If I could spend my life traveling and learning languages, I would do just that; and enjoying food along the way. Although that might not be possible most of the time, for Lakeside’s grade 6 French language students, this week has been all about visiting new places, learning French and tasting some delicious French savouries.

Our field trip was an enjoyable deep dive into the world of French culture at the Alliance Française of Singapore with a French afternoon tea – appropriately translated into croissants et chocolat chaud (hot chocolate, of course).

One popular aspect of French culture that our students were excited to explore at Alliance Française was the world of French comic books (bandes dessinees). French children have a legendary taste for reading thanks to a wealth of comic books, with characters enjoyed equally by adults, such as Tintin, Asterix and Boule et Bill. As some of the words we encountered while reading these comic books were specific, we took some time to prepare for them in the classroom before our visit. When we visited the media centre, Head Librarian Catherine Foucher gave a masterful introduction about the books we were about to discover in depth.

Later, students embarked on a shelf to shelf search, finding out from mysterious clues who on earth Alix is, and what episode of “Tintin” followed “Les cigares of Pharaon”. Students filled in an entire page of Boule et Bill where captions were missing, using imaginative inventions that would have made author Jean Roba proud of his legacy in the 21st century.

Students were asked to use iPads to put a comic story in the right order and sometimes this led to funny outcomes. Catherine and Laurence, from the Alliance Française team, helped them to get the story right.

At the end of the day, students created a simple comic book to illustrate their visit to Alliance Française and took them home as a souvenir of this memorable day.

Exhausted, but eager for more, grade 6 students were ready for our surprise reward at the Alliance cafeteria: Chocolat chaud and French pastries, followed by a group photo. Some students have already promised to come back with their parents to the Alliance Française, to borrow a book, watch a film or simply have a French snack.

We also hope to be back soon for a new French experience!

Merci et a bientot j’espere!