Steve's sandbox

Tag: France

  • Alexander Arch, France – April 2015

    J’ai été selectionné pour l’équipe d’Ile de france moins de 26 ans ce mois, alors le weekend de pâques- je suis allé à Béziers pour jouer contre Languedoc Roussillon. J’étais le seul joueur de Noisy le Grand alors j’étais nerveux car je ne connaissais personne, mais tout le monde était accueillant. Le samedi, on a rencontré à Gare de Lyon à 11h, nous étions 24 joueurs, 3 entraîneurs et beaucoup de dirigeants (je pense qu’ils sont venus pour leurs vacances). Nous sommes montés dans le train pour notre voyage de 800 km- de 4,5 heures! On a passé le voyage jouer aux cartes et écouter de la musiqueNous avons passé le voyage jouer aux cartes et écouter de la musique. Quand nous sommes arrivés à l’hôtel nous avons eu une réunion d’équipe à propos du match, la tactique et le plan pour le week-end, puis nous avons fait un entraînement. Le terrain a été encirclé de palmiers, que nous ne voyons pas en Angleterre! La ville de Béziers est vraiment agréable et totalement différente de Paris. Après la session d’entraînement, nous avons dîné puis eu de temps libre avant de dormir, je me suis détendru avec quelques-uns des autres trois-quarts au salon de l’hôtel- nous avons trouvé un journal local qui avait une double page sur notre match et comment cela ils veulent nous battre car nous sommes le plus grand committé de rugby en France !!

    Le matin, nous avons pris le petit déjeuner, puis a promené autour de la zone locale. Il faisait vraiment beau, 25 degrés! Ensuite, on a déjeuné et a eu un peu de temps libre avant d’aller au stade, j’ai passé ce temps à la piscine (pas ma préparation normale). Le match était proche, mais nous avons perdu 12-8 et a eu beaucoup de chances de gagner alors nous étions très enervé. Après le match nous avons eu la nourriture avec l’opposition qui était sympa, et beaucoup avaient des accents très prononcés !!

    Nous sommes arrivés dans le train pour rentrer à la maison et le conducteur nous ont envoyé dans la direction de l’équipe de rugby féminine de Caen qui étaient également à bord du train. Nous avons passé la plupart du voyage avec eux, en chantant des chansons de rugby français. J’ai eu un très bon week-end, j’étais vraiment anxieux, mais c’était une expérience que je ne oublierai jamais!

    ENGLISH TRANLSATION:

    I was picked to play for the Ile de France u26 regional team this month. This meant that on the Easter weekend, I went down to Béziers to play against Languedoc Roussillon. I was the only person from my club to have been selected to I was quite anxious to go without knowing anybody- but it was fine and very body was welcoming. We met at Gare de Lyon on the Saturday at 11am, 24 players, our 3 coaches and quite a lot of regional representatives (I think that they came for a short holiday!). We then boarded the train to Béziers, which is 500 miles and 4.5 hours on the train from Paris!! We spent the journey playing cards and listening to music. When we got to the hotel we had a team meeting about the match, tactics and the plan for the weekend which was followed by a training session. The pitch was surrounded by Palm trees, which we don’t see back home in England! The town of Béziers is really nice and completely different to Paris. After the training session, we had tea and then had a bit of free time before we went to bed, I spent this time with some of the other backs in the hotel lounge- where we found a local newspaper which had a double page spread about our match and how that wanted to beat us as we are the biggest ‘rugby comité’ in France!!

    In the morning, we had breakfast and then had a walk around the local area. It was really sunny, 25 degrees with no clouds in the sky! We then had lunch and had a bit of free time before we went to the stadium, I spent this time by the pool (not my normal pre match preparation).

    The game was close, we lost 12-8 and had a lot of chances to win so we were all quite annoyed. After the game we had some food with the opposition who were friendly, and many had very strong accents!!


    We got on the train to come home and the conductor pointed us in the direction of the Caen female rugby team who were also on the train. We spent most of the journey with them, singing french rugby songs (none of which I can repeat). I had a really good weekend, I was really anxious before hand but it was really enjoyable and an experience that I’ll never forget!

