If you’re searching for a way to enhance your child’s French language skills while they indulge in the great outdoors through fun activities, why not look into a French sports camp? Here are just some of the benefits of combining French skills and your child’s love of sports.
Camp Ouareau - Photograph by Christinne Muschi
Benefits of French Sports Camps
French sports camp programs are a great way for your child to bolster his or her French-language skills while also enjoying sports. Overnight camps are probably the best, most intensive type of French immersion, as you must speak the language at all hours of the day. But, there are also some fantastic day French sports camps.
If your child attends one of these camps, he or she will most likely associate learning the language with something enjoyable—sports. Here, French is integrated with fun daily activities. As such, your child will be ahead of most of his or her peers in a subject that is mandatory across the country. Indeed, your kid will have an edge in school and also learn one of Canada’s official languages.
In short, you have three central options:
- A camp that is run primarily in French—While these camps do not usually have traditional French instruction, your child will have to speak the language during all camp activities. Conversing with their friends, counsellors, and other camp staff will improve your child’s French skills and his or her confidence in speaking the language. Overnight camps in Quebec are a great option.
- A conventional French language camp, which resembles a school, will teach your child about the language and its idiosyncrasies. But, he or she will also have time to play sports!
- A traditional summer camp with French as a Second Language (FSL), which will typically be an overnight camp, combines a daily French component with sporting activities, like water skiing, kayaking and tennis.
All French camps share the following characteristics:
- Vocabulary or repertoire
- Verb structures
- Grammar and syntax
- Pronunciation
- Conversational expressions
- Text and oral comprehension
- Oral and written expression
Eva Gourdji, a camper at Camp Ouareau in the Laurentians, Que., says, “The staff at camp are amazing. Each counsellor is unique. I like that we get to practice a second language without it being a chore like it sometimes can be in school.”
Perhaps most importantly, combined French sports camps allow your child to flourish educationally, but also ensure that he or she is physically active throughout the summer. For many students, the activities are the most enjoyable part of the experience, so, even though they are learning, they do not automatically connect camp with class. “Taekwondo is fun,” a camper at Discovery Day Camp notes. “I learned all the basics and every day felt that I got better. I met new friends and next year I will take it again as I earn another belt.”
To find these excellent summer options, you may wish to use our listings of French camps. While you will not find a category for “French sports camps,” their descriptions will tell you whether they offer sports too. Our site does not contain a complete listing of French sports camps, so you should do your homework accordingly. Happy researching!
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Have you thought about sending your child to a combined French and sports camp? If so, why and what are your concerns about it? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
Related:
What is the best option to learn French and enjoy sports?
Language Skills: the Benefits of Bilingualism
Quebec Camps Offer Students the Chance to Fine-Tune Their French
Jake Roth
Jake Roth is a contributor to Our Kids, as well as a politics student and a debater at Queen’s University. Follow him @jacobdroth on Twitter
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