Tutoring with Taylor Swift

In addition to taking a class language class to improve our French, two classes on French society, and two option classes (mine are on food and advanced vocabulary words), each student in my program is required to do an Intercultural Research Project (ICRP). In the past, students have volunteered in bakeries, florist shops, schools, with street vendors, and more. I was really nervous when I first heard about having to do the ICRP because the thought of having to walk into a store and explain, in French, what an ICRP is and what I would like to do for them, as well as what hours I can work, sounded terrifying. With the help of my program director, I wrote to an English teacher in a local international high school and asked if I could help out in the classroom for a few hours a week. However, when I was talking to my host mother about the project, she said that her daughter, Marie, and a few of her friends would love to work on their English. I decided that I would tutor them, and possibly my host brother and his friends, in addition to (hopefully) helping out in the classroom.

Today, I had my first tutoring session with my host sister and her friend, who are both fourteen. I loved it. The girls were so eager to learn! They were constantly asking questions, which made it really easy to teach them new words and phrases. I learned that my host sister would love to study in the United States during high school, or spend a summer there, which is why she is so excited to learn English. Her friend had been to several cities in California as well as the Grand Canyon, and was happy to tell me about her trip.

            We started with introductions/questions. I would ask one girl, for example “What is your name?” then she would answer in a full sentence and ask her friend the same question. Her friend would then answer in a full sentence, and ask me.

• My name is.. 
• I am … years old.
•  I go to (name of school).
• My favorite school subject is …
•  Favorite hobbies (In my free time I like to.; I enjoy…; etc.)
• When I grow up, I want to …
• Siblings (I have … sisters and …brothers)My birthday is on…

We also brainstormed other ways you could present yourself to a person you are just meeting. Next, we watched Taylor Swift’s “You Belong With Me” music video and re-watched it while they explained to me what happened. I choose that video because the story is very easy to follow, and I’ve heard my host sister blasting TSwift from her room. We moved onto physical descriptions during which I showed them pictures of celebrities (Jean Dujardin, Maggie Smith, Lady Gaga, Will Smith, Audrey Tautou, Zach Galifianakis, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Beyonce), and they described their physical appearances as well as their careers. I thought it was interesting that the girls knew more about all of the American actors than the French actors. They couldn’t even name Audrey Tautou when she came on the screen, but called her “Amelie."

            Next, I asked them “What is your favorite movie? What is your favorite book? Who is your favorite celebrity?” and they had to answer in complete sentences and then come up with their own questions. We worked on the conjugations of to go, to do, to see, to want, and to be able to. Although I wasn’t planning to work on any tenses other than the present, the girls had a lot of questions about the future tense, so we worked a bit on that as well. We also talked about our daily lives so that they could practice the days of the week. They each walked through the week explaining what activities they do on that particular day. For example, “On Monday, I go horseback riding. On Tuesday, I have dance class.” It was difficult for them to understand the difference between discussing something you do consistently vs. something you do on one particular day. We ended by discussing their likes and dislikes. I gave them a few topics to start with (foods, animals, activities, colors) and then they thought of a bunch more on their own.

            Overall, I think that the tutoring was really successful. The girls were laughing and seemed to be having a lot of fun. When I asked if they would like to continue each week, they said “Yes! Yes!” I asked them what they would like to learn more of and here’s what I got:

• More future tense
•  Life in the USA
• American teenager life
• American personalities
• American celebrities
• Another song like the Taylor Swift one
• Sports in American high schools
• American TV shows
• Writing
• Reading

So… maybe this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. However, every time they ask me about an aspect of the US I can ask them something about France, which gets them talking and helps me learn more about my host country. Before we ended Marie had one last question she was dying to ask: “What does the Times Square look like?”