We met for our first session at Espresso House, hoping that a cozy café atmosphere would help us stay motivated and relaxed. After some basic introductions, we talked about our expectations for the coming weeks and made a rough plan for what we wanted to learn and teach.
Learning/teaching outcomes :
During this session, I taught Maria some basic French greetings such as Bonjour, Comment ça va?, and Je m’appelle…. We focused especially on pronunciation, and I corrected her when necessary. I was happy to see that she already recognized a few expressions, and by the end of the session she seemed more confident saying them out loud.
On the learning side, I studied the Finnish alphabet and pronunciation, especially the long and short vowels. Words like tuli and tuuli helped me practice hearing and producing the differences. Compared to French, these vowel contrasts felt new and quite challenging, but by the end of the session I felt more aware of what to listen to.
Reflection on the experience :
Switching between the roles of learner and teacher felt surprisingly natural. Teaching French, although it is not my native language, gave me confidence and made me notice how much I actually know. At the same time, learning Finnish reminded me of what it feels like to be a beginner again, which made me more patient and understanding when teaching. We also spent some time discussing cultural differences, which wasn’t part of the original plan but helped us connect and created a comfortable atmosphere. This made the learning process more enjoyable and less formal than other language-learning experiences I have had.
Challenges / things not fully achieved :
We planned to cover a bit more vocabulary in both languages, but we realized that pronunciation took more time than expected. I struggled to consistently distinguish the Finnish vowel lengths, so we decided to slow down rather than rush through the material.
Plan adherence :
Although we followed our general plan for the first meeting, we adjusted the pace based on how both of us felt about the pronunciation exercises. These small changes seemed necessary, and they gave us a more realistic idea of how to structure our future sessions.
Overall, this session made me excited for the weeks ahead. The combination of learning, teaching, and cultural exchange created a positive start to our project.
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