St.Peter’s Offers Fun Language Classes

As part of a community service, St.Peter’s Anglican Church is offering conversational language classes to students from St-Clément and Carlyle schools.

“It’s about feeling more comfortable using the language that they’re learning and playing with other children,” said church member Fiona Crossling who directs the new program.

The church tries to fill a gap in second-language learning for mostly local children aged from 7 to 12. “They’re getting another place to more naturally learn and practice [French or English].”

The idea developed from its day camp last summer that was geared to youngsters learning English. Many local francophone children applied as well as some immigrant children whereby about half were using English as a second-language, Crossling explained.

When parents at St. Peter’s were then asked what kind of community service they would like to offer to TMR, they were interested in setting up an English-learning club. Sally Richmond, an Anglican Church member with much second-language teaching experience, was brought over to help run the program.

Starting this January and lasting for eight weeks, most of the 11 English-speaking children came from Carlyle, but they wanted to learn more French. So for the second semester starting in April, organizers decided to teach both languages at the same time so the children could learn and play together.

Attendance increased from 11 to 19 children. The language club was divided into four classes depending on the language and the level of difficulty.

The teaching method is based on conversation and on play, explained Richmond, with no writing or formal grammatical instruction. “The kids get to learn to enjoy language, playing with words, and using words in new ways.” The typical class uses games, flash cards, maps, and other devices to find information and ask questions in order to teach the second language.

For the first term, “The Chronicles of Narnia” was used as a teaching vehicle while “Around the World in 80 Days” was used for the second. Each week the children learn a bit more about the story to see where it’s going and how it will end.

Several parents expressed satisfaction with the classes. Marc Aubry has a nine-year-old daughter attending St-Clément, but she speaks French at home. At St. Peter’s, she’s progressing well in learning English while she enjoys fun activities, he said. Virginie Jamale said she’s very satisfied that her seven-year-old son, also attending St-Clément, is learning more English in a fun atmosphere.

Both hope that the club will continue this fall. Crossling said they are quite likely to plan for another session.

Beatrice, a volunteer teacher, said it’s amazing to see some students, who are either shy or have learning problems, find it easier to learn and open up with a less-structured environment.