  • Alexander Arch – March 2015

      Le weeekend dernier, mes parents sont venu à Paris. Nous avons passé un weekend agréable, malgré les intempéries. Ils sont arrivés à 14h qui était idéal parce que j’enseignais le matin. Une fois tous les quinze jours j’enseigne Matteo, qui est un ami familliale de mon patron. Le samedi, je l’ai aidé avec ses devoirs qui était les verbes irréguliers dans le passé. Après nous avons fini, je suis allé à Gare du Nord pour rencontrer mes parents. C’était la première fois que je les ai vus depuis Noël donc j’étais vraiment heureux quand ils sont arrivés (avec des oeufs de Pâques). D’abord nous sommes allés à l’hôtel à La Defense. Trois personnes me ont demandé aux directions, mes parents ont ri et dit que je suis l’image d’un vrai Français. Après avoir laissé les valises à l’hôtel, nous sommes allés au Sacré-Cœur qui est le monument préféré de ma mère. Nous sommes arrivés juste avant le coucher du soleil, donc nous avions une belle vue de la ville. Le Sacré-Cœur est spectaculaire, la décoration des murs et des fenêtres est magnifique. Je partage le point de vue de ma mère qu’il est le meilleur monument de Paris. Nous avons mangé dans un petit bistrot de Montmartre où mes parents ont pris moules frites qui était si grand qu’il leur a fallu une heure pour manger!! Puis, nous nous sommes promené sur les Champs-Elysées et mes parents ont acheté quelques souvenirs pour ma sœur et mes cousins. Ma mère a été impressionné par la station de métro ‘Franklin D. Roosevelt’, elle a dit <<Elle est belle,  beaucoup mieux que les stations de Londres’. Le Dimanche, nous avons visité la grande Arche de la Défense avant d’aller à la place de la bastille pour le déjeuner. Heureusement, il n’y avait aucune moules à Bastille parce que mon entraîneur m’a envoyé un message disant que notre match allait commencer plus tôt. Après avoir mangé, nous avons pris le RER a Noisy. Mes parents ont regardé le match (on a gagné) et mon père a été impressionné, mais ma mère avait peur tout le match!! Après le match ils ont dû aller à la gare parce que leur train est parti à 19h. Je suis resté dans le club-house avec mes coéquipiers et on a regardé le match de la France sur la télé. J’ai passé un weekend génial. Aussi, hier, j’ai joué mon  premier match pour l’Ile de France et j’ai marqué un essai!

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    Last weekend my parents came to Paris. We had a really nice weekend, despite the weather. They arrived at 2pm which was ideal as I was tutoring in the morning. Once a fortnight I tutor Matteo, who is a familly friend of my boss. This week, I has helping him with irregular verbs in the past tense. After we had finished, I went to meet my parents at Gare du Nord. I hadn’t seen them since Christmas so it was really nice to see them (with easter eggs). Firstly, we went to the hotel at La Defense> On the way, 3 people asked me for directions which made my parents laugh as they said I look like a Frenchman. After leaving the suitcases at the hotel, we went to the  Sacré-Cœur which is my mum’s favourite monument in Paris. We got the just before sunset so we have a great view of the city. The  Sacré-Cœur is amazing, the paintings on the walls and glass are really impressive. I agree with my mum thatit is the best monument in Paris. We ate in a little bistro in Montmatre where my parents had mussels and chips and their portions were so big that it took them an hour to finish them! We then took a walk down the  Champs-Elysées where my parents bought presents for my sister and cousins. Mum was really impreesed by the metro station there, ‘Franklin D. Roosevelt’, she said «It’s beautiful, much better than what we have in London», On sunday, we visited the Grande Arche at La Defense before we went for lunch in Bastille.Fortunately, there was no mussels this time as my coach messaged me and told me that our match had been moved forward half an hour. After eating, we took the RER to Noisy. My parents watched the match (we won) and my dad was impressed but mum was scared for the whole game ! After the game, my parents had to head back to the station as their train left at 7pm. I stayed at the clubouse anbd watched the France game on TV. I had a great weekend. In addition, yesterday, I played my first game for the region- and I scored !

  • Amy Clark  – Montpellier, France – February 2015


    C’est incroyable que ces derniers 6 mois ont passés tellement vite; comme j’écris ce report, il reste juste 5 jours jusqu’a je pars le mercredi soir. Je pense que ce mois a été le plus bénéfique pour moi en termes de mes compétences de français; au travail j’ai été déterminé de parler et d’améliorer le français autant que possible, en sachant que quand je pars Montpellier et aller en Espagne, je ne pourrais pas avoir l’occasion de parler français très souvent. Mon amie, Zoe, qui je travaillais avec, a terminé son stage à Capifrance un mois avant moi, donc il y a beaucoup plus de travail à faire pour moi en raison de son absence.

