Hello,

I haven’t been in Leuven during April because I was teaching and it was Easter holiday. But what I have learnt about the Flemish culture so far isn’t very different from what I knew before going to Leuven. I knew that Flemish people watched English movies and they were then able to speak English easily but what I didn’t know was that they had an extremely good level.

The English language has an influence on their way of speaking, sometimes you can hear a Flemish student speaking Dutch using a few English words (not always beautiful words actually)… but still you can see that their mentality isn’t the same as mine or people from the city I come from. Before beginning my studies at the I.S.P.G., I was more influenced by all the French TV programs and I wasn’t used to hear English or Dutch. But now that I’m studying English and Dutch I’m more used to it. I don’t know if it has an influence on the way I think, probably, but I’m not aware of it.

Since I’m studying at the I.S.P.G., I listen to the Flemish radio channels and even on the radio you notice that Flemish people listen to English, Dutch or French songs. If you listen to the French radio channels you won’t hear any Flemish songs.

There is another difference which is the one I don’t like… when you’re in a group of young people you don’t say hello to each other by giving a kiss but by shaking one’s hands. I don’t like it. I really like to give a kiss to people when I meet them and that I’m going to spend a day with them. I need this contact but they don’t and I try to respect that. I’m pleased to be with Sarah and Romain because if they weren’t there who would I kiss every morning and every evening? J

That’s the only culture clash I experienced. I didn’t expect that we were going to shake the hands or just shake our head to say ‘hello’. I have some friends who are Flemish speakers and I’m used to give them a kiss I didn’t know that it was going to be different here.

This last point isn’t something that influence my knowledge of the language, I still love learning Dutch and English.J

As Sarah and Romain said previously, we’re in a class of foreign students. They’re all nice and welcoming! It’s a pleasure to be with them! And what I like the most it’s that we have to speak English and that’s really great for me because I know that I have to improve my English and I like this class and the course we have with them because it’s real, you have to speak about your culture, the culture of the others and it happens in English because this is the language I would use if I was abroad.

See you next week!!J

Céline

The last day's...

Here are my beloved and tall students :-)

Dear all,

It has been a long and busy month.
I've experienced a lot of cultural differences and it would be difficult to explain it all here.
But the most important is the Danish 'secret law' of humility.
Danish people cant's show off or be too proud!
If someone is too proud he will not be well considered by his classmates or friends.
If I am proud of my work, or lesson, I just have to keep it for myself.
It is also something I have to be careful about in the classroom. I can't say to a student that he is wonderful and that his work was super. I have to stay positive but I can't says to the other students: "look at him, he work was brilliant, you should do the same!"

Something else is that everything is based on trust. The teacher trusts his students, he believes in them and he doesn't control them systematically. You can also find places where you pay for your coffee and then you go and help yourself, but anybody could walk in take a cup of coffee and go away. The Danish people don't do that! I feel extremely save here, People let there bags alone to throw something into the trash and they are not afraid of being stolen.

I did experience a 'culture clash' when I first heard a student say to me that he knew what to write in his essay but that he was to lazzy to work now. The student went on with playing and I smiled because I knew it is normal here for a student to say this to his teacher. Still, it was
strange.

I tried to ask as many questions as I could to avoid making 'cultural mistakes' I observed a lot before acting and when I didn't know what to do, I just did the same as my neighbour.

I think a language is part of the culture. I have given a lesson about sayings and expressions in french and in danish, I have learner a lot about their culture just through saying and I realised how important it was to explain the culture linked with the language you teach. Otherwise it is like teaching a death language.

Hello,

I cannot say I have gleaned much culturally from staying here these few months. My life was composed of a microcosm including a supermarket, some pupils, a teacher’s lounge and my turquoise room (not necessarily in that order). I trudged up and down the town a good few times in my earlier, foiled attempts to find accommodation, but to believe that the ‘culture’ of the town or indeed the country was imparted to me by my glimpses of foreign architecture and road signs would be quite optimistic to put it mildly.

Given the fact that I regularly met with people from this part of the world when I was playing for a competition band in Antwerp, I was not shocked by the accent or the attitudes of the people I have interacted with. No culture clash occurred as far as I could tell.

There are a few things in these environments that I could conceivably identify as different, however. The atmosphere in the school is quite different to what I have known in the past. It is safe to say that the pupils appear to feel much greater freedom in the classroom than most pupils in Belgium could ever dream of having. For instance, they can make use of their phones and their music devices in certain circumstances. They also tend to be freer in terms of what they say. These and a myriad of other small observations give an overall picture which contrasts sharply with what I might expect as a product of the Belgian system. My opinions on the matter were comforted by the French assistant in the school who nearly fell over backwards at how carefree the students behaved and how blithe they seemed to feel. As far as the supermarket in concerned, besides the fact that they ask you if you want stamps at every check-out, I cannot say I ever felt out of my depth.

