Journée au Dickens World On Thursday October 22nd, we went to England and more exactly to Chatham where we visited Dickens World. We went there by coach and ferry : we left France early and arrived in England at about 10 o’clock. Before visiting Dickens World, we had lunch along the River Medway and then our teachers were asked to divide us into six different groups to visit the park. Dickens World, which is a cultural amusement park dedicated to Charles Dickens, taught us a lot about the author’s life and novels. It was really great ! Dickens World is a Victorian town courtyard that made us realize how life used to be during Queen Victoria’s reign. We watched a 4D film at Pegotty’s Boathouse that told us a lot about Dickens’s travels around the globe : it was very impressive because it was as if the characters and objects came to us, leaving the screen. We then went to the Great Expectations Boat Ride : while our little boats were gliding on the water, we heard a summary of Great Expectations, another novel by Charles Dickens. Some of us, especially girls, were frightened and held their neighbours’ hands when they were in the dark or when they crossed the cemetery where Ebenezer Scrooge’s grave could be seen. We also went to the Dotheboys Boarding School but it was not as frightening as the school described by Dickens in Nicholas Nickelby : we only had to answer questions about Charles Dickens’s life, novels and time. We were very good at it thanks to what our teachers had taught us before coming to Chatham. We had to touch a computer screen to answer the questions and one of us even scored up to 60 points. After that, we visited a sort of Haunted House but it was not as horrible as we first thought it to be. In this house, we were told an extract of A Christmas Carol and everything was in 3D. Some of us were able to go to the Britannia Theatre in order to be introduced to some of Charles Dickens’s characters but they said it was quite difficult to understand and consequently didn’t enjoy it very much. Finally our teachers allowed us to have some free-time : we could do all the activities again on our own or visit the gift shop. Some of us went to see an artist who drew a caricature of them. At 3:30 p.m we took our coach back to Dover and to France. We were all very tired but had a wonderful Dickensian experience.

Quand 2 cultures se rencontrent.... En octobre dernier, les élèves de 3e de la classe européenne d'anglais ont eu la joie et le privilège de participer à un échange scolaire franco-britannique avec le collège de Walmer (Walmer Science College). Walmer est une petite ville située à côté de Deal dans le sud-est de l'Angleterre. Toute cette histoire a commencé il y a un an par une correspondance épistolaire entre les élèves. Un premier pas vers l'autre était franchi au-dessus de la Manche ! Puis les mots laissèrent la place à la véritable rencontre. En effet les élèves anglais vinrent en France le 8 octobre, et les élèves du Pas-de-Calais prirent la route ( le ferry ?!) pour l'Angleterre la semaine suivante. Lors de ces échanges, il fut intéressant de voir tout d'abord les hésitations et l'intimidation que pouvaient ressentir les élèves face à leurs correspondants, face à cet Autre, cet inconnu à la langue étrangère. Puis, doucement et tranquillement, les langues se sont déliées, et les sourires ainsi que la complicité ont remplacé les premières craintes. Malgré certaines particularités (uniforme, matières...) le plus important pour les élèves était de se rendre compte par eux-mêmes que finalement cet Autre n'est pas si différent. Et les échanges de téléphone ou de mails entre les élèves prouvent que cette rencontre aura tissé de véritables liens entre tous ces adolescents.