    Il y a deux semaines, je suis allée à Bordeaux pour célébrer l’anniversaire d’un des mes amies. Elle habite dans une ville s’appelle Périgueux qui est situé très proche à Bordeaux et on a des autres amis qui vivent dans le centre-ville, donc nous sommes restées avec eux pour le weekend comme il était beaucoup moins cher que réserver un hôtel pour deux nuits.  Bordeaux est une très grande ville et c’est aussi très jolie, elle ma rappelle un peu de Paris. Nous avons mangés dans un restaurant s’appelle entrecôte ce qui est bien connu partout en France; ils offrent un menu fixe, qui comprend d’une entrée de salade, steak cuit exactement comment vous souhaitez dans un sauce spéciale et des accompagnements illimitées de pain et des frites. C’était un très bon weekend, nous avons fait la fête, nous avons fait du shopping, nous avons visitées le Cathédral de Bordeaux et nous sommes montées les 231 marches de la Tour Pey-Berland qui vous permet de découvrir une vue panoramique sur toute la ville.

    Je voulais de profiter de mon dernier weekend à Montpellier, donc j’ai pris le tram pour aller en centre-ville le samedi matin, comme j’habite aux portes de la ville. J’ai marché autour de la ville et j’ai visite touts de mes lieux préférés tels que; Le Promenade du Peyrou, La Comédie et L’Esplanade Charles de Gaulle. J’ai pris beaucoup des photos comme il sera la dernière fois que j’irai de le faire. Il faisait un peu nuageux mais il ne faisait pas trop froid; j’ai passé trois heures dans le centre et j’ai décidé de prendre le déjeuner au Brioche Dorée; enfin c’était un après-midi agréable.

    Montpellier va me manquer beaucoup, c’est une ville tellement jolie, en été et en hiver; je suis reconnaissante que j’aie décroché un stage ici et je vous recommande de la visiter si vous avez l’occasion.

     

    English Translation:

    It’s unbelievable how fast these last six months have gone, as I’m writing this report, there’s just 5 days left until I leave on Wednesday evening. I think this month has been the most beneficial in terms of my French skills; at work I have been determined to speak and improve my French as much as possible, knowing that when I leave Montpellier and go to Spain, I might not have the opportunity to speak French very often. My friend, Zoe, who I worked with has finished her internship at Capifrance a month before me, so there has been a lot more work for me to do as a result of her absence.

    2 weeks ago, I went to Bordeaux to celebrate one of my friends birthday. She lives in a Town called Périgueux which is situated close to Bordeaux and we have some other friends who live in the city-centre so we stayed with them for the weekend as it was much cheaper than reserving a hotel for two nights. Bordeaux is a huge city and it’s also really pretty, it reminds me a little bit of Paris. We ate in a restaurant called Entrecote which is well known all over France; they offer a fixed menu, which includes a salad starter, steak cooked exactly how you like in a special sauce and with unlimited side orders of chips and bread. It was such a good weekend, we went out partying, we did some shopping, we visited Bordeaux Cathedral and we climbed up the 231 steps of the Tour Pey-Berland, which allows you to discover the panoramic view of the whole city.

    I wanted to make the most out of my last weekend in Montpellier so I took the tram to go into the centre on Saturday morning, as I live on the outskirts. I walked around the city and visited all my favourite places such as, Le Promenade du Peyrou, La Comédie and L’Esplanade Charles de Gaulle.  I took lots of photos, as it will be the last chance I have to do so. It was a bit cloudy but it wasn’t too cold and I decided to have dinner at Brioche Dorée, in the end it was a really nice afternoon.

    I’m going to miss Montpellier a lot, it’s such a beautiful city, in summer and winter; I’m grateful that I got an internship here and I recommend you to visit if you have the opportunity.

    Tour Pey-Berland

     

     

     

     

     

  • Alexander Arch, France – February 2015

    Alex Alexander, February 2015

     

    Cet mois, j’ai eu la chance et acheté des billets pour le match des 6 nations entre la France et l’Ecosse. Je suis allé au match avec deux amis de l’université, Alastair et Tristan et nous avons brièvement rencontré avec Jeremy, mon coéquipier de rugby, et sa copine (J’ai oublié sa nom) avant le match. Jeremy n’avait pas de confidence sur le match et il se plaignait de la composition française. mais heureusement pour nous- Angleterre avait gagné la veille donc notre seul souci était notre vue parce que nous étions sur la rangée arrière de la tribune haute! Nous sommes entrés dans le stade environ une heure avant le coup d’envoi et nous avons été vraiment surpris à la qualité de la vue, même si nous étions dans les places les moins chères en haut du stade, nous avions une vue exceptionnel. L’atmosphère était incroyable et me donnait la chair de poule quand La Marseillaise a été chanté. Malheureusement, le jeu n’était pas au même niveau que l’atmosphère avant le match et le score final était 15-8 en France sur un match très décevant. Après le match, nous sommes allés chez nous, je dois dire à quel point je ai été impressionné par la rapidité des transports publics. Le réseau de transport est beaucoup plus efficace que ceux autour de nos stades au Royaume-Uni. Ce mois à venir, la France joue contre l’Angleterre et je vais à mon club de rugby et le regarder avec mes coéquipiers -J’espère bien que nous allons gagner

