I want to go to town (the nearest one is 11km away)I need to ask someone of the family who I live with. People here are very kind and I've been welcomed very nicely. My school is in the middle of nowhere. It's very small. There are 3 rooms and 4 if we count the staff room (that is used to give lessons as well). It is a primary school. In the first room I teach, I have 2 classes, the junior and the senior infants(4-5-6 years old). It's very difficult to teach French. They don't even speak their own language correctly. In the next room, there are 3 classes, from 6 to 8 years old. That goes a bit better. And in the last room, there are 3 classes as well, from 8-9 to 12 years old. They are nice.
When I arrived, it was very difficult to understand their accent, Irish people speak very fast and eat their words and the accent is not the same at all. But now I get used to it and it goes better.
I meet people when I'm going to the set-dancing (Irish danses), they are very nice, but otherwise, I don't know really someone in particular. I hope I will meet some other people in the days coming. Sunday I'm going to visit the Cliffs of Moher. It is said it's really beautiful.
Well, I'm looking forward in reading your mails.
Take care
Gwennaelle
I'm glad to see everything is ok for you. Here I would say it's difficult for me because I'm in a very small village and there are no public transports so if I want to go to town (the nearest one is 11km away)I need to ask someone of the family who I live with. People here are very kind and I've been welcomed very nicely. My school is in the middle of nowhere. It's very small. There are 3 rooms and 4 if we count the staff room (that is used to give lessons as well). It is a primary school. In the first room I teach, I have 2 classes, the junior and the senior infants(4-5-6 years old). It's very difficult to teach French. They don't even speak their own language correctly. In the next room, there are 3 classes, from 6 to 8 years old. That goes a bit better. And in the last room, there are 3 classes as well, from 8-9 to 12 years old. They are nice.
When I arrived, it was very difficult to understand their accent, Irish people speak very fast and eat their words and the accent is not the same at all. But now I get used to it and it goes better.
I meet people when I'm going to the set-dancing (Irish danses), they are very nice, but otherwise, I don't know really someone in particular. I hope I will meet some other people in the days coming. Sunday I'm going to visit the Cliffs of Moher. It is said it's really beautiful.
Well, I'm looking forward in reading your mails.
Take care
Gwennaelle
Friday, 15 February 2008
hello!
Hello everybody! I hope you're all fine... In 'Mechelen' everything is fine. I went there with Stephanie. On the first day, I was nervous. I didn't know what I'll discover, a new school, new people, etc. When I came there I found a very big school, I got lost by the way, ^^ ... But finally I found the classroom and everybody was very nice with me :) We had a very great first week, I discoverd Mechelen with two other students and then they came to Brussels. That's a good way to meet new people I think. Teachers are very nice and I feel welcomed. I can't say a lot about the lessons now because we hadn't a lot of lessons until now. It's strange to go in a new school. I miss you and the teachers also:) But that's a good experience, and I hope everything we'll be ok for us,
See you soon,
Blandine
See you soon,
Blandine
Hey! We also learn some things in Leuven ...!
Hello everybody, how are you? My first two weeks in Groep T were very interesting. We had 2 weeks lesson in Project. The project's name is CLIM ( Cooperative Leren in Multiculturelegroepen ). It's a method to teach with multicultural groups. It's really interesting, and it will be useful. We have to work in groups of six. It's really good that we have started with Project because we had the opportunity to meet the different students of the different sections. They were all like me because they didn't knew each other. I wasn't stressed to go to Groep T. I was always thinking that it will be a great experience; it's a really good opportunity to meet an other culture, an other lifestyle. Now I feel me more comfortable, I mean, I know some faces now and it's easier to meet people when you feel yourself in confidence. Yesterday we have presented our Project. It was about humour, it was really funny because we proved that you can learn things with humour. Groups had to present their projects. Then you as student has to make a top 3. The best group received a reward. Unfortunately we haven't won but it was really enriching. Next week we'll have our first hours English. I'm very impatient to see how teachers teach English in Groep T.
I want to tell you good luck. Good luck for the ones who are in Belgium who'll start their training and for the others who are in an other country.
