[00:01] Hello my dear listeners this is English Canada the podcast about learning languages going through immigration and establishing yourself in a new place [00:16] Hello everyone in this video this is actually a video for those who are listening this is a new episode of my podcast [00:24] English and Canada and this is me Anastasia Stoyanova and if you are watching a video version of this podcast by the way which [00:33] I think you should do it's available on my YouTube channel English and Canada go check it out because [00:42] I'll be showing you the slides it's a very unusual episode because I want to talk to you about something very interesting as always but this time it's very special because [00:53] I'll be talking about my five weeks in Quebec City and I know that a lot of English speakers would say [01:02] Quebec Quebec but for me now it's so so unusual because all the francophones so French speakers say Quebec [01:13] Quebec so to me it's a bit weird if I hear Quebec yeah although it's the correct pronunciation among the anglophones those who speak [01:24] English but anyway so for me it's Quebec and I was studying there at university it was the course of advanced [01:34] French just because you know I've been learning French for almost four years now and this was a great opportunity and [01:44] I want to talk about it and I want to show you some pictures for those who are going to be watching the video version but for those who are just listening that's fine as well [01:54] I hope you'll enjoy and just kind of my verbal explanations So first of all I want to say that and I'll show you a couple of pictures here that [02:05] Quebec City or Quebec City is famous for its history its architecture Château Frontenac Château Frontenac it's a castle and it's actually a hotel yeah it's a very big hotel it's one of the most popular in old city in the old [02:27] Quebec and it's very very beautiful but actually my goal was not tourism and my goal was education and [02:35] I was studying there at university at Laval University or what they call Université Laval so Laval University that's one of the oldest [02:51] I think the oldest one in North America correct me if I'm wrong but that's as far as I remember the way that they were presenting and [02:59] I was living studying speaking French full time you know I've been passionate about the French language just because it's all connected to [03:08] Canadian immigration and I was when I was started when I was learning French from scratch when I just started [03:16] I was learning it for my immigration process So but this time it's for my future for my career as my personal interest also in the future and [03:29] I will tell you what I'll do with this language regarding my career so stay tuned So first of all why [03:36] I wanted to go and where I went what kind of program is that This program is the program that's paid by the [03:43] Canadian government but only if you are eligible to meet the criteria so it's for Canadian citizens and permanent residents who meet certain criteria and the program is called [03:57] Explore and you can pick a place and you can and by the way the program Explore is just only one program among the other ones that are available you could check check it out englishfrench ca it's not a promotion it's just my recommendation if you are interested and if you meet the criteria [04:22] So why do they do that They want to promote French language learning among the people who speak English and vice versa among the people who speak [04:31] English they among the people who speak French sorry they promote English right So in that way Canadian citizens and permanent residents benefit greatly if they meet the criteria and if they choose to go because for example the trip the flight or the train you gotta pay for that and some other expenses as well so not everything is covered and my candidacy was selected so [04:58] I was among the lucky ones who got to be chosen to go and you know that in the past I've had experience of studying in the [05:07] U S when I was a teenager when I was 16 well this time I'm a lot older but I said to myself why not You know [05:15] I'm still young I'm older but I'm not old right I can still explore I can learn and then I can benefit from this and [05:25] I can bring this language experience into my classroom as well into my courses so why not And for me the five weeks though [05:34] I did stay a bit longer I stayed for seven weeks because then my husband came to visit and I'll show you some pictures but five weeks it was very very intensive session and [05:45] I was living on campus I was living in the residence at University by the way very good residence very clean and again it's not a paid promotion or anything it's just me wanting to share my experience how it was yeah [05:59] So naked truth so to speak And the best thing is that you your brain adapts because you study French you study every day it's a full time thing you go in the morning you come later in the afternoon and then you have some activities so lots of things and in my case [06:21] I was in the building that was called Pavilion Charles de Conin or like in French Charles de Conin Pavilion c est comme ça this is like that and yeah so lots of great pictures for the ones who are watching the video version but basically what [06:44] I'm showing right now as you can see I'll just say that there's some pictures of me holding like a university cup or mug that [06:52] I purchased and what else just me in the classroom it was an offline experience so it's the actual university with a lot of people with professors