This game is all the rage among English teaching assistants, and since I have been told to play more games with my students (listening to Feist is not appropriate in class, but games are, for whatever reason), I tried it this week.

The Wednesday morning volunteer group was amazing. I feel bad that I don’t even really know who they are–I got some of them to write their names down the first time I saw them, but yesterday I was overwhelmed because a whole bunch of new kids showed up out of nowhere. It was flattering, since by coming they are agreeing to an extra hour of English class per week. Anyway, Two Truths and a Lie was such a success that it lasted the entire hour, with some of the kids volunteering to speak twice. They were good liars, too. I had some of the kids support their lies for a good long round of questioning, inventing names and ages and careers for siblings who did not exist, and descriptions of vacations on which they had never gone.

I played again with 1ère ES (roughly equivalent to juniors, specializing in economics and social science), which I hate to say is a class without many redeeming qualities. The first group was too slow to cotton on to the idea of the game, taking too long to think of three things about themselves. The second group cottoned on entirely too fast, and ruined the game by saying things like “I am a boy. I play rugby. Mme. X is my favorite teacher.” At least a few of them had a sense of humor about it, saying they had children, but overall they were too cool for the game. I dread the days when I have to deal with these kids for two hours.

On the other hand, I look forward to my two volunteer groups and my time with 1ère L (juniors specializing in literature). The 1ère L class has been doing a really fun project on Ireland, and recently on the Celtic origins of Halloween. Today they were performing some Irish pop songs in the school halls during the breaks. Not all of the students in the class are good at English, but at least they have all displayed a willingness to try.

French teachers can be much more openly critical of their students than their American counterparts, and I think sometimes the years of mockery and correction (occasionally on the savage side) result in students who refuse to speak at all. So when I am told “Make them talk!”, it’s like asking me to turn lead into gold. I have no experience as a teacher and even if I did, it would probably be beyond me to cure these kids of their fear.

I don’t mean to say that all French teachers are that way–I work with some really wonderful people, even teachers who encourage their students to talk without worrying about their mistakes. Also, there are certainly American teachers who mock their students, and American students who refuse to talk, but I do think the French education system is, in general, harsher. I’ve had so many French people tell me that they have some grand national problem learning foreign languages, implying that they’re just genetically incapable, there’s nothing to be done about it, they just can’t be like those Germans. I always want to point out that maybe the problem lies in their education system, but I never have, out of some sense of not biting the hand that feeds me, perhaps.

But at least you get more vacation time, right?

Posted in France, teaching by rachel