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

    This month, I was lucky enough to get my hands on some tickets for the 6 nations rugby game between France and Scotland. I went to the game with 2 friends from university, Alastair and Tristan and we briefly met up with Jeremy, with whom I play rugby, and his girlfriend (whose name I have forgotten) before the game. Jeremy wasn’t very confident about the game and was complaining about the French team selection, but fortunately for us- England had won the evening before so our only worry was what the view was going to be like as we were on the back row of the top tier! We went into the ground about an hour before kick off and we were really surprised at how good the view was, even though we were in the cheapest seats at the top of the stadium- we had an amazing view. The atmosphere was incredible and I got goosebumps when the French national anthem was sung. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t up to the same level as the pre-match atmosphere and the final score ended 15-8 to France on a very underwhelming match. After the game we headed home, I have to say how impressed I was at how quickly the public transport moved the crowd away from the stadium, it really showed us how poor our transport networks are around major stadiums. This coming month, France play against England and I am going to go to the rugby club and watch it with my team mates- I really hope that we can win otherwise I wont hear the end of it!!

     

  • Jo Dawson – Case Study, France (1992)

    Looking back, I can probably say that the 3 month scholarship from the John Speak Trust was one of the key defining points of my life – something for which I am extremely grateful.

    One of the many memories that I have of my John Speak Scholarship time in France was talking to the lorry driver I was travelling with one day who was trying to explain to me that the workings of the braking system on his truck was based around magnets.  You can imagine the difficulty trying to work out what he was trying to tell me whilst driving around the country roads in the area around Rheims.  However we got there in the end and, 23 years later, I can still picture the moment that I worked out the key word ‘Aimant’ meant ‘Magnet’.  Such is the power of learning a language from the native speakers of a country and without any possibility of help from Google Translate or Phoning a Friend.

    My scholarship lead me to France in the summer of 1992.  I was still at UMIST University in Manchester, studying International Management  and French when I applied to the John Speak Trust having secured a place at the Ecole de Commerce de Grenoble where I was to study from September that year.  Having accepted the place,

    I was worried that the level of my French would not allow me to fully understand and participate in the lectures that would be held in the local language throughout that year.

    Through my father’s business I managed to secure a 3 month work placement with one of their French wool suppliers, Ets Vromant SA, run and owned by the very kind Jacques Vromant.  The scholarship from the John Speak Trust allowed me to cover my living costs which were meagre as I lived in a ‘Foyer de jeunes travailleurs’ – an eye-opening place to live which housed an eclectic group of young French people. My placement started in Lille where I worked in the Vromant foam factory, glueing foam together.  A strange start which improved my vocabulary of words such as ‘Baby changing mattresses’, ‘Double foam sofa’ and ‘glue guns’.  Words that I don’t use every day now (other than baby changing mattresses when my children were born – more of that later), but were exceptionally useful and intriguing during those first few weeks.

    Having mastered the French words for ‘foam bathmat shaped as a foot’, I moved onto the next location of my placement – Rheims, where I travelled around the French countryside helping the team collect wool from the local farmers.  I learned that this was the area where Champagne was grown in amongst a surprising number of sheep as well as the word ‘Pavot’ which describes a beautiful white poppy-like flower that lives in the French hedgerows.  To this day I don’t know the English translation for this flower, but to me it is a ‘Pavot’.  This was a short part of my learning journey as I moved the following week to spend the remainder of my time in Limoges from where I joined the wool collecting team, making forays into the Massif Central to buy wool from farmers.

    In amongst the farm visits where we would be welcomed at 10am at a farmers kitchen table with a glass of ‘Berger Blanc’ or similar (an aniseed-based 45% alcohol designed to descale the kettle) I learned the word ‘Andouillette’.  This is an offal-filled sausage, the smell of which to-this-day reminds me of that fateful lunch when the ‘Plat du Jour’ comprised what I thought of as an innocent looking sausage.  Oh how I was mistaken, yet some of my French friends today see it as a delicacy.  Much like the way my wife still struggles even now to understand the concept behind Pork crackling…

    When we were not out in the truck collecting wool, I spent time sorting that very wool with some really interesting characters – one of whom I remember was called Pascal.  He taught me the essential words such as ‘bale press’, ‘fleece’, ‘dags’ (the dung that we were removing from the back end of the fleece) and other very choice but essential words that I can’t repeat here.  However, once he got bored with this, he tried to teach me the local Patois, though with limited success.  Though they did laugh when I tried to speak in their local accent – great memories.  It was during my stay in Limoges that I remember starting to dream in French – a clear sign that all was starting to click into place.

