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| NEWS - March 9, 2010 |
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| Carnaval: A fun time in French |
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Ian Kucerak
Leader Staff
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French immersion kids from both of Barrhead’s schools had a blast last Wednesday as they celebrated Carnaval out at Lac La Nonne.
While the winter carnival is a lot of fun, it also lets kids take the language skills they’ve learned in class out into the world, all the while playing traditional French Canadian games and eating French Canadian food.
The kids tried their hands at ice fishing, group skiing, snow sculpture and egg racing. They ate crêpes, swizzled up some tir d’érable (snow toffee) and had hot dogs.
Valérie Bessette, who teaches at Barrhead Composite High School, said approximately 25 high school and 80 elementary school kids came to Lac La Nonne to celebrate Carnaval. The event is geared towards the younger kids, but their elders in school helped out by speaking French and running the games, Bessette said.
Carnaval is a fun tradition that comes from Quebec City, where it lasts for 16 days. As kids giggled, ran and laughed, Bessette pointed out Bonhomme Carnival, the festival’s guest of honour.
"If you look around you’re going to see a big white snowman," she said, smiling.
In past years, parents ran the events, but with few native French speakers in Barrhead, they enlisted high school French immersion students to help the younger students hear and speak the language.
For the students involved, celebrating Carnaval is a way to recognize the culture that they learn about in school as well as giving them an opportunity to speak the language they’re learning.
"It makes them feel special," Bessette said. "It’s something that they only do that the other kids don’t do. At the elementary school they have the winter fun day, where all the school participates."
n Parents for French, a group that works to keep French immersion programs alive in Canadian school systems, the day is a chance to assist the schools at Carnaval in their first year of operation.
"It’s a community of support that is nation-wide," said Glenn Starman, Barrhead’s CPF president. Starman was one of the parents helping out with more complicated events, like the ever-so-fun, but somewhat unsuccessful ice fishing event.
Starman laughed, saying that one fish has been reeled in over the past five years as the kids make enough noise on the lake to scare away any fish that would normally swim in the bay near Camp Encounter.
He explained that through CPF they have much better access to course materials and can assist the mainly Anglophone parents in learning more about what French Immersion can offer to their kids.
"I don’t speak any French, but I have two children that have went through the program and done well in it," Starman said.
Gabrielle Raymond and Taryn Sekulich are both in Grade 8 and spent the day helping with the events.
"We normally have to translate it after, because most of them are learning," Sekulich said. "We’re helping the kids talk French," she added. "You’re hanging out with your friends – it’s pretty cool."
Raymond agreed with her classmate. They said in their opinion the highlights of the day were the tir d’érable and the crêpes.
Starman and Bessette were both in agreement on the underlying goal for the day trip.
"We find that when (French speech) is just in a classroom, they can speak well, but as soon as they get outside they feel shy in doing it," Starman said. "Something like this allows them to speak it conversationally with a number of people."
Learning French in an immersion program isn’t just about mastering verb conjugations, memorizing historical events or improving conversational skills; it’s also a matter of learning the culture that developed alongside the language, Bessette said.
"We hope they have fun in French," she said as the children played. "French doesn’t need to be in the classroom, French should be outside the classroom." |
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