Reports

French Exchange 2008

When I decided to sign up for the French Exchange I was quite apprehensive but it turned out to be a very enjoyable and worthwhile experience and I would recommend anyone to try it given the opportunity. You fill in an information sheet with some things about you and receive one in return so you can know what to expect from your exchange student before he/she comes. He came to England first and we enjoyed a good ten days together we stayed at home some days or took him out to places ranging from Waterworld to London! One of my friends was also doing the exchange and we decided to meet up and our exchange students made friends.

When it was time for me to go out to France I was very nervous but received a warm welcome from the family and settled in well. It was very warm when we went out there so I got a bit of a tan. We went outside some days and stayed in for others. For three nights I stayed by the seaside with his grandparents and enjoyed that immensely. We had an organised trip with all of the students to Futuroscope, a theme park in the region. The parents of a few of the French students also organised for six of us to go karting, three pairs of students. This was my first time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall this was a very worthwhile experience and I would like to thank Mrs Woodcock for convincing me to take part in it.

Matthew Small

Group Photo

French Exchange 2008

The night of Saturday 12th June was a particularly sleepless one for me, not due to any nervousness on my part, but merely due to the fact that, as I was to wake up again at 12:15, there seemed little point in falling asleep. Despite this, I did eventually succumb to the arms of Morpheus, only to be rudely awakened a few hours later. However, the coach journey to Dover, the cross-Channel ferry and the subsequent coach to Limoges was surprisingly quick and comfortable. Before I knew it, I had arrived in a typically sunny square in central Limoges with only a little knowledge of whom I was about to meet.

Baptiste Maux, as my French partner was called, had visited our humble abode in the March holidays, at one of those brief interludes when the weather could be considered passable by the standards of our Gallic neighbours. He was a quiet and charming young man, always polite, who spoke a little English and was an authority on football. He seemed happy about England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, although after France’s dismal performance I felt he had little to crow about.

My French family that I stayed with were wonderful people, never seeming offended by any mistakes that I made with their language and often wanting, surprisingly, to learn some English. The food they cooked me was always delicious and, need I say it, the weather was divine (it never rained). Baptiste still seemed to be slightly obsessed with football; nothing really had changed. He was a goalkeeper for his local team, Condat-sur-Vienne, and always seemed to me to keep his goal very well-kept.

On the first day of my holiday, after a suitably long and refreshing sleep, I woke up, relaxed, and ate breakfast, which was followed by a large and leisurely lunch. In the afternoon, we visited the venerable castle of Lastours, which I found out was the place where Richard the Lionheart had been killed by a French arrow. Instead of leaving me to mull over this terrible event, we watched a French play about their Revolution (it was Bastille Day, you see, and the previous night there had been some brilliant fireworks) which left me feeling slightly bemused and wondering what was going on.

The following day I was awoken slightly earlier, as we had a long and eventful day ahead of us. In the morning I was taken to a ‘treetop adventure course’. I was given a helmet and some gear (which I was not quite sure how to use) and subjected to a safety talk, which did not improve my confidence in the ability of the rope attached to a thin metal wire to keep me safe. After some cogitation I decided that I wasn’t going to fall and so it didn’t matter. I completed the first few courses without that much difficulty, but after the third course I decided to hang up my helmet and limit my role to one of moral support. Afterwards we had a picnic by the lake and then went on the ‘Vèlo-Rail’, like a miniature railway powered by the frantic pedalling of yours truly.

On Thursday we visited Baptiste’s grandparents, retired farmers living on part of a farm with some hens and other animals. It was almost lunchtime when we arrived and we ate a large four-course meal with wine. I was particularly impressed by Baptiste’s great aunt, an 82-year old ex-English teacher whose command of English was second to none. After the meal, rounded off by a clafouti, a fruit tart that was a Limousin speciality, Baptiste and me went fishing in a bumpy tractor which Baptiste drove, leaving me to be bounced around in the trailer behind. Unfortunately we were unable to catch much; just a few stupid carp. I was later instructed in the art of driving the tractor, which proceeded without much destruction and devastation, although I wondered exactly what a stressed Baptiste was shouting at me to do.

The most worthy of mention of the many wonderful and unforgettable experiences was definitely Oradour-sur-Glane. It was a very saddening and moving place and the scene of one of the worst war crimes of the modern era. On June 10th 1944, a division of Nazi Waffen-SS massacred 642 innocent men, women, and children in a random punishment attack. The abandoned village has been left exactly as it was on that fateful day. In each place where people were killed a plaque has been set up, on which are the words ‘Souviens-toi’- remember. The brutal Nazis buried the victims in mass graves to deny the poor families even the chance to mourn over their loved ones. With painstaking care the dead have been dug up and buried in a beautiful cemetery. In the centre of the cemetery there is a large and tasteful memorial to the 642 martyrs of Oradour-sur-Glane.