and it was a full time experience and for me [07:07] I think it was also an eye opening experience because for me it was like taking a step back because you know [07:14] I've been in Toronto for too long and I just wanted to explore something and to live in not just explore as a tourist but to live in a new place so that was great and for me like [07:29] I said so French was non stop all day every day not only we spoke with professors but also we spoke with the hosts they are francophone students who organized the activities for us after courses every day so from the very early morning like from 8 30am and then until the afternoon we had the course and then after that we had the activities some of them were free some of them were paid it was all up to you so you could go you could stay in the dormitory and just read and do the tasks or you could do both you could do the activities and then come home later and if you have enough energy you could do all the homework for me that was like that some days [08:15] I participated in the activities some days I stayed in the dorms just to study because I took that seriously for me it was not just for fun yeah and the thing that [08:28] I want to show you here or talk about is a green card yeah you probably have heard this term when you heard of the [08:37] United States of America yeah green card but in this case it's not like that green card is a concept so and it's actually a physical green card and each student earned them for speaking [08:49] French well so it was like a reward and then we could exchange this to get the prizes to your name could be chosen randomly and you could get the prize and it's just a way to motivate students and [09:07] I find that fun you know because the students were not only the young ones but a lot of people of different age so that was great and [09:16] I find that of course if your motivation to learn the language comes from the inside that's even better but even if it's if it's like that a green card why not so we collected green cards we collected prizes for that and in the program we had five levels of [09:35] French I was in the more advanced level it was fun it was not you know for me honestly for me it was more like a revision because right before the program [09:47] I obtained my DELF B2 level so upper intermediate level very strong command of French I'm trying my best you know just to like [09:56] I said to keep learning to improve and than to help other people improve in the future maybe And for me it's just fun right [10:05] But I also took that seriously So not just fun but also a serious thing to do And the paid activities and the free activities and [10:14] I'll talk about some of them So for example one of the free activities was the workshop where we gathered all together with the [10:23] Francophone students And we were exchanging recipes We were cooking together We would just go and buy the ingredients and we would cook something [10:33] Yeah and everything was in French and we would work as a team And yeah we could you know it was a great chance to meet a lot of people and talk about everything learn new phrases [10:46] Once we prepared the recipe we could just sit together we ate together we spoke we played games some linguistic games [10:57] So it's a fun way to learn It's like a real real immersion And here we go I'm just showing you the green cards like that [11:06] And in my case so every student as a part of the Explore program this government paid program or government promoted program has to take two courses at the university [11:20] For me it was more advanced level courses I enjoyed immensely The first course was Communication and [11:28] Phonetics at the more advanced level And I would say that both of the professors were great because I had [11:39] Communication and Phonetics and the other one was Oral and Written Language also more advanced level [11:46] So like level four level five right More advanced upper intermediate advanced levels And both of the professors were [11:56] Quebec born Quebec born I still cannot stop saying in the French way They were very demanding but I'm saying this in a good way [12:07] They gave homework they gave a lot of tasks It was very interesting I took some pictures just it's a great classroom very interactive [12:18] Some of the materials were in PDF Some of them were available on their platform because they have their own platform that works with the [12:30] Windows computer It's called CanWit or CanEight It's a good platform It's a bit older one but it's all beneficial you know [12:41] And there were lots of tasks We worked in the groups We worked individually on the platform We worked in the groups during the class time [12:52] The teacher tried the teachers both of them they tried to give their feedback instant feedback delayed feedback [13:00] Sometimes they would put the mistakes on the board without pointing who made this mistake So it's very nice way to do things [13:08] I would say according to the international standards just the way I was taught for example when I was learning how to teach the [13:16] English language yes If you're teaching a big group so you should never point oh John made this mistake right [13:25] Here we go let's take a look No you just put the mistakes on the board or in this case using the projector and you're showing and you're discussing you're letting your students talk about these mistakes and try to fix them because this is more advanced level right [13:44] And then you give your feedback and you actually correct the mistakes Okay I'm trying to move around my bubble here with my