Most of you will be here as guided by your Franglais starter kit. If not - the Franglais Starter Kit is a little red envelope stuffed with creative stationery and 3 bilingual poems for learners to do at their own pace. We call them “Franglais” poems since it is up to you how much French you want to use. That might be 90% English and 10% French. Or 10% English, 70% French and 20% Japanese. The goal is to centre your identity as a learner of the French language, (from beginner to advanced) enabling you to reflect on the varying ways in which you implement this language into your daily existence.
Why poetry?
Well, poetry is a wonderful way to deconstruct language, pull it apart by the seams, mould and mash it together, splatter it on a page, rip it up, redo it, and then weave it through the page in such a way that makes entire sense to you, and sometimes, only you. When learning a foreign language, embracing a creative mindset can help to break apart fearful feelings of embarrassment, nervousness, and perfectionism.
Afterall, words are powerful, and
imperfection keeps us human.
Starting with the country at large, your intimate friendships, and then yourself, the exercises will take between 1-3 hours, depending on how much time you want to spend. We suggest taking a quiet evening with no distractions to truly enable your mind to roam free. Connecting with your linguistic identity, and knowing how you navigate life through language, will strengthen your relationship with French. It might just be the key to sustaining your motivation, too.
Poem 1/ La France
La France c’est un mélange,
Un fusion of cultures et beauty,
It smells like croissants chauds,
Et le café strong et doux.
It sounds like laughter et musique,
Entre amis sous le soleil.
It tastes like vin rouge et fromage,
La gastronomie that dances on tongues,
When the Eiffel Tower sparkles at night,
I feel like je suis en plein rêve.
Je suis unfroppable!
*Infroppable (adjective) Inspired by “unstoppable” and “la France” , this is someone who pursues learning the French language with vigour and enthusiasm such that they cannot be stopped!
Poem 2/ Cette Personne
Elle est très gentille, patiente, et inspirante,
in the cozy classroom avec des posters de Paris.
We both share a love for learning,
and a passion for les mots français.
“Bonjour classe!” she greets us each day,
with a warm smile et beaucoup d'énergie.
Her encouragement toujours nous motive,
to reach for les étoiles et rêver.
Merci, Madame Claire, for teaching us bien,
for opening the doors to une nouvelle langue.
Your dedication et passion are truly inspiring,
et je suis reconnaissant pour votre enseignement.
The thing I love most about you,
is your ability to make learning fun.
Merci pour tout, Madame Claire,
you're truly the meilleur prof under the sun.
These creative exercises are designed to help you feel more motivated to learn French. At Olea, we believe each and every one of you can create your future. It just so happens that we also believe that languages are the bestest way to do that.
These exercises formed the basis of MPhil research conducted by Olive Halsall (Founder @ Olea) at the University of Cambridge, which was published in C-ERJ (Cambridge Educational Research e-Journal). The intended goal of these exercises is twofold.
The first is to encourage a more creative perception of foreign language learning, and to reframe learners’ perception as one of play, imperfection, and creativity. Through celebrating the “imperfections” of language in an aesthetically pleasing form such as poetry, this fosters a more positive, relaxed approach to learning.
The second goal is that by taking the learner through a journey of visualising proficiency in the target language country, meaningful relationships, the self and the future self, the mountain of “becoming fluent in French” is broken down into achievable goals, and reframed as a self-reflective, creative piece of art.
This year we are very excited to be launching Private Joke ® in Franglais! Private Joke ®, the card game, is like the naughty love child of Scrabble and Cards Against Humanity (suitable for ages 13+). It’ll be the first single-language game at Olea as all our current ones feature 15+ languages, and are used primarily as a creative tool in language lessons. If you’d like to stay up to date about our upcoming pre-sale, please make sure you are subscribed to our newsletter at https://oleaeducation.substack.com/