Saint Pierre et Miquelon Field School (French)

SAINT PIERRE & MIQUELON FIELD COURSE

Broaden your horizons, close to home!

For some students, visiting Saint Pierre and Miquelon and eating daily meals with a host family is a bit of an adjustment. Just 30 miles from Newfoundland, with only 6000 people, it is easy to find fewer than the usual degree of separation between people on the islands.  But the unique culture of the former fishing community offers a perfect microcosm of continental France--even down to its European currency. 

The opportunity is possible through an immersive field course developed by Dr. Iris Black from the Department of French. Students spend three weeks with host families in order to strengthen their skills and fluency in French through interactive human experience.

Not a French major?  Not a problem
Dr Black anticipated challenges as she began to work out the details of creating this field course as an opportunity for all students having intermediate French.  Her long-standing personal  familiarity with Saint Pierre and Miquelon confirmed it was the perfect location for students to step outside their comfort zones in a safe space.

The International Centre was helpful in sorting out some of the logistics but the cost, less the bursaries available to the students was a concern for Dr Black.  Nonetheless, initially there was a group of 6 students who ventured off for the immersive learning experience.  As the pedagogical advisor to the teachers in Saint Pierre and Miquelon for the program, Dr Black was energized by her own opportunity to exchange ideas in both practical and creative ways.  She was also delighted to see returning students go on in French with a renewed energy.

Learn from local professionals
Shadowing health professionals and teachers in the workplace is an opportunity available to students during the course. Students embraced the opportunity to not only learn about a job that was of interest to them but a job that was of interest to them in another culture.  It proved to be a very practical exercise and they gained knowledge that could not be acquired in the classroom.

Experience unconventional outcomes
Outside the classroom, Dr Black led music workshops in French and the students played “gigs” in a bar as well as at a Seniors home.

It was an extra activity but “lots of fun” for both the performers and those who were entertained.

Not only were students able to strengthen their skills and fluency in French through this interactive human experience, they were also challenged technically, as they produced a video based on their experiential learning.  Dr Black found the students stretched themselves throughout the course, had the courage to try new things and make new discoveries that would not otherwise be possible in a classroom setting.

These takeaways were indeed notable and learnings that the participating students would take to any future workplace.