I miss you.
I want to tell you good luck. Good luck for the ones who are in Belgium who'll start their training and for the others who are in an other country.
I miss you.
Sunday, 10 February 2008
I'm in England!!!
Dear all,
Hope you are enjoying your experiences. I have been very very busy since my arrival last Saturday. There were and there still are lots of things to arrange but I'm slowly getting through it.
Everybody here is so kind to me and they all invite me for a walk or a meal! I'm settled in a room and I have 5 other students living in the same house so we have fun together and I'm practicing my English! I'm in Cumbria, in the north of England, and people have a specific accent which is not easy to understand but little by little I'm getting used to it. I have access to Internet all the time so don't hesitate to contact me via MSN or e-mail.
First I was really sad because I was missing my family and because I suddenly realised I was so far from them. But then I met my housemates and I felt much better. They are so nice to me.
I've met the 3 headteachers from the 3 schools I will work for. I've been able to visit and to observe my first school and its pupils and I'm so impressed. They are very well-organised, well-behaved and polite, just like angels.
Well, that's it, for the moment. I'm happy to be here!
Kiss you,
Lia
Hope you are enjoying your experiences. I have been very very busy since my arrival last Saturday. There were and there still are lots of things to arrange but I'm slowly getting through it.
Everybody here is so kind to me and they all invite me for a walk or a meal! I'm settled in a room and I have 5 other students living in the same house so we have fun together and I'm practicing my English! I'm in Cumbria, in the north of England, and people have a specific accent which is not easy to understand but little by little I'm getting used to it. I have access to Internet all the time so don't hesitate to contact me via MSN or e-mail.
First I was really sad because I was missing my family and because I suddenly realised I was so far from them. But then I met my housemates and I felt much better. They are so nice to me.
I've met the 3 headteachers from the 3 schools I will work for. I've been able to visit and to observe my first school and its pupils and I'm so impressed. They are very well-organised, well-behaved and polite, just like angels.
Well, that's it, for the moment. I'm happy to be here!
Kiss you,
Lia
Friday, 8 February 2008
First days, seconds of pleasure...
Hi all,
First, I hope you're all doing great in Brussels for most of you reading this or abroad for the few others. I wish you lots of courage because I know you need it pour les prépas' for the trainings and the given assignments.
Now, about my program... So far I'm having a blast. I met the headmistress who speaks some French. The six French teachers I work with are all nice and each has his own character. They appreciate my coming and the help I can provide for their course. They also love having the opportunity to communicate with an authentic French speaker (that would be me). But at the same time I want to practice my Dutch so for most of the time we talk in Dutch and it works. I'm kind of confused by the way, I don't know whether I should imitate their "accent" to blend in (I'm not bad at it ^^) or just stick with my neutral accent and hope that it will change with time. Any suggestions?
On Saturday I went to the school's open dagen (open day). It was impressive. It was packed with people; the school band was playing; everybody was trying to "sell their product". Bilingual education (some subjects are taught in English) was also put forward that day as they propose this method in some classes. I'm also trying to figure out how the whole Dutch education system works. I already see a lot of differences with our system. Well, there's so much to talk about it all here...
This first week I'm helping the 3rd years with some dialogs they will use for the Village de langue that takes place on Monday. That’s it for now although I could write a lot more...
Take care, y'all!
Aswin te Zeist
Friday, 1 February 2008
The bicycle diaries
Hey my workaholic friends!
I just wanted to say hi and let you guys know that today I moved in in Zeist. So far, so good, I got my bicycle (!) (but haven't tried it yet). I'll post again by Friday for more news so for now I want to wish Lia, Gwenn & Sandy a bon voyage, and for the others, give us some news fast!
Take care y'all!
PS: here are some pics of my new place :))
I just wanted to say hi and let you guys know that today I moved in in Zeist. So far, so good, I got my bicycle (!) (but haven't tried it yet). I'll post again by Friday for more news so for now I want to wish Lia, Gwenn & Sandy a bon voyage, and for the others, give us some news fast!
Take care y'all!
PS: here are some pics of my new place :))
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