Teaching English on French shores

Language serves as a gateway to understanding and experiencing different cultures, and knowledge of a foreign language, especially in today’s world, serves as an asset. It opens up a world of opportunities for polyglots to explore, especially on the career-front, with the need for English language teachers steadily increasing in countries abroad. Sahana Tamilvanan is an alumna of WCC who left for France in September 2021 to teach English to native French students. She began teaching English in a public elementary school in the Poissy Commune this October. As a graduate of BSc Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, she took French as her second language in WCC. She also served as the coordinator of Pirouette, the French Club. She was a student at Alliance Française de Madras as well.

In the month that Sahana has spent in France, she found that there were several changes, both physical and mental, that she had to go through to acclimatize to her new surroundings. The two most important lessons she learnt are patience and independence. She stated, “As a teacher, it's the kids' enthusiasm and smile that keeps me going everyday.” Like most people who find themselves in a foreign land, Sahana also experienced several cultural shocks that often turned out to be positive. An instance that she gave was kindness from strangers. Moving from Chennai where one is normally wary of strangers, to a small commune in France, meant that she would often need the help of locals to get around the place. She says that she always received aid when she needed it, and that too, accompanied with a compliment. In the case of cultural differences, she says she gets the most stares from the locals when she eats her burger using her hands, since they use a fork and knife.

As educational differences go, Sahana says that the one that stands out the most is the curiosity of her students. She found them to be very independent, considering their young age. “They don’t hesitate to ask questions and this seems like a stark contrast to classrooms in Chennai”, according to her. She elaborated: “Something I observed was that there are no taboo subjects as such. A classroom is a place where everything is shared and learned together.” A preconceived notion that she had to unlearn since her arrival in France is that contrary to popular belief, the French natives do not have an aversion to the English language, instead are very delighted to learn it.

Concerning Covid, the situation was better there when compared to Chennai, as wearing a mask is only obligatory for when one is on the streets. She explained that for entry into museums, public monuments and a few restaurants one requires a Passe Sanitaire, a document for completely vaccinated people.

To sum up her experience, she amusedly added, “France is just like Chennai, just a cleaner version with French subtitles”.