As a librarian and teacher in Don Bosco Vocational School in Marseille, I’m taking part in a course as part of an Erasmus+ teacher mobility. The course is provided by English Matters in Trinity College in Dublin, from July the 15th to July 26th.

Emmanuelle Nallis.

Date: Monday 15/07/24

After the registration, we all gather in an amphitheatre for the welcoming and presentation of the session. We’re welcoming by Eduardo, the English Matters co-ordinator : 18 nationalities are represented, and each had to sing a song from his country, a nice way to break the ice ! We were 4 French teachers, and we made a great performance on «Aux Champs Elysées» de Joe Dassin 🙂 We then had a presentation of the European Dimension in Education before splitting into 5 groups. As I already took part into the course «Activate your English B1/B2» two years ago, I select this year the class «Activate your English» C1/C2, which is quite challenging for me ! In the afternoon, we had a photowalk challenge in the city : it was for me the opportunity to (re)discover famous places and almost to meet my 3 partners, Eva (Slovakia), Claudia (German), and Vendula (Tcheque republic).

 

Date: Tuesday 16/07/24

The day was dedicated to a first snapshot of Irish writers. Our new teacher is Dr. Carmel Hinchion from University of Limerick. The first writer we were introduced to was William Buttler Yeats (1865-1939), the first Irish Nobel laureate in Literature in 1923. After his biopic, we studied the poem «The lake of Innisfree », following the process : pre-reading, reading, post-reading. We had to think about the way to study these text with our students. We end with the song «Down by the Salley Gardens ». In our free time after the course, some of us went to visit the W. B Yeats exhibition in the National Library, where we could discover many artefacts and audio documents.

 

Date: Wednesday 17/07/24

Back to literature this morning with the discovery of the poet Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995.  We studied 3 poems : «Digging», «Mid-term Break» and «The forge ». I was very touched by these texts for personal reasons. We were lucky to benefit to a guided visit dedicated to the writer in The Bank of Ireland : it was for us the occasion to learn more about his life and his work. We also talked about James Joyce during this course, maybe the most prominent English-speaking literacy figure of the 2Oth century. Furthermore, we read some short stories, part of his collection DUBLINERS, and also study an extract of the Lass of Aughrim, a traditional Irish ballad appearing in «The dead ».

During our free time, we took the train to a lovely seaside city called Dun Laoghaire. We had a touristic bus tour to get an overview of the town. Next, there is Sandycove where you can visit the James Joyce Tower and Museum. We end by a lovely but windy walk along the pier, famous for its nice fish&chips.

Date: Thursday 18/07/24

We keep on with the discovery of Irish culture and a focus on the Irish Landscape, the bogs. Through many documents and activities, we learn all about the bog, the area where peat can be extracted to become turf, used as material for fuel. It’s very specific to Ireland and represents an important part of Irish culture. I have learnt many words that I’m not sure to use again :), but the teaching methods we experienced were interesting and can be used for many others subjects. I will keep one in particular, the KWL  : What I know, What I want to know, What I have learnt. It’s an efficient way to make students reflect on their learning. 

The subject of the afternoon is «Ireland in 10 songs » : we learn more about Irish events and culture, and have fun at the same time 🙂 Hope we are better at talking than singing ! Some of us met at the pub after the course, which is a very important part of Irish culture and a way to keep on «Talking with people » !

 

Date: Friday 19/07/24

A day dedicated to Irish Art. Through many activities by groups, we discovered the works of Irish artists. Among them, Harry Clarke (1889-1931), a stained-glass artist and book illustrator, but also Joe Caslin and James Earley, 2 engaged street artists. We were not too bad at the escape game we played by team, finding clues and solving enigma to reach the exit ! The second part of the course took place in The National Gallery where we had masterpieces to find, sourcing teaching materials. We also began to work on our Learning Portfolio by groups.