レポート

Wonder the World Vol.7: “School life in France” （フランスの小学校生活）

ジョネル（フランス出身）
2021年よりイングリッシュイマージョンアワー（EIH）のグループリーダーの経験し、2022年に公文教育研究会に入社。グローバルネットワークチームで公文のイングリッシュ・イマージョンアクティビティの様々な企画運営をしています。ここでは私が育ったフランスの北部の町での小学校生活についてお話します。日本とちがうところ、同じところ、など楽しんでみてください。

Jonell (France) has experienced being a group leader of the English Immersion Hour (EIH) since 2021, and in 2022 joined the Kumon Institute of Education. The Global Network Team and currently manages various Kumon English Immersion Activities. Here she will tell you about elementary school life in a town in the north of France where she grew up. Please enjoy the differences and similarities from Japan.

Let’s find out how different schools in your countries are compared to mine

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well! The weather is getting hotter these days in Japan and Sakura flowers are no longer can be seen. I really like when it was spring, but have to be careful of hay fever!

I am Jonell. I’m currently a member of GNT since 2022 and I came from France. In France I studied language and education and I had a chance to study abroad in Japan for a year as an exchange student.

In this article, I want to share about school life (elementary school) of my hometown and France, when I was in elementary student, and hopefully you can understand what are the similarities and differences with your hometown and your country. Let’s start!

Morning routine

First, let’s try to guess!

Quiz 1: How do I use to go to school in my hometown?

1. By train
2. By bus
3. By walking

I grew up in a small town in northern France and most of the student walked to school. It took only 10 minutes by walking and usually my friends were taking the same route so we walk together. My mother or father usually come with me, as well as my siblings. There are no adult volunteers to look out for the students’ safety like I saw in Japan. (Please find the answer below)

Since my city is small, there is no train to take us to the school!
In some bigger cities students go to school by bus or sometimes by car. How about in your hometown?

Time to study!

What time do classes usually start in your hometown? In France it usually starts from 8:30.
There were many subjects to study: French, History, Geography, Social study, Mathematics, Sciences, Arts, Music, Physical Education, and English! My favorite subjects were Art. Music and Physical Education which was also really popular.
Now there is a new subject to study; technology! When I was in elementary school we didn’t have this subject.

Quiz 2: How many grades do we have in elementary school?

1. 1^st to 6^th grade
2. 1^st to 5^th grade
3. 1^st to 7^th grade

Hint: Middle school is 1^st to 4^th grade. (Please find the answer below)

There was one or two classes per grade in my school. Because it was a small school, some grades were combined together, example grade 1 and 2 in one class. There were about 20 students per class.

Lunch & Break

During lunch break (Time: 12:00), usually I went to the cafeteria to eat.
We couldn’t bring a lunch box so we have to go to the cafeteria or go back home to eat lunch.
In cafeteria we always have a starter main and dessert. We also share the cafeteria with kindergarteners.
Other than lunch break, we also had two break times. One in the morning, one in the afternoon. It’s about 20 minutes each break and we can play in the playground with our friends.

Quiz 3:　What game was not popular in my school?

Please find the answer below

1. Jumping Rope

2. Jump over elastic

3. Marbles

4. Cards

After school

Classes usually finish at 16:00, except on Wednesday where we have classes only in the morning. In the afternoon we can do some activities like sport and music. There are no clubs in school, so we go to the city clubs to do activities.

Quiz 4: Which sport is not popular in France?

1. Soccer
2. Judo
3. Baseball

Baseball is not popular in France but Judo and Soccer are really popular. I used to do Judo when I was an elementary school student. (Please find the answer below)
We have Sports as a subject but we don’t have Sports Day in France Elementary school, unlike in Japan. 
Of course we also have to do our homework after school every day.

Other facts about school in France

Let’s try to guess facts about elementary school’s uniform in my hometown.

Quiz 5: What color is our elementary school’s uniform?

1. Blue
2. Red
3. No uniform

We do not have uniform in school, you can wear any clothes we like to school and we do not have ‘randoseru’ (ランドセル) bag, we can choose any bag pack we like to bring to school. (Please find the answer below)

Quiz 6: When does the NEW school year starts in France?

1. January
2. March
3. September

It starts in September and ends in July. We have summer holiday in July and August same as Japan. During vacation, sometimes I traveled with my family, spend some time with my grandparents, going to summer camp or just staying in my town doing homework and playing with my friends in the park! (Please find the answer below)

How about you what do you do during your school vacation?

Please share with me through this survey.(←click)

Quizの答えのまとめ

この記事のまとめ

私はフランス北部の小さな町で育ちましたが、ほとんどの生徒は徒歩で小学校に通っていました。歩いて10分くらいで、いつも友達と一緒に行っていました。大都市では、生徒はバスか場合によっては車で通学することもあります。授業は朝8時半に始まります。科目はフランス語、歴史、地理、社会、数学、理科、美術、音楽、体育、英語とたくさんありました！私は美術が好きでした。音楽や体育はとても人気がありました。小学校は 1年生から5年生まで。中学校は1年生から4年生まで。私の通っていた学校の一学年は、1～2クラスで、小さな学校だったので2学年が一つになったクラスもありました。1クラスあたりの生徒数は約20名でした。昼休みは食堂に行って食事をしました。食堂に行くか家に帰って昼食を食べる人もいます。カフェテリアでは必ずメイン料理とデザートがあり、幼稚園児と食堂を共有することもありました。昼休み以外の休み時間は２回。午前中に1回、午後に1回。 それぞれ20分ほどなので、友達と遊び場で遊ぶことができます。カードゲームが流行っていました。授業は通常午後4時に終わり（水曜日は午前中のみ授業）放課後はスポーツや音楽などの活動ができます。学校にはクラブはなく、市内のクラブに行って活動します。フランスでは野球は人気がありませんが、柔道とサッカーはとても人気があります。私も小学生の頃柔道をしていました。運動会みたいなものはありません。放課後には宿題もしていました。制服はありません。フランスの学校は. 9月に始まり7月に終わります。7月と8月は夏休み。休み中は、家族と一緒に旅行したり、祖父母と時間を過ごしたり、サマーキャンプに行ったり、ただ町に滞在して宿題をしたり、公園で友達と遊んだりしていました。私が過ごした小学校生活はいかがでしたか？日本の小学校と同じ？ちがう？ぜひご感想を聞かせてください。

New words List

Hay fever…花粉症
Northern…北部の
Route…道
Look out…見守る
Grades…学年
Elastic…ゴム
Marbles…ビー玉
Vacation…休暇

この記事の感想を、ぜひ教えてね！

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