video so in that way you could see everything [13:56] Here we go and yeah one more thing I'm showing here on the slides and I'll just say it verbally it's a big big poster [14:04] For every day we had the activities that I've talked about paid and free ones and you should for some of them for the paid ones you could pay online [14:15] So I paid online or if you just wanna sign up for something you come very early at 8 a m and you sign up and it's first come first served basis [14:28] Lots of excursions walking around the city exploring the city exploring lots of places that only locals know so it's not like tourist traps not just places where you go spend money right [14:42] It's just very good very interesting stuff to do and also sometimes we would take the bus of course sometimes we would just walk with the hosts so other [14:53] Francophone students It was a great team and all the five weeks were very very very intensive I think [15:02] I even lost weight I'm very happy about that because now since I came back one of my goals is to lose weight actually [15:09] So where the program took us Now a little bit more about the things that we did beyond the classroom [15:16] And first just to give you an idea and these are not exhaustive so there are many other things that we did but these are just some things that [15:26] I wanna point out So for example during the first week there was a big hike and that's called Cap Tourmont [15:37] Tourmont as they say So this Cap Tourmont hike it's basically it's a mountain and it's outside of the city [15:47] And they took us on the bus and the group was not that big I think about we had about 20 maybe people yeah 30 maybe maximum with all the hosts and organizers [16:02] To me that was very adventurous and that was the biggest hike I did Biggest hike I had done at that time because it's been a while [16:14] I spend a lot of the time working at the computer working online so to me especially at my age I'm not in my 20s [16:24] I'm in my 30s so that was a big challenge And then on that day I realized that okay because it was physically demanding it was physically challenging [16:35] And I kind of talked to myself in my head and I said okay so after this when you get back to Toronto you must get in shape [16:45] You must get in shape because I was just looking at the people Some of them were younger some of them were a bit older as well but they were in a very good physical shape and [16:54] I was like oh I want to do that I want to be in that shape So it's nice and we saw lots of waterfalls there [17:04] It was the first week the first week on Saturday So it was a big big hike for the whole day You get out at 9 a m in the morning yeah 9 a m and throughout the morning and then afternoon and then you get back in the evening [17:20] So very enduring like you gotta have this endurance yeah physical endurance to do that Stamina I would say [17:30] Okay one more thing was the tour to the city that's called Lévis That's a small city like a town more so [17:42] It's just on the other side of the river of Saint Laurent Rivière Fleuve just on the other side of the river of [17:54] St Lawrence And I think it was just great because also we explored the city We took a look at the city of [18:04] Quebec Quebec Sorry again I'm doing that Yeah it's just like a francophone Quebec So yeah we looked at the [18:11] Quebec city from the other side and we took nice pictures We had a long walk We looked at the churches there [18:19] Just talked to the host talked to each other Everything was in French Of course you're not allowed to speak [18:25] English there So my brain was like whoo going crazy switching between languages because then I would go in the evening [18:32] I would have to talk to someone in English or also just my relatives or friends or talk in other languages [18:39] But mostly throughout the day I would speak French There was also Montmorency Falls tour that we did [18:47] It was also it's great And this the waterfall it's like I haven't visited many waterfalls but I visited for example [18:59] Niagara Falls And this Montmorency Falls seemed to me like a bigger one like a more powerful one I'm not very good when it comes to numbers [19:10] I can't remember I remember facts and then two weeks went by and I forgot But if you would just wanna look it up [19:17] Google or maybe ask AI because to me it seemed like a more powerful fall like waterfall yeah So great and also hike [19:29] So a lot of hiking a lot of walking which is great for the body and for the mind Believe it or not it was the first time that [19:37] I experienced rafting The river that's called Jacques Cartier so and the rapids were not for the beginners [19:47] So among the group so the students who decided to take part in that activity we had different people [19:55] Some of them were newbies just like me So the first timers yeah people who were novices never done that but for some of them like we had several one guy and one a woman one lady who said that you know she for example has traveled and she has done high rafting sorry in seven countries before that something like that yeah [20:18] I think so I might be wrong like five or seven I don't remember because I remember the other guy I think he said seven or she said five [20:25] I don't remember but like to me that's a lot like if you have done that five times you're a good drafter [20:30] I bet you're so good at this and she was she was very good she helped us around and she said like here in [20:37] Canada I was her first time so it's great like whoever some of them have experienced the same rafting experience