By electing to ask for an internship in the Netherlands, I had ultimately hoped to interact with the ‘natives’ enough to somewhat improve my level of fluency in Dutch. This proved to be ill-fated for a number of reasons. First of all, the members of the English faculty make a point of speaking English to one another. Secondly, all my interactions with the pupils were in L2. My somewhat confusing background added to the general mystique about my level in Dutch and their level in English was sufficient for all purposes. Lastly, my interactions with my housemates have been few and far between since, as the saying goes, I have mostly had other fish to fry.

I have obviously had conversations with other teachers in the lounge and acquainted myself with the other residents of the house whilst cooking, for example, but all in all I have spoken very little Dutch. If anything, it has allowed me to further my level of English since some of the texts the pupils were working on contained words I did not know. However, I cannot say that I have encountered any more new words than usual.

I will see you all soon. Until then, all the best.

A

My dear friends, I hope you are all happy wherever you are! Before explaining everything about the culture links and others, let us talk about Me, Myself, and I!!! (not at all egocentric! J) You can also make a link with the Dutch culture even if it goes more about the school than the Dutch habits. I still do not have any pictures; I still need to buy myself a camera! I could not be happier than I am here. I still do not teach much but I give private lessons to some pupils who need help in English. (By the way, I was horrified because they had to study some vocabulary about “Religion” and I had to help them with it but they did not understand the words... not even in Dutch... (Words like “church of England”, “devotion”, “virtue”, ECT.) What I like about this internship is that there is something new every week. I never stop beeing surprised by their way of working! J For example, they do not have exams in June and August like us but they have their exams between February and March and then they can try again during April and May if they did not passed the first time. The exams are national so, except for the “little tests”, the teacher is not the one creating the exams. I realise that they never have English lessons (I said that already but it still surprises me). They have never ever ever had a lesson about vocabulary and they have never ever ever worked with a topic. It is just random reading, listening and speaking. For example, I did a lesson about the halal food and the next lesson I will give them will be about Henry VIII. Try to find a link between these subjects!!! J But their level is AWESOME! It is because most of the movies are in English with Dutch subtitles but it is also because they never get bored because the topics of the lessons always change. I really love it! Moreover, I can not explain the connexion that they have with their teachers! They are so closed but respectful at the same time. I guess it is also because we are in a village and not in a big city. If you go out (shopping, walking around, ECT) you will always meet one or two of your pupils. Their relations are much more “human”. The pupils are considered like “little” adults. To summarize that firts personal chapter, I am still really happy here and I have started to feel depressed about the idea of coming back home. (I have just realised that even when I write, I “talk” too much!) What can I say about the cultural differences? Firtsly, I have to admit that when I got here I experienced more of a “social clash” than a “cultural clash”! They spit out, they burp and they make dirty jokes (when we are eating!). So I was quite “traumatize” at the beginning but I guess I got used to it even if I will never do those things. Secondly, there are of course some cultural differences, however, not as many as we could think of. - Their food is really healthy! They eat a salad with every meal. There are always more than two vegetables served with the meal. - They are very religious. On Sunday, you really can NOT find an open place. It is the day of rest for everybody. - Their day ends quite early. They eat their supper around 6 P.M. but most of the time they have an activity organised afterwards (like fitness, sports, bowling, ECT.) - They all have their slices of bread for lunch. There are no big sandwiches or hot meals. - They never go the the theatre or the museum (there are no theatre or museum in the city) (but, here again, I think that it is more social than cultural). As I mentioned earlier, everything is different here even if it is not really in a cultural way. These differences are linked to the fact that they do not feel insecured like people who are living in a big city. The school is open until 23h during the week because of some meetings but anybody can enter. There are no gates. And it is the same during the day. I feel like I am part of a big family. They are all really nice to me. I wish you were all living the same experience. This internship is the best thing that could happen to me. I wish you all the best, Victoria

Still alive!

Hey everybody!

I've been studying in Leuven for almost three months now. I really like it and I now feel completely in my environment there. There are a lot of students where we are in Leuven. I wasn't expecting to find so many students, teenagers there. It's really nice to feel like we're in a "students' city".

When it comes to the culture in Leuven, I didn't really learn anything new. We've visited and learnt about Flemish cities during our lessons at the ISPG so I already knew about the culture but it's nice to see and live it everyday. The students in Leuven, and in Flanders I assume, have a really good level in English. That's something that was very interesting to me. We asked questions to the teacher and he explained us that, as we knew, most of the channels there are in English with Dutch subtitles. He explained that students were used to hearing English since they're kids. The students there have a lot of vocabulary and a very good pronunciation. I have to say that I'm a little bit jealous! :p

Art plays a big role in the school there. The classrooms have a lot of different posters and also things drawn by the students themselves. Most of the posters are very creative and funny with puns and sarcastic comments. Right now, there is a stage in the patio. Students but also lecturers come and read poems during the lunch break. You can ask to go on stage and read the poem you chose. It's very nice and entertaining. We don't watch as many films in class as we do at the ISPG. I feel that since students already watch films and tv-shows in English at home it is not necessary to do it often in the class. In Brussels, we watch television in French (sometimes Dutch) so it is extremely important to see films in English/Dutch during the lessons.