    Massif Central, France

    Armed with this wide-ranging and essential vocabulary and a far greater ability to understand many of the people I met, I drove diagonally across France towards Grenoble to start my new academic year.  During this journey, after a frustrating time following caravans crawling their way through the windy mountainous terrain of the Massif Central, I was stopped by the French police for speeding down the hill the other side.  Having established the fact that I had no money in order to pay the fine, the Gendarme took me into the police van whilst he decided what to do with me.  I explained where I was going and why I had been frustrated going so slowly behind the caravans and awaited the verdict.  Having pondered this for a while he let me go with the words ‘seeing as you speak such good French and have no money to pay the fine I will let you off this time.  But don’t think that if you get caught later in the journey they will be so kind to you!’.  John Speak saved me from a fine that day.

    My scholarship story ends as my new year in Grenoble started.  I was able to speak French fluently – something I am sure helped me to complete a fulfilling year at Grenoble and not least meet my wife and start a new era of my life.  My wife and I now live in England where French is our home language (including ‘baby-changing mattresses’) and our bi-lingual children choose whichever word fits best into the sentence.

     I use my French language regularly in my business where I export wool around the world.

     

    I am convinced that the deep understanding of the French language and culture that I gained by being dropped into an intense learning situation at that time has lead me to better understand and appreciate the many different cultures that I deal with in my day to day business.  This cultural appreciation was one of the key aims of the visionary John Speak when he left the funds for our use so many years ago.

    Looking back, I can probably say that the 3 month scholarship from the John Speak Trust was one of the key defining points of my life – something for which I am extremely grateful.

    Jo Dawson 

    Jo Dawson, JST Committee member

     

     

  • Alexander Arch, France – January 2015

    Les 2 semaines depuis je suis retouré au Paris ont été différentes de tout ce que je ai jamais connu. Je peux rappeler les attaques de 9/11 et 7/7 0 Londres mais, heureusement, je n’ai connu personne impliqué et j’étais loin des événements.Les terribles événements à Charlie Hebdo, ont été faites plus pires en sachant que les terroristes étaient en fuite en centre-ville près de moi et encore plus proche de mes amis dans le centre de Paris.

    L’ambiance sur le train le 7 Janvier était très sombre, personne ne parlait et pas de sourires (encore moins que d’habitude).Le jour des sièges (9 janvier) était affreux, le supermarché Hyper-casher est proche de l’endroit où la femme de mon collègue travaille. Quand nous avons entendu le news- il a essayé de l’appeler, mais elle n’a pas décroché le téléphone. Il devenait très inquiet, mais environ 20 minutes plus tard- elle appelait et dit qu’elle était en sécurité. Heureusement, personne que je connais a été personnellement affecté par ces incidents terribles, mais je pense que la plupart des gens sont très choqué et bouleversé par ce qui est passé. Toute la situation est horrible et tout à fait effrayant de savoir que la situation est proche de moi mais je pense que la France a répondu brillamment (typiquement avec des manifestations), et le reste du monde a montré beaucoup de soutien à la France et les personnes innocentes qui ont perdu leur vie. Même aujourd’hui, deux semaines après les attaques, le RER en direction de la maison était couvert de graffitis, «je suis Charlie», «Nous n’avons pas peur» et«je peints Au nom de la liberté ». Ce sera vu dans toute la région et je pense qu’il montre la résilience de l’ensemble du pays.

     

    Alexander Arch – January 2015

     

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    The 2 weeks since I returned in Paris have been different to anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. I remember seeing such tragedies such as 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings on TV but, fortunately, I never knew anybody involved and was far away from the events. The awful events at Charlie Hebdo, were made all the worse by knowing that the terrorist were on the run in close to where I am and even closer to many of my friends in the centre of Paris.

    The atmosphere on my train home on the 7th January was very somber, nobody was talking or smiling (even less that usual). The day that the sieges (9th January) ended was awful, the Hyper-casher supermarket is near to where my colleague’s wife works. When the news broke- he tried calling her, but she didn’t pick up the phone. He was getting quite stressed until, about 20 minutes later- she called him and said she was safe.

    Fortunately, nobody that I know was personally affected by these awful incidents, but I think that most people are quite shocked and upset at what happened. The whole situation is horrific and so scary knowing it is so close to home but I think France responded brilliantly (typically with protests), and the rest of the world has shown a lot of support to France and the innocent people who lost their lives. Even today, 2 weeks after the attacks, my RER home was covered in graffiti, ‘je suis Charlie’, ‘nous n’avons pas peur’ and ‘je peints au nom de la liberté’. This will be seen throughout the region and I think it shows the resilience of the whole country.