had the same rafting experience before and said that you know it's a great one it's a great experience it's a life changing thing [20:54] I cannot even start I cannot even you know don't even get me started because that's the whole I remember [21:01] I recorded the whole separate video just for my husband I was explaining how exciting that was how scared [21:09] I was like how how I felt at that moment when we did rafting for with every rapid with every rapid and every rapid had a name like one rapid was the instructors named it something like a big brother yeah and the other one is like crazy meat because it was such a crazy rapid [21:28] I don't remember the exact names but if you google just Jacques Cartier river rapids rafting you would find the company and everything but is great but [21:39] I said never again never again you know just I can swim I'm not a super great swimmer or anything not a professional of course but [21:49] I don't have this fear of water either so I was alright luckily nobody got out of the board you know nobody fell off the boat and it was all good it was all good thank [22:05] God but I remember coming home after that very late in the evening I was exhausted and I was like okay tonight [22:12] I need to watch the you know the jungle that's called jungle with Daniel Radcliffe the Harry Potter guy the actor because in that movie in the jungle movie first of all [22:27] I was teaching English and in the book there was the just they mentioned this movie and one of the lessons was built around it and it just somehow it got stuck with me [22:40] I remembered this really well when they in this movie Daniel the actor and the character Yossi they would what would they do they took the the boats and they were traveling you know in [22:59] South America and visiting jungles and stuff and it's a crazy movie and somehow I watched and I was like oh my gosh that was so similar to what [23:09] I experienced on that day yeah so rafting is a separate thing it's crazy guys if you like swimming if you like water if you like risks adrenaline [23:18] I think right after this day when I woke up the next day after I did the rafting I was like okay now [23:27] I know what I'm gonna do with my life you know so after such experience you you might as well just you know wake up and you feel like a different person for sure or maybe it can make you rethink something but of course for that you need to get out of your comfort zone for example to me that was just my husband's idea he said you know what [23:48] I'll pay for you all hey I'll help you pay for it because it's not cheap you know I just want you to experience that it's a one once in a lifetime opportunity [23:59] I'm sure you know never again I don't think I'll ever do that again but it was worth it it was worth trying and one more thing two more things maybe three things that [24:11] I want to mention is the visit to the First Nations site that's called Huron Wendake it's one of the [24:22] First Nations that lived there their history we also did the crafts workshop we are crafting you know like dream catchers and then there was this ritual where the the man who is the [24:41] First Nations representative he would do like the cleanse cleansing and he would sing he would do like the smoke thing and your dream catcher would help you and it's it's like a ritual it's a great tradition [25:00] I enjoyed that a lot I learned a lot in my life I had visited the First Nations sites but it was in America and the [25:09] US when I was a student so just a great opportunity because you know here in Ontario I haven't visited so why not because you know we are being a [25:20] Canadian citizen Canadian permanent resident I think one has to know things like that one has to know history and appreciate the history the way it is you know is sometimes it's it's sad all right so two more things [25:36] I want to talk about regarding the program activities the university activities I enjoyed greatly the ghost stories it was a tour in old [25:49] Quebec and during the first week they took us to old Quebec and there was a like a tour a guided tour [25:56] I enjoyed that as well but the ghost stories were special because they were talking about some crimes that happened in old [26:07] Quebec back in the day and was all in French at some point I even felt like oh my god that's like it's it's too complicated for me it's too difficult [26:17] I cannot follow but then it's like it's a panic because it's a Quebec accent quite strong I find it but then you get used to it you know it's like 10 minutes and then you start understanding more it's just sometimes it's it's just something new something new for sure because you know [26:37] I I always learned a standard accent so for me during this trip it was like a revelation this Quebec accent but [26:47] I think I got used to it but I'm not gonna like imitate it I think you've got to spend more time in order to consciously imitate it or pick it up so for me like the standard accent prevails in my speaking practice in my production yeah oral production as they say production oral decor okay so number seven one more thing is just the activity that's called the sugar shack so the sugar shack is the maple syrup business basically they make maple syrup they organize the full course traditional [27:29] Quebec meal there they taught us local songs like ah la cabane on mange on chante on rire and it's a dance and it's it's so much fun and so many other local songs like a like a traditional song that's called people of the country like [27:54] Jean du Pays maybe you've heard it it's it's very