Author: emmajackson

(June 18, 2022)

My four-week immersion program at the Institute de Touraine has come to an end this week. I mentioned some intra-France travel I was able to do in my first two weeks in a previous post.

The Institute de Touraine has bi-weekly excursions so I was able to also visit the town La Rochelle, and some famous Châteaus in the Val de Loire: Château d’Azay, Château Villandry and Château Chenonceau. Here are a couple images:

I struggled to fully understand the content of some of the first history-filled tours. Throughout my time here, I have progressed in my listening comprehension. One tip for anyone interested in partaking in this program is to do your research before you step foot in these Châteaus! Towards the end of my time at the Institut de Touraine, I would read up (in French) on the background of the Château-of-the-week so that I was a little more prepared before our tour commenced.

For anyone interested in applying for the SLA Grant, I would encourage you to do so. However, from my perspective, I think it is important to also save up some personal funds so that you can discover the local culture, food, history and politics, as this enriches the experience greatly!

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Reflecting on my overall SLA experience… I am filled with gratitude! With the support of the CSLC, coupled with additional support from the Keough School for Global Affairs and the Kroc Institute, I can confidently say that my French language skills have improved significantly. In addition to moving on to higher-level language courses, I am most proud of being able to communicate more clearly and effectively in another language. There was a point during my last week in Tours when I did not feel it was necessary to have my phone out on the Google Translate app. I think the ability to go out into the world (not relying on technology) and accomplish what you need to do that day in a non-native language is one of the best feelings of achievement.

– Emma Jackson, Master Student in Global Affairs and International Peace Studies

(June 10, 2022) Tours France with day trips to St. Malo, Mont St. Michel

Now that I have been in Tours for two weeks, I have already noticed an improvement in my ability to engage with locals. I have been able to go to grocery stores, cafes and restaurants and speak in French. It reminds me of desensitization theory in psychology: with more exposure, there is less of an emotional response. So it has become part of my everyday life now to speak French (it is becoming less intimidating)!

Here is a delicious lunch I ordered: including local greens and the famous aged goat cheese from the region (Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine). We have a long lunch break, so I decided to practice the French lunch culture, rather than eating a quick baguette sandwich like I normally do!

In addition to our regular course work, my French Professor asked us to watch a few French shows on Netflix and share synopsis’ in class. This exercise has encouraged me to continue doing so throughout my time here. I think language learning becomes immersive once you commit yourself to using the language in your everyday life, especially in your free time. Some days this was not possible, as speaking (and starting to think) in French the entire day during intensive classes gets quite exhausting. However, I noticed that if I sat down at the end of the day and turned on an easy-to-follow French series, I could enjoy it as much as I would an English series.

These last two weeks have also been spent exploring other areas of France. What is great about the Institut de Touraine is that they have plenty of excursions that allow you to learn more about the specific regions in France.

On May 28, we visited the Bretagne region for a day-trip: stopping in St. Malo. During the same day, we also went to Le Mont St. Michel, a commune in Normandy, just outside of Bretagne. In Mont St. Michel, a picturesque 11th Century Romanesque Abbey Church is perched at the top of the mount. Leading up to it, you walked through a packed crowd of tourists (seen below also capturing the moment), passing through various shops and restaurants.

In St. Malo, we spent more time exploring the town. The Bretagne is region is known for crêpes, gallettes (savory crêpes), seafood, and caramels au beurre sale and Kouign-amann – all very rich foods, using lots of the famous butter from Bretagne. I enjoyed some of this regional cuisine and spent the rest of the day walking around St. Malo and learning about the region’s history. It is a walled town with a long history of piracy and is now a popular vacation destination for French citizens. Here I am near the Fort National (a 17th-century granite fortress) that I was able to walk to at low tide.

– Emma Jackson, Master Student in Global Affairs and International Peace Studies

(May 27, 2022) Tours, France

In my pre-departure blog, I mentioned some of the activities and learning opportunities I am looking forward to in and around Tours, France. My first week in Tours was spent settling in my apartment, and the city. I chose to live in an apartment alone as I had already had the opportunity to live with a French family during a previous language-learning trip to Vichy. Below is an image of the view from my apartment. It was a simple studio apartment, conveniently connected to the cinema. While I haven’t visited the cinema yet, I think it will be yet another fantastic opportunity to improve my French listening skills.