  • Amy Clark, Montpelier France – January 2015

     

    Les vacances noëls ont terminés et je suis rentrée en France le 5 janvier, après avoir passé un trop bon noël avec ma famille et mes amis. J’ai fait beaucoup des choses différentes pendant les vacances; j’ai fait du shopping avec ma sœur, je suis sortie avec toute ma famille pour un repas et j’ai visité une ville s’appelle Warwick avec mon fiancé pour le week-end. Pour la nouvelle année je suis sortie avec mon fiancé et quelques amis; nous sommes allés à Bawtry, une petite ville près de chez moi, mais il y a beaucoup des pubs et des bars chics.  J’ai profité bien du temps que j’ai passé chez moi, je suis reconnaissante que j’ai pu avoir deux semaines en congés.

    Bien sûr j’étais un peu triste de quitter l’Angleterre mais je suis impatiente de finir mon stage ici et d’organiser mon stage en Espagne qui va commencer en Mars. Actuellement je sollicite pour nombreuses emplois à Barcelone, à Madrid, à Palma et à Valence et j’attends pour des réponses. J’espère que j’obtienne un emploi à Barcelone; je l’ai visité l’année dernière quand j’ai passé six mois à Alicante et j’ai trouvé qu’elle était un endroit incroyable. Donc, en ce moment, je suis très occupé car j’envoie mon CV et mes candidatures aux entreprises ainsi que faire beaucoup de recherches afin de trouver un stage.  Je suis assez anxieuse de trouver un bon emploi pour mes 6 mois en Espagne; je terminerai mon stage en France le 25 février et j’ai besoin de commencer en Espagne la première semaine de mars, donc je suis un peu stressée, je n’ai pas beaucoup de temps pour décrocher un emploi et dès que je reçois une offre, j’ai besoin de trouver un logement.

    Depuis je suis revenu en France il y avait plusieurs événements que ont lieu à Paris. Bien sur tout le monde est conscient des attaques récentes à Charlie Hebdo et des prises otages dans le nord de Paris, ou un total de 12 gens ont été tues. Pendant les deux semaines dernières les attaques ont provoqués milliers des gens pour protester et démontrer leur appui pour les personnes tuées et de renforcer leurs croyances de la liberté d’expression. Dans le monde entier, il y avait des émeutes, des combats et des protestations concernant les récents événements et ils ont suscité la controverse parmi les nombreuses religions. D’ailleurs, une prise otage à lieu dans le centre de Montpellier aussi, il était pensé que la situation était liée aux événements à Paris, mais la police a confirmé qu’il n’y avait pas un lien.

     

    English translation

    The Christmas holidays have finished and I came back to France on January the 5th after spending such a good Christmas with my family and my friends. I did so many different things during the holidays; I went shopping with my sister, I went out with my family for a meal and I visited a city called Warwick with my fiancé for the weekend. For the New Year I went out with my fiancé and some friends; we went to Bawtry, a small town near where I live, but there are many pubs and posh bars. I really enjoyed the time that I spent at home, I’m grateful that I had two weeks off.

    Of course I was a little sad to leave England but I am eager to finish my internship here and organise my internship in Spain, which will start in March. Currently I’m applying for lots of jobs in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Palma and I am waiting for responses from them. I hope I get a job in Barcelona; I visited the city last year when I spent six months in Alicante and I thought it was an amazing place. So, at the moment I’m very busy with things like sending my CV and applications to companies and doing a lot of research to find an internship. I am quite anxious about finding a good job for my 6 months in Spain; I will finish my internship in France on February the 25th and I need to start in Spain the first week of March, so I’m a bit stressed, I don’t have a lot of time to get a job, and, as soon as I receive an offer I have to find a place to live.

    Since I came back to France there have been several events that have taken place in Paris. Of course everyone is aware of the recent attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the hostages in northern Paris, where a total of 12 people were killed. During the last two weeks the attacks have caused thousands of people to protest and show their support for those killed and to reinforce their beliefs of the freedom of expression. Worldwide, there have been riots, fights and protests about the recent events and they have sparked controversy amongst many religions. Moreover, a hostage situation occurred in the center of Montpellier, it was thought that the situation was linked to the events in Paris, but police confirmed that there was no connection.

     

    Protests in France

     

  • Alexander Arch, France – December 2014

    Alex Arch – Dec 14

     

    Le dimanche, on a joué un match important contre Marcoussis, qui sont première dans le ligue, et ils ont gagné tous leurs matchs. Nous sommes 6 sur 10 et nous avons gagné 4 de nos 9 matchs, mais tous les matchs étaient serrés. On a su que on pourrait qualifier pour les barrages si on gange le match.

