Internship in Action #4

Hello this is Christine, I work at Éco-Quartier NDG and I am enjoying my time helping the community and acquiring speaking skills in the English language. Please, have a seat and enjoy my article, by all means!

 

 

How French interferes with my English

My English is good outside school when I speak it with my family and friends although when I speak to my boss or my teachers, I feel like they expect me to speak it perfectly, and that’s when I over-analyse what I say. That being said, when I must speak on the spot I blurt out my words and start translating in my head instead of just going with the flow. It is like I rely on my French when I am nervous.
 

 I code-switch when I learn something that is surprising to me. For example: I will say something like ¨Ah ben tabarouette!¨ or ¨Ah ben câline!¨. Since I noticed that, I decided to say more appropriate terms for my English speaking like ¨Nice!¨, ¨Cool!¨ or ¨That’s interesting!¨ or again ¨That is neat!¨. I have yet again learned another word today: ¨borough¨. Éco-Quartier NDG is part of a whole district called Prévention CDN-NDG. I was asking one of my colleagues how Prévention CDN-NDG was divided and where we (Éco-Quartier) were located on the map. He explained to me a borough is an administrative division and the North-West division is ours.

 

After that, I had to translate a few documents and my eyes fell upon an unknown word to me: ¨Clothespin¨. It may seem ridiculous and obvious right now but I could not understand its meaning. I later learnt that ¨clothespin¨ and ¨clothesline¨ are both ¨pince à linge¨ and ¨corde à linge¨ respectively.

 

I learn various facts in many subjects in my internship. Back when it was almost Thanksgiving (Action de Grace), I asked my colleague Bill why the Canadian Thanksgiving Day does not share the same date as the American Thanksgiving Day. Apparently, the dates do not coincide with because this day is about thanking God or Nature for the harvest. In Canada’s case, our food is ready to harvest sooner than the Americans in reason of our geographical location.

 

I went out for a walk with my boss today because she had to meet up with people so she brought me with her so I could have the chance to introduce myself and practice. It also diversifies my working habits so I was pleased to join her. Strangely enough, we ended up discussing about people we no longer spoke to on account of grudges and reasons of the past. After a while, I used the idiom ¨… just let bygones be bygones¨. I very much enjoy using new expressions. I may use it more often now that I know how to apply it.

 

 

 

Internship English vs. School English

Of course the terms I use in school are much different than the ones I use at Éco-Quartier. The subjects we discuss are in no relation with the academic language. The variety of subjects we talk about has no link to school whatsoever. Also, I am asked to answer on the spot while at school I can respond based on the elements we have seen in class. For example: when my boss asks me about how I recycle at my house I must elaborate on methods of recycling therefore the terms I use are in no way similar to say; my teacher asking me about how my French influences my English or even how François I revolutionized literature in 1500’s. I can reply on answers we have studied in class but real life I speak of everyday things that don’t necessarily need research. I base myself on what I know on the spot. In school, I have time to research a whole week before replying.

 
 

Learning language outside a classroom

I acquire language by having discussions with people and learning new expressions. Someone may correct me as I speak or teach me something I did not know. I acquire language also by having low inhibition, accept ambiguity and repeat a new word to make sure I pronounce it right. The only challenge I have come across is to slow down and articulate when I speak. It is challenging because I do not execute this as a reflex yet.

 

 

Day four has ended today on a positive note. I learnt that next week I will be knocking door to door to talk about recycling. Variety in at a job is always good!
 

__________________________________
 

For those wondering and questioning my choice of pictures: I link nature to ecology. That is why I chose these images.