Suicide note pt1 (Pantera)

Dear Alexis,

First of all, let me tell you how much of a pleasure it has been for me to be part of this program. Every day came with its share of surprise and laughter which all in all contributed to make this experience so special for me and each one of my fellow interns and, I believe, everyone else around us. But you will also face challenges and situations specific to immersion schools for which you might not be prepared well enough, as long as no one is ever too much prepared anyway. So allow me to expose you this insight which reflects my own experience.

You might be amazed in the beginning by the fluency of their speech and their ease in comprehension, but don’t let yourself be fooled! You will realize soon enough that a whole lot of basic things that one would expect 14 year old French immersion students to know and apply. Don’t blame the teachers, in theory they should be familiar with most of the basic grammar rules of French. Some might say it’s due to their lack of practice during holidays, for my part I believe it shows the biggest crack of the immersion system: for they have to use a language they don’t know at all ever since their early childhood, they will obviously make mistakes as they express themselves, but it should be enough for the teachers who shall not expect perfect speech from their students, and these mistakes have a high chance to stay engraved in their minds for a longtime, if not forever. Eventually, the students will know the rules that would help them build correct sentences, and most of the times they just won’t bother thinking of applying them as they speak, for it has never been necessary before, except for tests and class or home practice. Brace yourself; this is going to be so frustrating. The best way to limit this would be to give each one of them individual reminders of the things they most struggle with and find a way to make sure they remember to use it at all times, this is something I was not so good at but with your experience, I’m sure you’ll handle it pretty well.

As I mentioned it, your experience will come handy here for sure, but you should not rely too much on it, remember you are dealing with American children who live in America with American parents who cherish their American culture. So our good old French teaching techniques are not always appropriate here and might even get you in trouble. Whatever happens, before you react too harshly, be sure to notify your teacher and she will always give you a good piece of advice on how to handle all kinds of situation. You will have to show tolerance and adaptability when you grade copies, reprehend a misbehaving student, or even interact with them. The way things are going in American schools might not always make sense to you, here again the best thing to do when you think something is wrong is to talk to another teacher who will be glad to show you how these questionable habits work, because let’s face it, it might look chaotic, purposeless and unfit, but American Education seems to work pretty well, at least in Edina.

And finally, if it’s never good for your teenage students to consider you as their buddy or their equal to whom they don’t have to show any sort of respect like they do to other teachers, do not build a fence between you and them either. As their TA, you are somehow the coolest of the two teachers in the classroom, the one they would rather talk to, and if you show that you are willing to connect with them in a more friendly and personal way than they normally do with other teachers, then being around your students might become the best times you will have during your stay in the US.

It’s all up to you now, enjoy this year to the bones, take the best of it and don’t miss the opportunity to go to a Vikings’ game, remember the NFL season is very short…

May the Force be with you,
Brice