very popular song and yeah I think it's just time flew it was very very engaged like [28:08] I was engaged in all the activities it's a sweet memory that for sure I'll keep forever in my heart by the way when my husband came to visit me once the program was over and the courses were over we went to the restaurant also traditional [28:27] Quebec restaurant that by the way a local person recommended and we went and we tried the sugar shack meal with traditional what's called cabane à sucre meal great so if you are that if you want to try the food [28:46] I feel like the food is the best thing to be closer with the culture with the local culture so highly recommend it okay just some things some pictures that [29:00] I'm showing you right now and for those who are just listening just want to say that a couple of couple of things like what am [29:07] I showing right now it's just again a beautiful castle the hotel of Frontenac Frontenac Chateau Frontenac just showing you a picture with me and my husband doing a lot of biking because in [29:23] Quebec City they have this great bike system that's called Avelo basically it means on the bike on the bike so you could rent a bike it's very affordable you could you know buy 50 [29:38] Canadian dollars worth of subscription and you could use 45 minute ride like it's not even for free it's like non stop yeah you just you could use for 45 minutes and then make a stop switch a bike and then choose another bike and then it's a part of your subscription and you could go ahead and use it [30:00] Use the bike every day all day just having some breaks and exchanging the bikes I enjoyed that a lot [30:09] I even bought like the helmet and everything because you know safety comes first Um I explored the city on the bike a lot by myself with my husband with some of my friends [30:20] I made there uh is just great And I think I got in a better shape slightly better shape after this but definitely definitely made me think about my shape and whether you know [30:32] I want to feel better about my body build back this confidence And here I'm showing uh what I was saying [30:40] Cabana Sucre So it's a meal that consists of um you know ham and sausages and beans uh in French and uh you know it's like um all the languages in my mind are mixed up right now but um no that's fine [31:04] It's just um that meal that I'm showing you in the picture and that I'm talking about we also had it with my husband at the traditional [31:11] Quebec restaurant that's called La Buche Um we had uh you know fries and uh and and crepes pancakes you know uh some some things like uh also bread and eggs and it's very good [31:30] It seems like a simple meal but it's it's actually a great meal If you want to check it out Cabana Sucre uh it's just [31:38] Cabana like C A B A N E Cabana Sucre yeah Uh so A and then S U C R E Um okay So also uh one last thing [31:52] I want to point out at this point is the fireworks So that every Tuesday I think if I'm not wrong if memory serves me right [32:01] So Tuesday Thursday and Saturday they had fireworks at 10 PM for almost half an hour very quality fireworks [32:10] Honestly it's like the firework show that I experienced in old Quebec is one of the best I have experienced in my life so far [32:18] For sure So just want to say a couple of words about my campus classmates and the city overall just to kind of make a conclusion [32:33] Yeah So to speak um I would say that I highly recommend uh you do something like that if you ever have a chance but uh if you're ready to be on your own to be away from your family from your friends for over a month um it can be physically demanding and it is um that actually brings this idea uh something that stands out [33:06] I would say is that yeah your physical shape is very important It doesn't matter if you're 20 30 40 and you decide to do something like that you know it's it's always best to be in a good physical shape because our body shapes our mind and vice versa [33:20] Our mind shapes our body as well So it's like uh it's important It's one of the insights that I I got during the strip [33:28] The professors were great And I also find it um find university course because I am an academic person [33:36] I like structure I like plans I like homework I like structured feedback um things like that So to me that kind of learning that kind of practice and living in a in the language that's also great but of course you've got to make an effort because that's a common misconception that people have is that if you live in a language or if let's say [33:59] I have zero English and if I want to go to New York and if I live there for a month my English will improve [34:06] Well it will be very hard right And you will still need to put an effort and learn the language Cause [34:14] I was there Yeah Uh activities tours these all are great but I did that thanks to my already existing level as well [34:24] Right So you cannot uh you cannot just say that it will naturally come to you You got to make an effort [34:32] Ideally prepare yourself for such a trip Do not go if you have zero French though it's possible It's just some of the tours you would not be able to participate maybe as actively as you would you would have wanted [34:45] But um overall I highly recommend uh Laval University uh Laval University in Quebec city um and just in general if you ever want to experience something like that if you are an adult listening to this surely yeah [35:01] I mean if you are an older adult that's fine I'm I'm not super young As I said yeah Being in my thirties also just um [35:10] I I keep thinking that