    Je suis arrivé au club à midi, pour le déjeuner avec mes coequipiers. On l’a mangé et régardé les actualités du sport  à la télé (tout le monde a rigolé quand il a vu que mon équipe, Leicester City, a perdu!). Après avoir mangé, la deuxième équipe s’est chauffée et la première est résté à l’intérieur. J’ai passé le temps avec mon ami Jérémy et des livres, il veut améliorer son niveau d’anglais alors je l’aide avec son livre ‘Ali Baba et les quarantes voleurs’ et il m’aide avec mon livre ‘Lettres à sa fille’.

    Le match a commancé  à 15h, il y avait du brouillard mais il a disparu rapidement. Le terrain était boueux qui était mieux pour Marcoussis que nous. J’ai commencé le match dans mon poste normal, l’arrière. Au début, on était faible et Marcoussis a marque pendants le première 5 minutes. Mais après leur essaie, on a amélioré mais ne pouvait pas marquer- on a manqué 2 penalités.

    On était beaucoup plus fort pendant le deuxième temps, et on appliquait beacoup de la pression qui liée au essaie. Les deux équipes ont marquées un penalité alors le score était 10-8 dans the 79ème minute. On avait le ballon, et essaie de marquer, mais malheureusement, il y avait un en-avant alors on a perdu 10-8.

    On était très deçu parce qu’on a joué bien et les conditions étaient difficile, mais je pence que nous pouvons être fier de nos performances.

    Le vendredi, on aura le bilan à mi-parcours et un repas de noël qui devrait  être sympa. J’aime le rugby ici, les gens sont très accueillant et ils corrigent mes fautes quand je parle

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    On Sunday, we had a tough match against Marcoussis, who are top of the table and have won all of their games played. We were in 6th position and have won 4 of our 9 games this season, however all of our matches have been close. We knew that if we could manage to win, we would still have a good chance of reaching the end of season play-offs, which involve the top 2 teams.

    I arrived at the club just before midday, we then had lunch, chicken and pasta, whilst watching the sports news channel (everybody laughs when they see that my team, Leicester City, has lost again in the football). After eating, the reserves went out to warm up before their game at 13.30h, whilst the first team stayed in the clubhouse. I spent the time reading with my friend Jérémy, who wants to learn English. He was reading Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, whilst I was reading  ‘Lettres à sa fille’ by Calamity Jane. I find that this is really useful as we can help each other when we struggle with the meanings of words.

    We kicked off at 15h, the fog cleared quickly and the pitch was muddy which suited our opponents. I started the game in my usual position of full back. We didn’t start very well, conceding 7 points in the first 5 minutes. However towards the end of the half we grew into the game, but failed to score- missing 2 penalties.

    We were much improved in the second half, we applied a lot of pressure on the Marcoussis line and eventually scored. Both teams then scored a penalty and we went into the last play losing 10-8. We managed to run the length of the pitch and looked set to score until we knocked the ball on, about 5m from their line. We lost 10-8.

    We were all really disappointed and bruised after an extremely tough game in awful weather conditions. However I think that we can be proud of our performance.

    On Friday, we have our mid season review and our Christmas meal which I am looking forward to.

    I am really enjoying playing rugby here, the people are really welcoming and are all happy to correct the mistakes when I talk.

  • Benjamin Elliott – Case Study, France (Sept 2013-July 2014)

    Benjamin Elliott, France 2013

    This year has been……………………………………….intense, but rewarding!

    My course – Fashion Design – has been great. There has been so much to learn, so normally I would wake up around 7am and go to sleep anytime between 12am and 2am, including the weekends, but in a way its great because you get the chance to go deep into your work and the progress is phenomenally quick.

    Benjamin Elliott

    I’m not going to lie, at first the idea of speaking French as my daily language was daunting – I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t understand anything in my lessons as a lot of the language is specific / technical. Even going to the shops when I first arrived, I had to plan in my head what I was going to say before I said it (and even then I would forget and make a mistake)! But throwing myself in at the deep end was the best way for it, frankly. At school it turned out that no one else knew half the vocabulary either (as it was technical for them, too) so the teacher would always describe or explain what it was whenever he / she spoke about it, and being around my friends all day I picked up quickly the ‘young-words’ and slang etc, which made it so much easier to understand what everyone was talking about – at school unfortunately you only learn the formal french, which unless I’m speaking to someone’s Grandma, I haven’t found too useful this year!

     

    Thanks to John Speak, paying my rent this year has been a little less stressful than what it would have otherwise been which has meant that I haven’t needed a job during the year so I have really been able to get stuck into my studies and make the most of term time.

