This term year 10 finally got a taste of French culture on a school trip but we didn’t hop across the channel by ferry – we went to London by train!

Fun fact – did you know that London is actually the 4th largest ‘French’ city in terms of the number of French nationals that live and work there!

Despite the planned tube strike – we arrived in London via the overground and marched all the way from Liverpool Street to Holborn and somehow managed to arrive at International House early!

International House is a Language School that provides lessons in English, French, Spanish and a range of other languages to both adults and student studying abroad. They had planned a full day of cultural and linguistic activities for our Year 10s to get involved in. 

www.ihlondon.com
In the morning, students had a taste of grammar related to the future tense and their future aspirations.  They played different games and were encouraged to communicate entirely in French during the lesson with the native teacher.  After a quick lunch break the students then spent the afternoon learning and listening to the ever popular Stromae!

Stromae is a Belgian Rwandan musician/singer/artist who has taken both the French and British music industry by storm – just give him a google – even Kanye West is using his tunes in his songs! The students had loads of fun listening to his songs but also learning about Stromae’s history and his influences in his music – he sings about racism, family, gender, work and touches on a lot of different but discursive themes!

Evening activities saw students making the most of some shopping time at Covent garden and then a classic French Burger et frites at Café Rouge followed by Crème Brulee and ice cream for dessert.  The perfect fuel for a wet but scenic walk across London back to Liverpool street.

All in all it was a very productive day – and our Year 10’s are now even more prepared for their GCSE’s next year!

A la prochaine, Londres!