In the course of my stay a number of visits were organised to meet the other Englishmen and women who were participating in the Exchange, one being to a bowling alley near our humble abode. I bowled with my customary skill and luck, often registering no score. We also visited the large theme park Futuroscope, near Poitiers. Futuroscope was a wonderful attraction with a futuristic and cinematic theme which had many simulation rides. Unfortunately, at the entrance I had forgotten to obtain a headset with an English translation, so often I did not understand the film!

On the last day we went go-carting with some friends and their English partners. I had never before been go-carting so I crashed many times and, at one point, I came back in through the entrance. Eventually it was time to leave, again at some unearthly hour of the night. I waved goodbye to the French family who had been so nice to me and whom I really, really want to see again.

Reece Emends

Paris

My French Exchange Experience

My experience on the French exchange with my French family was great fun. My family were always friendly and nice.

When I first arrived in my French families house I was a bit nervous (well actually a lot) but I smiled anyway.

Over the next few days my family helped me to settle into their life-style. Over the 12 days my French family took me places like ice-skating, shopping, to see their family who were very nice and also took me to a restaurant. One thing that I found out about is that French food is the same as English even though there is only a small amount of food, which was different but very nice.

Over the week we also met up with our friends and other French partners at bowling and Futuroscope. That was a lot of fun.

I made a lot of friends on the exchange, French and English.

Overall, my French exchange was great and had a lot of fun. It was a good experience and I would definitely do it again.

Freya Powell

Taken from a letter about the French exchange.

"I am a 17-year old AS-Level student at Alleyne's High School in Stone. I recently took part in the Staffordshire-Limousin French Exchange and I wanted to write to you to let you know that I really enjoyed the experience.
I could not have wished for a better match in my French partner and I really enjoyed her company for the ten days she stayed with us. Her English was fantastic and she quickly became part of the family, so much so that our house now seems really empty without her! I cannot wait to visit France in the summer and to see my partner again. I feel this is the start of a lasting friendship and we will definitely be keeping in touch even after the exchange is over.
Although we did not venture particularly far afield for excursions during the fortnight, Lucie really enjoyed the places that we took her. As she is a huge Beatles fan we took her to the Beatles Story in Liverpool, which she thought was fantastic; we also went bowling, which she had never done before; shopping; walking in the local area; and to Waterworld in Stoke, which was apparently like nothing she had ever seen before! Two of the highlights of her stay were definitely the trips organised as part of the exchange: the disco at Keele University Student Union and the day trip to Alton Towers (we went on everything, even Oblivion - her favourite!). I will remember these last ten days for the rest of my life!"

Hannah Leadbetter, Alleyne's High School

"The French exchange was a great experience. I learnt more about the pronunciation of the language as I wasn't that good before I went. I also learnt to understand the language in conversations. On the exchange I made many friends, English and French.
I liked going to the school because it was an interesting experience as they do things differently from in England.
I visited many places, such as a red village called Collonges-la-Rouge which sold jewellery, and I learnt some history about France because I visited a museum and village called Oradour-sur-Glane and Village Martyr.
I went to the Ile d'Oleron on the west coast where my French student's mother has a small villa.
I tried all the food I was given, some I liked, some I didn't.
I had a brilliant time and I loved shopping.
I would like to go again!"

Stacey Dobson, The Friary School

"I had an absolutely fantastic time on my exchange to France. I stayed with a lovely family and I got on really well with my partner. I stayed just outside the area's main town, called Limoges, which is very famous for its beautiful porcelain.

I spent a couple of days at a French school. The building was remarkably large - and was five storeys high! French secondary schools are divided into two parts: there is a part for the younger students, called a collège and a section for the older students (year 10 upwards) called a lycée. They have no registration at all, and their lessons are very long. Also I found that they have a short break between every lesson and at lunchtime everyone has school dinners at the self-serve café. I found it quite strange going to school on a Saturday too!

I really liked the French cuisine and I found that they eat lots and lots of French bread and cheese. They also drink bottles and bottles of mineral water. Luckily I didn't have to eat any snails (although there was a bag of frozen ones hiding in the freezer - yuck!).

In France the teenagers listen to our pop music - it's exactly the same! The same artistes, the same songs and the words don't even get translated into French! - even their own French groups sing in English!

It was a BRILLIANT EXPERIENCE. You really learn a lot about the French way of life and their culture. I feel that it has definitely IMPROVED MY FRENCH and it has also helped my communication skills. I think that the experience can help [people to become more confident in themselves and also more independent."

Holly Francis, Tamworth