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Here I am !
My name is Chloe LEGER. Little French Baby. I'm born in Meaux, a city near Paris. I spend a part of my childhood in " Ile de France," the region surrounding Paris. I have two sisters and a loving family. -
Sisters
I just wanted to share a little picture of my sisters and me ( And a more recent photo of me). Smiling and Proud. They are the ones pushing me up and helping reach my dream. ( click on the picture to see it in full size.) The three of us are complete English nerds. We read and chat in English and help each other out when we have difficulty in English. They were the first reason I wanted to be a teacher.
I dated this photo the 3/3/2001 because it's the day that my little baby sister was born. -
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French Language struggle
For years, I had a pronunciation problem. I could make the [ ʃ ] sound. I had to go to a speech therapist because that, but this experience highlights the difficulties. I already had trouble in my first language. I still have some challenges in pronunciation ( In French and English) and also in grammar and orthography. I still struggle, but I do my best, and I think that is the most important thing when we learn something — doing our best. -
Moving out of the Parsian Region
When I was in CE2 (3rd Grade), my family moved out to another region, and unfortunately, another accent. I had a hard time to adapt because people didn't use the same word and didn't have the same pronunciation. It was hard to adjust and make friends. It's at that moment I became too shy to speak in class and just stay away from the others. -
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Middle School and Languages
In France, we were obliged to choose a second " Langue Vivante." We could choose between German that the classes start in 6ème (6th Grade) or we could select Spanish and Italian in 4ème ( 8th Grade)
We had to choose very carefully because we couldn't change. I choose Spanish. It was great, but like in French language, I wasn't good enough for the teachers. -
First English certification
During "3eme" ( 9th Grade), my English wasn't too bad, and I could pass a small certification that evaluates my English proficiency. According to the CECRL,(or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL)), I had the level A2, an intermediate debutant. It wasn't good enough for my teacher but, the program we had to learn English wasn't good. Now that I'm thinking of it, a "Structural English Immersion" could have been a good program to try in my Middle School. -
London
One of my first cultural experience was in High School, in 1ère ( Junior Year). I was in the European section of my "Baccalaureat" (High School Diploma) and We had the chance to organize a trip to London. This was the first time I experienced the British culture in a real way, not in books or in Tv-show or in movies. It was only for a week but It changes my perception of English. -
Norway
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Norway
During my Terminal ( Senior Year), I had the opportunity to go to Norway for an internship. That was a dream! And the first time I spend two months away. This was a tremendous cultural experience; Half of the staff weren't Norwegian, and the only language in which we could communicate was English. Seeing the difference between languages and culture was inspiring, and this experience was the one giving me the idea of becoming a teacher. -
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Business and Languages Major
After graduating from High School, I choose to go to University. I wanted to stay in the language major, so I selected what we called LEA, Langue Etrangère Appliqué. A mix with languages ( translation, phonetics, grammar, and oral expression) and business classes ( Marketing, Economy, Accountancy).
I had a tough time with the languages, Spanish and Portuguese were too similar, in terms of roots, phonetics, and history. -
Discovering Français Langue Etrangère
After two years of asking myself what to do, I quit the LEA degree and discover what will become my professional project. We have in France the FLE master, you learn who to teach French to non-francophone. I never thought of that way of teaching and I realized that I wanted to see the difference of French in other cultures. -
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English Major
My place in my English Major was always doubted by my teacher because of my High School Diploma. But I fought and make my way to the end of my Degree. The classes helped me getting better in English and according to the CECRL, I'm now an Advance reader and listener even If I still have some trouble with writing and speaking.
I'm a Senior in my Degree, my graduation will be at the end of my 2 terms here. -
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OSU
OSU is, by far, my most important cultural experience. I had to fight, literally, to come here. I see American culture and Language with a new perspective. I experience new things, talking with people, and just enjoy discovering what was supposed to be a dream. Seeing with my own eyes, this culture and the difference of the Language is my favorite part of this experiment.
In a month, I feel like my English proficiency improved so much. I was shy to speak, and now I'm too bold to say nothing. -
Autobiography (1)
All these experiences shape my way of teaching in a different way that France uses to teach languages. The programs in Garcia and Kleifgner's textbook are very interesting and maybe can be applied with the FLE programs to have a more effective program for learning. I think that being in this class open my mind to new ways of teaching, I want to be the kind of teacher who's always supportive and don't make a student feel sad after a bad grade. -
Autobiography (2)
I don't want to be like my teachers in France, "only straight As students will succeed in life." I want to show people that it's not about having a perfect accent or an ideal grammar or even perfect knowledge in the culture that matters. I wish for my future students to know that the most important is to understand the others no matter the culture and to be understood.
My experiences show me that, learning is not general but personal and not everyone learns the same thing the same way. -
References
García Ofelia, Kleifgen, J. A., & Cummins, J. (2018). Educating emergent bilinguals policies, programs, and practices for english learners. New York: Teachers College Press.
