The Eden Lodge Youth Charitable Trust has launched an international language exchange initiative, Beyond Words, bringing a French university student into Barbadian schools to help students strengthen their language skills while fostering cultural understanding and global connections.
The programme was outlined during a media briefing at St Paul’s Primary School, Brittons Cross Road, on Thursday, where the trust’s public relations officer, Billie-June Langdon, explained that the initiative grew out of discussions surrounding an internship placement for Luxon Warner, a student of EXCELIA Business School in Orléans, France.
The trust saw Warner’s placement through the Humacité Programme as an opportunity to create a new project focused on “cultural exchange opportunities, youth empowerment activity, enhanced community development, development of global awareness, [and] creation of meaningful relationships across different cultures”, Langdon said.
In its first year, the programme partnered with St Paul’s Primary and St Leonard’s Boys’ School, where Warner conducted conversational French sessions tailored to different ages and proficiency levels.
Speaking about the impact at St Leonard’s, modern language teacher Andrew Lokey said the experience went well beyond language instruction.
St. Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary School Modern Language teacher Andrew Lokey, Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary School Modern Language teacher Andrew Lokey. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)
“Indeed, my students for the four weeks that we would have encountered and had sessions with Luxon, we would have built our French language. But more than that, I saw one of the things that was most impressive for me in their interaction is that Luxon is a 20-year-old. The students that he would have interacted with were about 15 and 16 years old, and there was a very great camaraderie between them.”
According to Lokey, exposure to a native French speaker provided students with an experience that could not be replicated in the traditional classroom.
“The students were able to hear and experience a very, very natural communication of language, and that for me was very, very important.”
Students preparing for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations also benefited academically, the teacher said.
“He was able to go into some very detailed grammatical explanation as to why this is the way it is, and that was very beneficial, especially for the exam that we were preparing for.”
The programme helped build students’ confidence and motivation:
“I saw students who were sometimes not as engaged as they should be. I saw them being encouraged. Every week he came there and encouraged them to practise, to do it, probably to repeat something, to be better than you were the week before.”
Warner described the placement as equally transformative for him: “It was my first time in a different country and I think it was very, very exciting because I learned a lot of things.
“I gained experience because I was out of my comfort zone because I don’t have family… so I had to do some stuff alone.”
While helping students improve their French, he said he was also improving his own English-speaking abilities.
“This association allowed me to speak English because when I arrived the first time it was difficult for me to speak frankly because I was in a new space.”
Reflecting on his experience, Warner said he hoped the relationship would continue.
“I hope that I will come back,” he said, adding that he would “like to thank Eden Lodge Youth Charitable Trust.”
For St Paul’s Primary pupils, the lessons introduced French in an engaging and memorable way.
Davonte Jordan, 11, said: “The French lessons were very fun.”
St Paul’s Primary School class four student Davonte Jordan. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)
He recalled learning weather-related vocabulary, parts of the body and locations around a city through games and classroom activities.
“We also played Simon Says again where we ran around the classroom trying to find the different places we have to go to that were sticked up on the board.”
The exposure has already sparked an interest in continuing the language: “I would be interested in studying French at secondary school after being exposed to it in primary school.”
Principal of St Paul’s Primary School Joan Collymore praised the initiative and the opportunities it provided for her students.
Principal of St Paul’s Primary School Joan Collymore. (Photo Credit: Lauryn Escamilla/Barbados TODAY)
“Over the past weeks, our students benefited from conversational French lessons by student teacher Luxon Warner. The lessons were engaging and well-received and the teacher’s enthusiasm inspired the children throughout.”
Although the programme lasted only a few weeks, she said it delivered lasting value.
“While the programme was short, it provided meaningful learning experiences and helped to strengthen the important connection between our school and the community in the development of well-rounded students.”
The Beyond Words initiative forms part of the charity’s work in youth empowerment, education and community service. The programme demonstrated how international collaboration can strengthen language learning while building confidence, cultural awareness and meaningful relationships between young people from different countries, organisers said.
(LE)
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