Bonjour! Guten tag! Hola! There are several different ways to say hello down the 600 hallway of Apollo High School. Posters align the hallways giving students a feeling of walking into another world at Apollo.
Amanda Bailey teaches French at both Apollo and Tech High School. She loves all things French! Every flag hanging in her room represents a country that speaks the language. She loves sharing facts like: 29 countries use French as their official language; 50 countries are apart of the I’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and over half of Africa speaks French.
“We use the word Francophone a lot. It describes anyone who speaks French, not just a French person, since there are so many countries that speak French. In French we’re called Anglophone, because we speak English,” says Bailey.
Bailey and several of her students have just returned from one of Concordia College’s language camps. These camps are language immersion camps. Students are fully immersed in the language with staff who will only speak the language.
“Students are required to speak in the language,” says Bailey. “All of the activities, sports and cooking are spoken in the language. Even if a students wants to buy candy [from concessions], they have to speak the language.”
The camp is a four-day camp. Each camp has a different theme. This year’s theme was Jacques Cousteau. The curriculum revolved around oceanography and all things related to the ocean.
“It’s a good amount of time,” says Bailey. “They just get comfortable with speaking the language and they get that extra day of really feeling comfortable using it.”
Language camp is not their only immersion avenue. The class holds a field trip to France every year. However, each year rotates between an eight-day or a 10-day trip to help keep costs down for families. Students do a lot of fundraising to help cover the costs of the trip. Each year, Bailey has students work at the Festival of Nations in the Twin Cities to help offset those costs.
Kayla Wolf, a sophomore at Apollo says, “I’m really looking forward to seeing the Louvre!”
While on the field trip, students get to see many of the sites of Paris: Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Champ d’Elysee, Arc de Triomphe and the Musee d’Orsay.
Bailey loves to tour the museums with her students.
“In France the students get into all the museums for free,” states Bailey. “They have a huge emphasis on education.”
However, the students do get a little taste of the countryside as well.
Bailey lived in France for a year as an exchange student on her own. She takes a day to bring her students to Nancy, the city she lived in for a year and attended college. On her longer trips with students, they tour the south of France visiting Monaco and traveling to Nice.
Bailey expresses, “Speaking with natives can be so nerve-racking at first, but it’s so great.”
Wolf has been taking the course for two years and is anxious to go on the trip. She loves taking Bailey’s French class.
“I like the language and hearing the teacher. It’s cool to listen to,” says Wolf.
Wolf’s favorite activity in class is the “tornado game.” Two students hook their arms together in front of the white board. Bailey will give them a word in English and the pair will have to write the French word on the board. The challenge: one person will write the first letter on the board and the pair will spin around and the partner will have to write the next letter on the board while they are still spinning.
“We do all sorts of games to help remember the language: board games, competitive games, moving around, oral games, craft projects and singing,” says Bailey.
She engages her students as much as possible.
Bailey says to anyone who is thinking about a second language, “Personally, I think it’s [learning a second language] one of the best things you can do for yourself. It’s a fun way to experience the world…It’s so useful in this world, especially in this country. It’s so great for your resume and it’s just fun to experience something different…It’s not just about language. It’s culture. It’s life.”
