Twelve Hours of Work

I did twelve hours at my internship since the beginning. In the store, there are a lot of objects from different cultures that I can’t name them all. All the products are made by artisans of different countries in the world. For example: there are a lot of coffees made in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, etc. Moreover, there is music CD we sell that plays in the store. It is the music of musician of a lot of countries also. My favorite CD is Jazz around the world Christmas edition. It is really a good CD to listen for Christmas! 

All the volunteers talked to me about what they do on Christmas. They don’t do something really big because they have a lot of the family members that moved in other countries. They are not really connected to the religion like they won’t go to the midnight mess, but they always buy gifts every time I’m there in the store. They buy often things to decorate the Christmas tree and dishes made by artisans. I think they have the same cultures as me even if they speak English. I wasn’t really exposed to other cultures maybe Patricia my host because she comes from Mexico but I didn’t really have the time to talk to her because she is busy in the store. 

In my internship I don’t have to write text but sometimes when the customer wants the information about the product he bought, I have to go on the internet to find the document and it is in English so I have to read it to explain correctly where it came from. Also, I didn’t have the opportunities to use my 5 idioms but I will try in my next day. There’s a little expression that Shanie said last week but I don’t really remember the context why she said that. She said: ‘’A little bird told me’’. Moreover, I learn a lot of words and sentence to say to the customer like: Do you want the bill in the bag? Do you pay cash or credit or debit card? Do you want me to wrap your gift? Do you want me to print where your products came from? It will help me in the future and for my job at Jean Coutu because I often speak in French with the English customers. 

Finally, my internship is really helpful for me to learn new language, expressions and cultures. I really like the stores and I appreciate the other volunteers. The best part for now is my first day when I discovered all the products in the store and this is the day that I became less shy with the people around me. I don’t think there is a part I had difficulties maybe when I help a customer and I don’t know a product. Well, I enjoy my internship!

My Third Day

My third day at my internship was a little more difficult. Patricia the manager wanted me to do a lot of things. Usually I’m a little bit clumsy, but that day it was worst. I prepared the coffee, but the machine didn’t work and I dropped the bag of coffee on the floor. I felt so bad. After, there was two bottles one for hot water and the other one for the coffee and I poured the coffee in the wrong one! It wasn’t my day, but it went better after. 

When I spoke with Shanie, I noticed that she always had problems with her verbs in French. She’s good in French but not for the verb. In English I think it is easier to use the verbs. That day, there were a lot of customers in the store, it never stopped. I felt more confident to speak with customers. I find that to be in a store it is less embarrassing than being in a classroom with students, because the customers don’t tell my mistakes and often they don’t even noticed that my English is not my first language. My strategy is really working because I tried to not worry about my grammar and concentrate myself more on the communication. It really helped me because I’m able to have long conversations with people. Shanie told me how to say: ‘’ Maladroite’’ and it is clumsy. I also learned the verb ‘’pour’’ because of Patricia when she asked me to pour the coffee. I observed a lot Shanie when she speaks and I find that she uses often this expression: ‘’ there you go ‘’.  That was my day, I helped a lot the manager and I appreciated going there because I’m learning more and more the English language.

My Second Day

Hi! My second day passed well. Every time I went to my internship, I stop at the Starbucks. I noticed that the Anglophone really don’t want to speak French. When the cashier speaks to me, she only speaks in English even if she noticed I speak French. Moreover, the people in the Starbucks had all a MacBook and are not interested to the other people around them. When I arrived to my internship, it wasn’t Patricia that opened the door for me, it was another volunteers. She speaks English, but with a different accent. I had difficulty to understand what she said to me but I stayed polite and told her: ‘’ Please, can you repeat I didn’t understand my English is not that good! ‘’. 

After, Shanie arrived and we spoke together in English. I noticed that I make often mistake with my verb in the past. As I remember, I didn’t learn new words that day, but I know that my English and my pronunciation are getting better. I didn’t have problems with the customers, but unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of customers because of the temperature outside, then I didn’t have the chance to speak with them but I’m more confident to speak in English.

First Day!

Hi! Today was my first day at my internship and it was very nice. Seriously, I’m really impressed about the store. I like the fact that all the stuff they sell is 100% fair trade. Ten thousand villages is a store that receives stuff made by the artisans of different countries in the world. You can go on their website to know more about the stores : www.tenthousandvillages.ca. In my internship, I met new people like the manager of the store named Patricia and another volunteer named Shanie. Both were really kind and I appreciated my day with them. Shanie speaks only English and she is trying to learn French, therefore I helped her in French and she helped me in English. 

Moreover, she gave me self-confidence to speak to her in English because she told me I was good. I had one misunderstanding with Shanie because I said I need a keyset for my keys and she understood I need a keyset for my kids. We just laughed a lot about this mistake. Next time, I will work on my pronunciation. I also learned new words like fair trade, copper, carpet and ground. Finally, I really liked my first day and to be a volunteer at this store will make me discover new cultures and countries.

First meeting!

Hi! A few days ago, I met my internship host. My internship is in a store named Ten Thousand Villages. My first meeting was short because she only told me what I will do and when I started but it went well. I think I actually make a good first impression. When I speak in English, I’m always shy because I’m scared to make a mistake and I don’t have a good accent. That’s why for my first day, to help me, I will use strategies to be a better language learner. The one I chose is to look for patterns in a language. Therefore, in my internship, I will concentrate myself to communicate more than worry about the grammar. I will try my best to think in the language. 

I’m not stressed about my first day on the contrary I’m excited to live a new experience. I hope after my thirty hours, I will be more confident and fluid when I will speak with other people in English.