you know time is just so so uh it's just it's merciless you know it just takes you [35:21] So if you ever have a chance just take it take an opportunity Um one of the pictures that you see here is the view from my window uh at the residence [35:31] I was living on the 10th floor The rooms by the way you don't share them with anyone So that's you you got a separate room [35:38] They provide you with the furniture The only thing uh was air conditioning There's no air conditioning [35:44] So you've got to bring your own fan Uh so a little bit of less comfort maybe than you are used to but you know not everyone has an air conditioning in their home [35:55] So that's that's fine That's not the end of the world Cause you're probably not going to spend the time much time in your room right [36:03] Probably uh you'll go out you'll do the excursions you'll do the tours And if you want to study you can always go outside or you can go to the place where there is an air con [36:14] Um and surely I recommend exploring Quebec city on the bike It's safe It's nice If you can't bike well that's a shame you should learn for sure [36:26] It's a good skill to have just for fun Uh and for as a good physical activity for sure All right So I um also want to do the final reflections part of this podcast of this video what it made me realize about myself about my life first of all you have known me if you have watched the previous videos that [36:52] I've been learning French very intensively Um and this is so technically right now uh it's my active language [36:59] What I say the uh the language that I use actively that I'll keep um that I'll continue practicing for my work for my personal life and so on because [37:09] I know four languages so that's English French also Russian and Ukrainian So four languages that are active [37:18] Um sometime uh in the past I learned German I lost my German Uh I know some German you know but not a lot anymore unfortunately because if you use it or lose it as they say [37:33] I don't have much German practice Right Uh when I was younger I wanted to go to China So I learned a bit of [37:40] Chinese but I I only know like some basic phrases and I only you know write uh some basic hieroglyphics like and so on [37:51] So just some simple stuff I still remember Um if only I needed those languages right Cause like if I don't use them [38:00] I lose them But like the the languages of my ancestors my parents like Russian Ukrainian I keep them [38:06] I use them to communicate with my relatives my parents Uh but the thing is that I in the future I want to right now the way [38:17] I see it maybe things will change And I know myself that things will for sure might change They they will change for sure [38:24] I might change my mind but for now I feel that I want to keep making this progress in French I want to obtain the [38:31] C1 diploma the advanced French in the future I want to help people pass French exams for immigration [38:38] I want to get into that niche into that field Uh cause I've had I have already have experience right [38:45] And um I have uh more than 10 years of experience teaching English and learning other languages So it's a transferable skill [38:56] So I want to take this skill and I want to uh apply it to my French and using my French and using my teaching skills that [39:07] I estimate as at least good Yeah Some people say excellent So make courses develop my language courses uh develop my own small business not just do one one on one teaching and tutoring which [39:23] I love I love doing that but I want to scale my dream is so that more people know me um as a person as an educator [39:33] So yeah here we go That's just some things uh that this experience made me realize that sometimes you just need to take a step back look from the outside talk to yourself [39:47] What is important to you what you want to bring into this world And this is something I want to bring into this world spread the love to the languages [39:57] Yeah Uh this um concept of being of having a good command of the English language the French language and just spread the positivity be positive spread love yeah nurture great results and nurture people in the way that by saying that [40:18] I mean like educating people with the help of my courses And on the slides you see my website English [40:27] Stojanova that's my last name because my name is Anastasia and the last name my family name is Stojanova [40:34] S T O I A N O V A Stojanova If you just type it or if you're listening on any platform you might wanna see the website attached [40:47] I always try to make sure I attach the links Recently we have developed with my for the CELPIP preparation that's a [40:59] Canadian test it's the English test So if you're interested in that in the future I'm hoping to develop more because [41:09] I wanna make sure that my experience with IELTS my experience with the French exams will be used and people will benefit from my experience [41:22] So and I hope you enjoyed this like a small update regarding my life and I hope to see you in the next video or audio in my podcast [41:33] English and Canada Maybe it's not gonna be just English and Canada maybe soon it will be English and [41:38] French Canada But we will see what the future holds I just I'm wishing you well and I hope you stay with me [41:46] Yeah so let me know if you like the video Let me know what you think about my experience Write any comments [41:54] Did you enjoy listening What did you find the most interesting Here we go and have a great day and I'll see you in the next episode [42:04] Bye Salut A bientot