I'm sorry, but I'm just dragging hardcore today. It was barely 10 am before I was feeling like I really needed a Friday pick-me-up, and I spent the morning pretty much dreading French class this afternoon.
The school that I have my lessons with has really done a fuck-up. I mean, really.
I started the classes, my first in 17 years, in late September, and I was extremely apprehensive to start with. My comprehension is moderately good, but I can't speak because of my limited vocabulary, my current inability to think in French fast enough, and a lack of confidence. This is normal. A lot of people I know feel the same. And it goes without saying that I can't really write in French either.
Well, I started with a teacher, Joanne, and she was quite patient and understanding with me. We didn't just run worksheets and such...she jumped around, she encouraged vocabulary questions, she made us carry on simple conversations about what we did with our weekends or at work. I was gaining confidence.
And then the school done fucked up.
It had bid on a contract for language lessons with another department, stating that it would provide teachers with the required security clearance (it's common, particularly if the teachers give lessons onsite), and it won the contract, but then the department made the decision to move the start date up to October instead of January, which meant there was no time to hire new teachers and get them cleared in time. So the school did what it thought was best...it took the teachers with clearance it already has from their current classes. We were understandably pissed, and it causes no end of problems for the teachers as well.
Well, two weeks ago, we were given a new teacher. A youngish woman from France who had been in Canada teaching French to kids in Aboriginal communities in Northern Quebec. She seemed nice, if a little nervous, but we didn't think anything of it.
We arrived to class last week, and fuck if we didn't have yet another teacher. NO explanation was given for why this was the case. I had to find out from a girl in another class in the same time slot--the teacher didn't think she was cut out to teach adults. The new teacher seems professional, but all we did was worksheet after worksheet, with no chance to let what we learned soak in, so by the end of class, half the people had left, and those who stayed were in rough shape. This is not the way I learn.
This whole episode does not instill confidence in the professionalism of the school, particularly since they have made no efforts to reach out to all the affected students. We're all in the dark.
Well, today, things were moderately better, but it took a much-needed breakdown in decorum in the classroom to loosen things up and finally relax.
At this point, I can't say that I will be in any shape to do my levels testing by the end of the term, and I just abhor the colossal waste of money invested in my French training where I can't produce a desired result (taking the tests)...it's so frustrating. And all I can do is show up, week after week, and hope that there will be some semblance of continuity so that I can rebuild my confidence and pick up where I left off before this whole debacle.
Fun with learning...
...Wish you were here.
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