I didn't really experience a "culture clash". I learn more and more about different cultures but there is no "culture clash" because it's all about sharing. When I say that, I'm talking about the sharing we do with the IEC group. We follow lessons with three different groups : two groups of Dutch students from GroepT and one group of "International students". The group with the "International students" is most definitely my favourite one! It's so interesting to follow courses with them. We always have to present a different aspect of our own culture/country/language and it's amazing. There are students from Spain, Turkey, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ireland, Pakistan, etc. The students in this group are so welcoming and have great personalities. They're very fun and they're my favourites, as you may have noticed. They're all very curious so we get to share a lot and there is no clash. Everybody's learning about the other's culture while sharing and comparing their own. Some of the students even start speaking in French with us because they want to learn a lot of different things and I have learnt some Nigerian slang :p

Like the teachers at the ISPG and most of my mentors said : culture is extremely important when learning a language. The fact that I'm speaking Dutch while being in Flanders greatly influences my learning of the language. It creates a sphere, a special environment. I don't really know how to explain it but it just does. Only hearing Dutch makes me use it automatically. I feel the same way about English. Being in an "International group" where cultures are different forces us to use the thing that links us all : a common language. I'm very happy to have chosen Leuven because I really feel like I'm slowly but surely improving.

I miss you all a lot! Take care,

Sarah

Hello everybody,

I hope you are all doing well !

I think it would take too long to explain everything I learned about Icelandic culture. I'll try to explain the essential things.

Almost all the Islanders are avid readers. They read on average five books per year. Their readings are essentially composed of sagas and eddas which were written during the High and Late Middle Ages. Islandic language has not change much since the 13 th century. Icelanders can therefore read the original writings without any problem and the literature of the Middle Ages is even taught in all the primary schools !

Islanders love museums. The creation of museums is like a national hobby. Keeping the past is one of the more important concerns for this people and especially the conservation that transmits certain beliefs (the presence in the Reykjanes peninsula of invisible elves for example). There is no village which hasn't a maritime, a folk, a history museum or other but all of them are not always interesting (sometimes very expensive and not many things to see).

Art is very present in all its forms in the Islandic culture. There is practically one art gallerie with islandic or foreign masterpieces in each street downtown.

The thing that marks me the most is that almost everyone practice a musical instrument. The teaching of music is integrated into the curriculum of primary schools. There is also a choir in each school (also in secundary schools). That's far to be the same in Belgium.

The Islandic culinary art is a bit strange.
You can find anything you want to eat here but there are also typically Islandic dishes wich some of them are completely enideble like rotten shark, a whole sheap's head or ram's testicles. Enjoy your meal if you are going to eat ! :p

I'd like to share a cultural clash but it did not happen. I have the feeling that you adapt yourself very easely to the Icelandic culture and pace. I also have the feeling that the Icelanders have developped a "non-conflict" culture and it's very relaxing.

Islanders speak very well English and I can easely ask them questions about their culture. It also influence my knowledge of English because I practice the language every day.

It's sometimes possible to make some links between Dutch and Icelandic when I'm teaching because both languages have common origines. I understand sometimes what the students say during the lessons. It's very funny !

All the best !

Karim

Leuven Episode III

Hello Everybody !

The culture , in Belgium , has a particular status , due to the administrative "organization" of the country (3 communities,...). Each community has its own culture because of a different language. There is , then , no way of comparison between Flanders and Wallonia. Everything is different ; way of life , newspapers , TV and Radio , book writters , singers , actors ,... This distinction has been created by and towards Belgian History.

As far as I am concerned , I did not experience a "huge" culture clash when we arrived in Leuven for the first time , two months ago. I already knew a lot of things about the Flemish culture because I often watch and read in Dutch. But also because , as future teachers , we have had many lessons about the Flemish Culture (arts, education,...). Of course , the day we arrived in Leuven , I was a bit surprised to be in an "unknown" city , to hear people only speak Dutch and also to discover a new school (with new teachers , students , courses,... But after a few days , I felt as comfortable with it as nowadays ;-).

The real culture clash I have experienced so far is related to the lessons we follow in the international group at GroepT. In this group I've met students from different countries around the world (Nigeria , Cameroon , Spain , Ireland , Turkey , China , ...). During the lessons , we regularly have the opportunity to discuss with the teacher and the other students about some cultural topics (vocabulary, local traditions , education,...). It is a very enriching and positive experience because towards these lessons and exchanges , I have the occasion to discover new cultures.

These cultural experiences have an influence on my linguistical knowledge of Dutch and English. First of all , everyday I have the opportunity to develop my linguistic skills ( speaking with other people , reading texts of PowerPoint presentations during the lessons,...). Secondly , I can also enrich my vocabulary towards the lessons and discussions. And thirdly , by discovering new things about the Dutch and English cultures , I have progressively a better and a more complete mastery of these languages which I will teach later...

In my opinion , it is necessary for a teacher to have such a mastery of a language because language and culture are narrowly linked together.

See you next month for the next ( and already last !) "episode" ? CHALLENGE ACCEPTED !

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ALL OF YOU !!

Kisses

Romain