Overall Reflection .

Goals
  My goals were to improve my English and also to learn to communicate in an English environment which was not the environment I was used to. I have to say that I achieved pretty well those goals. I think that what helped me is the fact that I was less shy to communicate in English and also that I didn’t mind to make mistakes which is normal. Also, I was always trying to speak and to practise with the people with who I was working because they were Anglophones and even if they were talking to me in French because they knew I was Francophone, I was still speaking to them in English.

Strategies
  The one I used the most was the one about doing gestures. I’m already someone who’s doing a lot of gestures, even when I’m speaking in French. So, I think it helped me a lot to be understood when I was using this strategy. I also used the one about ‘’ don’t mind making mistakes ’’. Now I don’t mind making mistake because it was one of the reasons why I was shy to speak in English before. I realized with the time that it was normal to make some and that nobody was perfect.

Language
  I think my language evolved a lot concerning the understanding part. Now, it is easier for me to understand when someone speaks in English. I still have some difficulties to speak because I think like a Francophone so I’m always trying to translate it from French but it never works. I think that I should now put my brain on the ‘’English’s button’’ so like this it will probably be easier for me to communicate without making mistakes.

Growth
  I learn a lot about myself through this internship. Firstly, I learn to never under-estimated myself, because if you really want to achieve something; you will, no matter how hard it will be. I learn to never give up and to always keep hope because I know that my perseverance will bring me to my goal.

The internship
  I think I gain a lot of confidence since the beginning of the internship, I feel more comfortable to speak in English now. The only thing I would do differently is I would ask the women with who I did the internship to talk to me more in English instead to talk to me in French. I think it would have made a difference because I would have been more in an English environment. But I still learn a lot through this experience and it also confirms my choice to be a teacher in the futur!

Gratitude
  I didn’t really thank my host because I didn’t really talk to her through my internship and she was never there when I was there. I rather thank the people with who I spent my hole internship which were the two women. They also thanked me to have helped them during these few last weeks. I am very pround of myself.

The placement
  I definitely recommend this internship placement, mainly for those who would like to do a career related to children or simply for those who like to be with children. All the people working there were very gentle and dynamic, it is a handsome team. It was a real pleasure for me to do my internship there, I felt in my environment! I received and e-mail there is a few days ago from my host, and she wrote me that she would like me to come for the March break to help them for their camp week. For sure I would like to come to help them, but unfortunately we do not have any break in March. So maybe it will be a good idea to do a few days there during the summer, I will feel like I will do something good for my community!