I took some time after classes this week to walk around Tours and grab some pictures of the tourist attractions. On this list of things to do was to spend time in Place Plumereau (image below). It is at the centre of the Old (Vieux) Tours and was a flower marketplace in the 13th century. Now, both locals and tourists enjoy this area as it is close to the university, so locals often go here for an after-work or after-class aperitif. The beautiful old timber-framed houses (now restaurants) were built in the Middle Ages!

The first time I visited this square, it was more bustling than the image above, so it took some courage to speak to the waiter in French and ask for a table for dinner. Naturally, he noticed I was English-speaking right away and started speaking in English. From my previous travels, I know that this would be my biggest challenge– having the opportunity to speak in French (without someone switching to English). I have been trying to speak in French with locals, but in their view, I am sure they view switching to English as a friendly/kind thing to do. I hope, with time, I will be able to carry on conversations (or at least be able to speak in French with servers and staff throughout the meal)!

During my first week, I made it a priority to go on after-class walks around Tours. Here is a picture I took, just before sunset, of the Basilique Saint-Martin de Tours. It is a Neo-Byzantine church, built in the 19th & 20th centuries and located 2 minutes (walking) from the Institut de Touraine!

In terms of my French classes, I had some logistical difficulties the first couple of days. I was placed in a lower-level French class than I expected, and it took a lot of coordination with the office to make sure I could move up to a more challenging level. This was frustrating at first, but once I was able to change classes on the Friday of the first week, I was very happy with my instructor and the creative pedagogy that was used in the new class.

– Emma Jackson, Master Student in Global Affairs and International Peace Studies

(May 27, 2022)

I will be traveling to Tours, France to partake in the intensive (21-hour) french language course at the Institut de Touraine. I have traveled to France one time prior to this SLA experience, for an immersion experience in Vichy, France (in December 2021- thanks to funding from the Nanovic Institute). Classroom learning has its positives, but an immersion experience is the best environment for me to learn a language. While our classes at Notre Dame have a combined approach to learning French (e.g. oral, written, reading, and listening comprehension), there is something special and unique about stepping foot in a country and learning by doing. Rather than focusing on basic grammar and vocabulary, I expect to jump right into conversational French. In my past experience, this was extremely difficult but also very rewarding. It allows you to navigate around a city, engage with the people around you, and experience the culture.

I expect to utilize French language skills and intercultural competencies to learn more about French culture. I am a “foodie” so I would love to learn more about food in the Loire Valley of France. Additionally, I hope to take some short day trips to learn more about the culture and history of the Loire Valley. By taking these small trips, I hope to learn how to effectively get around the region, speaking seulement francais. My goal is that by the end of this trip I can more confidently converse with native French speakers. Specifically, I hope that they can understand what I have to say, and vice versa. Being able to engage in everyday conversations at restaurants, cafes, and activities at the Institut de Touraine are my top priorities. There are many opportunities at the Institut de Touraine to speak French with fellow students, but also on a more relaxed level with Professors, during breaks, and during planned activities. In the classroom, and at the mediatheque, I can fine-tune my grammatical skills, oral, and written comprehension. But the best way to improve my spoken skills will be when I am thrown into settings where I must speak french.

Additionally, since I am in the Masters of Global Affairs program at the Keough School (focused on Peace and Conflict Studies with the Kroc Institute), I also hope to learn more about international relations and diplomacy by reading “Le Monde diplomatique” en francais (which is available at the Institut de Touraine mediatheque) . I think that this will challenge me to start thinking about the news from a French/European perspective. It will be helpful for me to be able to read and understand French news in the future, as much of international diplomatic relations take place in French (e.g. in Brussels or Geneva with the UN Headquarters and European Union Headquarters). I plan to get to a point during my time here where I can engage in conversation about these topics, in French. These competencies will also help me better engage with people from French-speaking countries around the world.

I am looking forward to this immersion experience, and am grateful for the support of the Center for the Study of Languages and Culture, the Keough School of Global Affairs, and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. 

– Emma Jackson, Master Student in Global Affairs and International Peace Studies