La monitrice de langue française – French Language Assistant

​« Vous êtes à la recherche d’une expérience de travail rémunéré en milieu scolaire? Est-ce que l’opportunité de voyager au Canada et de faire connaître votre culture vous intéresse? Participez à Odyssée! Odyssée est un programme de moniteurs de langues. Sous la supervision d’un enseignant ou d’un professeur, votre rôle sera d’encourager les jeunes à approfondir leur connaissance de la langue française et des cultures qui s’y rattachent et à en faire une utilisation courante. Vous quitterez votre province ou territoire de résidence permanente pour travailler dans un milieu rural ou semi-urbain dans une province ou un territoire autre que le vôtre. »

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​My name is Chantale Crivea and I am « la monitrice de langue française » at École Laurier this year. I obtained this position through the Odyssey program, which is a program that places both English and French language assistants in schools across Canada. My role is to give the students more opportunities to practice their spoken French by planning fun games and activities, with the goal of getting them excited about speaking in French. 

Learning a new language is a challenging endeavour and it is all too common to feel uneasy or lack confidence when speaking in one’s non-dominant language. This is why a language assistant is so beneficial for the students at École Laurier. I provide them with a safe environment to practice speaking in French where they don’t have to worry about being graded or making mistakes, all they need to worry about is having fun!

​With the younger grades, I have been helping them discover our French Canadian culture through the use of songs, videos, and stories. I work with them to expand their vocabulary and conversation skills by playing games such as fly swatter, sound buckets, story-puzzles, ZAP!, and magic circles. 

My activities with the older students have been a combination of playing well-known games such as Jeopardy, Mastermind, Taboo, and Scattergories - all with a French twist, as well as creative writing exercises, listening comprehension practice, oral presentations, and putting on mini plays such as Blanche Neige (Snow White) and L’hippopotame et le léopard (The Hippopotamus and the Leopard).
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If you’re interested in learning more about the Odyssey program, please visit www.myodyssey.ca or www.monodyssee.ca for more information.