From the CBC:
“Students spend summer exploring language and culture across
Canada, free of pandemic's shadow”
(Computer engineering student Patrick Nzudom is studying
English this summer at the University of British Columbia's Explore program.
The immersion language program is making a comeback in the wake of the
pandemic.)
Shortly after arriving in the small town of Trois-Pistoles,
Que., for a French-immersion program, Carolyn Moore called her mom. "I'm
in a level that's way too advanced for me. Everyone is way better. I'm
completely out of my depth," she recalled saying. Now, after winning the program's award for
extraordinary progress, she's sticking around Trois-Pistoles for the summer, to
work at a cider brewing co-op. "The people here, they're so generous and
patient," she said. "It's been a wonderful experience." Moore
has just completed the Explore Program, a language exchange offered in all 10
provinces. Students travel to another part of the country for a five-week
immersion course in either English or French.
Programs like Explore faced challenges during the pandemic
amid restrictions against travel and large gatherings. Some institutions have
since stopped offering the program entirely, citing rising costs and
difficulties finding host families. Most Explore programs have managed to come
back, however, and students and teachers say the lessons learned this summer go
beyond language. Founded in 1971, the federally funded Explore programs offer,
via post-secondary schools, students a bursary which covers the cost of tuition
(less a deposit of around $300), food and lodging during their stay. Students
live either with a host family or in residence.
Making a comeback
(Students at the spring 2023 session of the Explore program
in Trois-Pistoles, Que.)
"During the pandemic years… what we had to actually do
was against everything that we normally do," said Kathy Asari,
co-ordinator of the Trois-Pistoles program "We have a lot of excursions and outings,
a lot of things that were meant to give the participants the opportunity to
make new friends, to mix with the local population, to go visit different
places," she said. "That, of course, is completely opposite of
what all the health regulations were." Explore programs were cancelled
across the board in 2020 and, with a few exceptions, held online in 2021. Most
institutions returned to in-person formats in 2022, although pandemic-related
concerns still played a role. "Last year didn't quite feel like it was at
that same stage. There was still a hesitation," said Jas Gill, director of
the University of British Columbia's Explore program. "But this year,
right from the beginning, we had just so much interest."
Camille Hains is attending UBC's Explore program to work on
her English. She's on summer break from an accounting program at the University
of Quebec in Lévis. Hains says her high
school English classes were very focused on reading and writing. She says the
Explore program is much more focused on speaking. "Everybody around me
speaks English. And I have to express myself in English if I want to be
understood," she said. It's the
first time Hains has been this far from home for so long. She says the
experience has been valuable. "I
learned that I am mentally stronger than I thought," she said.
Patrick Nzudom is also studying English through UBC's Explore
program this year. Both of his parents attended the program when they were
younger — his mom was in Winnipeg and his dad was in Toronto — after
immigrating from Cameroon. In 2021, Nzudom attended Calgary's Explore program;
one of only five in-person sessions offered that year. "Even though it was
the pandemic, I really liked the opportunity, because staying for one year at
home and just not being able to go out, having a curfew and all those
restrictions, it was really difficult," he said.
Pandemic impacts
(Lévis, Que., native Camille Hains says she'd never really
travelled before going to Vancouver to work on her English this month via the
Explore program.)
In 2019, there were more than 5,600 students enrolled in 69
Explore sessions across the country, according to the inter-governmental
Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), which co-ordinates the
Official Languages Programs, including Explore. This year, CMEC says there are around 4,800
students attending 58 sessions, including five online sessions, a delivery
format that emerged during the pandemic. In a statement, a representative from CMEC
said that some institutions were forced to stop offering Explore because of the
pandemic. "Five post-secondary
institutions are no longer offering the Explore program. Reasons include rising
costs (e.g., food, residence/accommodation, activities), hiring challenges to
staff the program, and/or loss of homestay families to house Explore participants."
'Living the language' Language is "a tool that you use for real social
purpose," said Sunny Man Chu Lau, the Canada Research Chair in Integrated
Plurilingual Teaching and Learning. "I think that a lot of
classrooms tend to just focus on marks and exams and accuracy and forget the
real purpose of language," she said. "When there is real interest,
when there is real use, the accuracy will come." Lau says travel
language immersion programs like Explore provide students an opportunity to see
how their target language is used in the real world, and to immediately bring
that knowledge back to the classroom. Alice La Flèche has been teaching
both English and French in a variety of settings for 20 years. She's working at
the University of Quebec in Montreal's Explore program in French this summer.
"It's like living the language," she said. "You learn
the structure, you learn, you learn the formulas to put it together, and then
you live it. and you live the music. You live the food. You live the
emotion." La Flèche has been
introducing students to French-Canadian cinema and music, and the work of
Quebec authors including Joséphine Bacon and Kim Thủy. Going from southern
Ontario to Trois-Pistoles, Moore says she felt the cultural change on a number
of fronts. "I feel like I've learned a lot about appreciating something
that isn't Toronto, I guess you could say," she joked. "The music is different, food is
different, the way of life," she said. "Things move a little bit more
slowly, but more enjoyable I would say…I really love Trois-Pistoles."
^ I didn’t know about this Program. It sounds good and something
much needed since most of Canada is not Bilingual. ^
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