Pascaline is one of our online French teachers. Since the confinement, she has been teaching our ” Keep Learning French ” programme. We decided to ask her a few questions so that she could share her experience.
Can you tell us about your experience with online courses?
I started the online courses with Zoom, during the first lockdown. During this period, I only had students in private lessons. This first experience was useful for me because it allowed me to familiarise myself with the technical aspects of an online course. For the past three weeks, I have been leading a group at level A2 with the ” Keep Learning French ” programme. I am very happy with this experience and everything is going very well.
How does an online course with “Keep Learning French” work?
Students log on to Zoom every morning from 9.15am to 12.30pm. My group is made up of 5 students of level A2. The atmosphere is very relaxed. We work with personal activities and the “Too French” platform that we use to approach grammar or lexicon. In addition, students can, if they wish, work independently and complete their learning of French with ” Too French “.
Do students have technical difficulties in following the ” Keep Learning French ” courses?
No, the technical aspect is not really a problem. Students quickly become familiar with Zoom and the platform. Moreover, students have few functionalities to master beyond the microphone and the camera. As for the rest, I’m the one who has a handle on screen sharing. New students who join the course on Monday morning quickly find their place in the group.
Is an online course very different from a face-to-face course?
No, even if the format changes, an online French course remains a French course and fortunately!
However, I have noticed that online students behave a little differently. They are generally more attentive throughout the course. You don’t feel any slackening. They listen to each other a lot more and don’t interrupt each other. I think this type of more “formal” interaction works well with some students who are more reserved and have more difficulty speaking in class. For my part, I can correct each learner more individually; this is important especially for pronunciation.
Are the course preparations different?
A teacher must always prepare his lessons well, but with online courses this is even more true! I have to prepare a lot of activities and leave little room for the unexpected. This also obliges students to do the exercises I give regularly in advance.
Finally, with online courses, I systematically send everyone a summary of the lesson. I think this is very reassuring for students who don’t always have time to take notes during the class.
Thank you very much Pascaline for answering our questions. We wish you to live and share more good class moments with your students.
