QUAND ON PARLE D'AOTEAROA 17 EN NOUVELLE ZÉLANDE!!!

L'association a été contactée récemment par une élève du Nayland College. Elle a souhaité publier un article en première page de Circuit, le journal du collège, relatant le séjour des 5 Kiwis l'hiver dernier :

French pays off

'' A French connection was sealed when four Nayland students took the chance to travel to La Rochelle over the summer holidays. Emma Ching, Jesse White, Kate Lovell and Kayla Cook have been learning French at Nayland since year 9, and last December they

departed on a five week exchange that improved their language skills and gave them a real taste of France.

“I’ve always really wanted to experience the culture rather than just learn the language, and being in a classroom doesn’t really help that,” Emma explained.

Jesse had been on a previous college exchange to France in 2012.

“I loved it so much, I had to go back,” he said.

During what would have been their Christmas holidays, they attended classes alongside French students. “I liked meeting people and experiencing the subjects,” Emma said.

French cuisine was also a hit and the students came back raving about how amazing the food was. Emma used time over their Christmas break to travel around France and go skiing with her host family, something she had never tried previously. The students also got to experience a white Christmas, another highlight for most. They had to overcome their own challenges. For some, it was hard at first to adjust to living with a new family and different routines, but the biggest challenge proved to be the language barrier. Emma admitted she underestimated how difficult it would be, and had trouble understanding some things because of the speed at which French people speak. “Thankfully a lot of the school students spoke English quite fluently, so I was always able to get a message across, in some kind of way,” she explained. “I got very good at charades!”

Students were surprised by a few things on their trip.

Emma found she could relate to French students more easily than she had expected. “We shared so many things in common.

It’s weird how relatable they are even though they’re on the other side of the world.”

They were also surprised that they didn’t get homesick. “I had such a good time over there that I didn’t miss anything from home,” Jesse explained. Emma said one of the hardest parts was when the time came for her leave. “I thought I would be biting at the bit to go home, but I really wanted to stay and carry on.”

The exchange began after the organiser, Eric Payet contacted Nayland in 2011. A PE teacher at his school had taken an interest in New Zealand after seeing the Rugby World Cup, and approached the English teacher, Mr Payet, with an idea to send some of their students over. He contacted Wendy Barker, then Nayland’s French teacher, and pupils began exchanging emails. In April 2012, students from Nayland travelled to La Rochelle for one week to discover the region and take part in cultural and sporting events.

A real friendship was born, and Ms Barker visited again the following year, disclosing to Mr Payet that students had shown an interest in another trip to La Rochelle for a five week stay. He organised the school and found host families for the students. Their host brothers and sisters are visiting New Zealand over this summer. Mr Payet is now the president of Aotearoa 17, an association in La Rochelle, aimed at developing exchanges between New Zealand and French teenage students. “I cannot wait to turn the next page of that French and New Zealand friendship,” he said. “Who’s next? Tell them we are waiting for you anytime in beautiful La Rochelle!”