By Jennifer Trend, Staff Writer
This year, all the world language classes at Fountain Valley High School are taking a two week trip to a country where their respective language is spoken. But this year, instead of French going to France and Spanish going to Spain, the two classes are combined together.
Nine students from the Japanese 3 class will accompany Japanese teacher Saori Tanaka to Japan from June 27 to July 11. Meanwhile, a combination of French and Spanish classes from different levels will accompany French teacher Ashley Houlette along with French and Spanish teacher Gemmo Casabar to multiple areas in France and Barcelona from June 15 to June 26. This is the first year that the French and Spanish trips are combined.
“I have been traveling with students in the past and some of the Spanish teachers were interested in traveling, but they hadn’t done it before, so we discussed traveling,” said Houlette. “[We] created a trip that would facilitate both of a French and Spanish teacher together to kind of work as a team as a veteran traveler and a first time traveler.”
The Japanese trip, under Laurasian, will stay in Tokyo for two days, separately spend 9 days with a host family in Nagoya (the host family city changes every year), go to school there and spend the last three days in Kyoto. The students, as a group, choose where they wish to go in Tokyo and Kyoto, and Laurasian creates an itinerary to go to as many of those places as possible. This year, some places they will go include Ghibli Studio, Harajuku, Akihabara and Fushimi Inari.
Meanwhile the French and Spanish trip, under WorldStrides, will start in Nice, go to areas in southern France and then head to Barcelona for the second half of the trip. Every morning is set aside for language lessons while the afternoon is spent touring the country, going to places such as an open air market, a Picasso museum, the La Pedrera and Casa Mila.
While the group is in France, Spanish speaking students will separately take Spanish lessons, but will be joined with the French students in the afternoon when they tour France. The group will have a trilingual translator, and if they are in a museum tour for example, students will have the option of going on the French, Spanish, or English tour depending on availability and level.
“For a French 1 student, maybe they’ll feel more comfortable doing the cultural activity in English whereas the French 4 or French 3 student might really be able to do the guided tour in French for example,” said Houlette. “So there’s kind of always an option for what language they want to be doing the activity in, which is really cool.”
Being able to go to a country where the language and culture that students have been learning about has benefits. With each trip, there is time set aside specifically to learn more about the culture and language in addition to first-hand experiences. The Japanese trip will partake in a tea ceremony and go to multiple shrines and temples. The French and Spanish trip will have language classes every morning and will also learn about architecture and other components of the culture.
“When you’re immersed and you feel the immediate need to speak the language, it really motivates you to work hard and learn, and you can feel that success that you’ve worked hard for,” said Houlette.
Both trips cost roughly $4,000 which includes meals, events, flights and more. Any high school language learners of any level can go on the French and Spanish trip as there are commodities for those of a lower or higher level of the language. Meanwhile, the Japanese trip is better suited for those who have taken Japanese 3 and 4 or those with a strong ability in Japanese. This is due to the homestay part of the trip.
“The year after [Japanese 3] is AP [Japanese], and so they can practice for AP. And because they’ve studied for three years, when they go to Japan, they have to do a homestay with a host family and they have to speak in Japanese. So if they’re in Japanese 1 or 2, they can go, but I think that the communication would be hard for them,” said Tanaka.
Both Tanaka and Houlette highly encourage students to accompany them on the trips, and to experience a different way of life while expanding on their language skills.
“I definitely, definitely, for those who have studied Japanese and for those who have an interest in Japanese culture, definitely want them to come to Japan with me with this program,” said Saori Tanaka.
“I’m really excited, and I hope students are curious, and if they are, I’m here before and after school in Room 207,” said Houlette. “They can find me, or find me on Twitter, on Instagram if they feel comfortable asking me questions and hopefully traveling with me someday.”
