Travel is Education. France for Real!

My Students

Travel is education and travel changes lives! I am so excited that with your generous support my students who have never traveled out of Buffalo, NY will have the opportunity to travel to France and Spain to experience firsthand the history and culture of the places we study in the classroom.

If we highlight the strengths of our students, their weaknesses will disappear.

I teach great students who unfortunately are economically disadvantaged. My students would love to travel, and many are really excited about the possibility of seeing other places and experiencing other cultures. We have learned so much in the classroom, it is time to use our language skills in real life situations with native speakers!

My Project

"Learn a language, live a culture! If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart." --Nelson Mandela. In our increasingly diverse society, understanding, speaking, reading and writing more than one language is not only desirable but necessary, if our students are to compete in the global market place. Our goal is: 1) to provide an international experience for students, 2) to improve foreign language skills and prepare for the Oral and Written Assessments of the French/Spanish Examination, 3) to encourage, through social interaction and awareness, an appreciation of the different perspectives of people from another culture, 4)to provide a basis for further study, work and leisure through foreign language proficiency, and 4) to develop an awareness of the relationship between languages.

The main goal of this project is to encourage an understanding of cultural differences and similarities, to improve foreign language skills, and to promote personal growth.

Student participants will also share their photos and experiences in French/Spanish with other classes. The final success of the exchange will be known years after the experience, when a student is able to use French/Spanish in a profession or to promote cultural exchanges.