    However, when the summer holidays arrived I got myself a job in a bar which is brilliant. Not only is it great to have my own income of money, but also my french has improved to yet another level… even regarding my accent, sometimes people struggle to notice it, and when they do they rarely guess that I’m english!

    Benjamin Elliott

    Also regarding my language, I no longer have to think and reflect before I speak – some sentences are easier to say in french that in english… even to the point where I occasionally dream in french too…!?

    Overall this year has been 100% successful. I came to France to improve my french, so that box is certainly ticked, and I’ve decided that I’m definitely staying here for the next two years of my education to really make the most of the city and the experience whilst its available to me !

    Plus the weather is great.

  • Alexander Arch, France – November 2014

    Alex sightseeing with sister Claire Nov14

    Ce mois, le temps a changé beaucoup, heureusement, le week-end que ma sœur est venu, le temps est resté sec. Ma sœur est arrivé à la Gare du Nord juste après 19 heures le vendredi soir, alors j’ai pu la rencontrer sur le quai après avoir travailler. Puis nous sommes allés à l’apprtement de mes, qui se trouve dans le sud-est de Paris, nous sommes restés là car il était beaucoup plus facile que de voyager et revenir de mon hébergement qui n’est pas près de Paris. Le vendredi soir, ma sœur et moi sommes allés à un bar de cocktail avec mes amis, Rae et Tom. Je n’y avais pas été avant et j’ai été agréablement surpris par le prix des boissons! Le samedi, nous nous sommes réveillés tôt pour commencer une journée entière de tourisme- nous avons commencé en prenant le métro à la tour eiffel, où ma sœur a passé environ d’une heure essayant de prendre la photo parfaite pour son Instagram! Quand elle était heureux, nous sommes allés à Notre-Dame, marchant à côté de la Seine où il y avait des stands de souvenirs (où ma soeur a passé plus de temps). Quand nous sommes arrivés, Claire était extrêmement refroidi alors nous sommes allés aux jardins des Tuileries par le Louvre et le pont de cadenas.Comme la nuit tombait, nous avons décidé de retourner à l’Arc de Triomphe de rencontrer Tom. puis nous avons eu la maison de métro après une journée de marche partout!  Après une journée épuisante, nous avons pris la décision de sortir avec le reste des autres étudiants Sheffield Hallam à Paris. Le lendemain, nous sommes allés au Sacré Coeur avant ma sœur devait prendre le train pour rentrer à Londres. Nous avons eu un excellent week-end, mais c’était très fatiguant!

    Aussi, je suis très heureux parce que je ai été sélectionné pour jouer au rugby pour l’Ile de France en vertu 26. Les entraîneurs de l’équipe sont du sud de la France et ont des accents qui sont très différents à l’Parisiens natif, donc c’est une bonne chance d’améliorer mes capacités d’écoute français ainsi que mon Rugby !!

     

     

    Alex (with sister) sightseeing in Paris Nov14

    ENGLISH TRANSLATION

    This month has seen the weather substantially change, thankfully the weekend that my sister came over, the weather stayed dry. My sister arrived at Gare du Nord just after 7 o’clock on the Friday evening, which meant that I was able to meet her on the platform after work. We then made our way to my Friends’ flat which is located in the South east of Paris, we stayed there as it was much easier than travelling back and forth from my accommodation which is a long way out of Paris. On the Friday night, my sister and I went to a cocktail bar with the friends we were staying with Rae and Tom. I hadn’t been there before and I really enjoyed it, I was nicely surprised at the price of drinks as well! On the saturday, we woke up early to start a whole day of site seeing- we started off by getting the metro to the eiffel tower, where my sister spent around an hour trying to take the perfect photo for her instagram! When she was finally happy with one, we made our way to Notre Dame, walking along side the seine whilst my sister searched for some souvenirs to take home. Once we arrived, Claire was extremely underwelmed so we went to the Tuilerie gardens via the Louvre and padlock bridge. At this point the sun was setting and we decided to head back to the Arc de Triomphe to meet Tom. Then we got the metro home after a day of walking everywhere! After an exhausting day, we made the decision to go out with the rest of the other Sheffield Hallam students in Paris. The next day we went to the Sacré Coeur before my sister had to catch the train back to London. We both had a great weekend, but it was very tiring trying to fit everything in!
    Also, I am very pleased as I have been picked to play rugby for the Ile de France under 26 side. The coaches of the team are from the South of France and have very different accents to the native Parisiens, so this is a good opportuinity to improve my french listening skills as well as my rugby!!

     

    Alex and sister Claire Nov14