
Deirdre & Benjamin
REVEAL/HIDE ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT
DR: Hello my name is Deirdre Ruddock. I am studying French. I am in 2nd year LIB at LYIT. Benjamin is my tandem partner, he is one of the French students from the University of Orleans, and he is here for the whole year. So, we are in some classes together.
Benjamin what are the reasons for your choice to come to study in Ireland?
BB: It's funny, this is going to be the first time we are going to speak French so long to each other.
The reasons, which motivated me to come to Ireland this year, are, actually, the fact that I am in 3rd year, they (my university) offered me the chance to go abroad. The reasons, which motivated me to come this year to Ireland? Firstly to speak English, really speak English. Because I study English and Spanish and the fact that I am in 3rd year, my department offered me the chance to go either to Spain or to Ireland and I chose Ireland since I thought, I think, that English is more interesting to master, given that I study it with business. (Commerce). And the second reason I availed of this opportunity, is simply from a financial point of view. Going to Ireland is feasible, but when you receive a grant it is even more financially appealing!
DR: Up to how much did the government finance this year for you?
BB: In all, it is a little complicated and even I get lost sometimes, but if you add up all the grants that I receive monthly, this financial aid almost covers 80% of my expenses. That makes this really, really, really, attractive. But you can only avail of one Erasmus year on our university course.
DR: What images of Ireland did you have before coming? The image I had before coming! I saw a green country. I though that there would be more people living here. They told us about the bad weather and I confess that every morning when I leave my house and it's raining I realise that it is true! Then I imagined the sheep crossing the road and I imagined something much more rural, and the big surprise when I arrived here is that I learned that there had been an enormous economic boom and that everything was much more modern, especially Letterkenny. That was a surprise.
DR: What conclusions have you come to, about this year, up to now, up to now?
BB: So now roughly three quarters of the year has gone by. The conclusion that I can come to is that I am very, very happy with the way that it has been, and when I think that it ends soon I say to myself that I must get even more out of it. I have seen some magnificent places, I have met some really, really, nice people... definitely. There is only one negative point, it is inconvenient when you come here and you haven't got a car, you cannot travel around and I thought that I could rent a car and go for drives all over Ireland but this is not the case. Fortunately, I have some friends who brought me to a small youth hostel in Glencolmcille and well, that is something I would advise other students, to bring their car or else, in fact, you have to stay here. And Letterkenny is not Ireland!
DR: What have you learnt about Irish society?
BB: First of all, that it is very, very, different, well, not very, very different but there are a lot of differences between French society and it is nice when you go abroad to be even more aware of the values of your own culture because it is seen from a different point of view. The Irish are very peaceful people, very confident and very welcoming. It is not the same in France. But I think that a year is not long enough for you to be able to completely understand, it would be necessary to stay much longer, but at the same time, it's long enough for me. Let's say that I have a good feeling about Irish society and leave it at that for the moment.
DR: What do you miss the most?
BB: The most? Well sorry to the Irish, but the food here is not up to the French food that is what I miss the most, along with my family inevitably. There are moments when my moral is low. But yes! The bread, for example, I used to eat it, I used to eat it for the first month and then I gave up. And then!
DR: And what are you going to remember?
BB: That is a good question. What am I going to remember? Some very good memories, really some very good memories and just to refer to my first day, I had nothing in my stomach and the first thing that I had to drink here, in fact, was tea with milk and that was a first! I didn't know that it existed. And I was so hungry that it gave great pleasure to my stomach and me. This is what I am going to remember. Above all, some very good memories.
DR: That's it! Thank you
BB: You,re welcome. Delighted to have done this interview with you.
BB: It's funny, this is going to be the first time we are going to speak French so long to each other.
The reasons, which motivated me to come to Ireland this year, are, actually, the fact that I am in 3rd year, they (my university) offered me the chance to go abroad. The reasons, which motivated me to come this year to Ireland? Firstly to speak English, really speak English. Because I study English and Spanish and the fact that I am in 3rd year, my department offered me the chance to go either to Spain or to Ireland and I chose Ireland since I thought, I think, that English is more interesting to master, given that I study it with business. (Commerce). And the second reason I availed of this opportunity, is simply from a financial point of view. Going to Ireland is feasible, but when you receive a grant it is even more financially appealing!
DR: Up to how much did the government finance this year for you?
BB: In all, it is a little complicated and even I get lost sometimes, but if you add up all the grants that I receive monthly, this financial aid almost covers 80% of my expenses. That makes this really, really, really, attractive. But you can only avail of one Erasmus year on our university course.
DR: What images of Ireland did you have before coming? The image I had before coming! I saw a green country. I though that there would be more people living here. They told us about the bad weather and I confess that every morning when I leave my house and it's raining I realise that it is true! Then I imagined the sheep crossing the road and I imagined something much more rural, and the big surprise when I arrived here is that I learned that there had been an enormous economic boom and that everything was much more modern, especially Letterkenny. That was a surprise.
DR: What conclusions have you come to, about this year, up to now, up to now?
BB: So now roughly three quarters of the year has gone by. The conclusion that I can come to is that I am very, very happy with the way that it has been, and when I think that it ends soon I say to myself that I must get even more out of it. I have seen some magnificent places, I have met some really, really, nice people... definitely. There is only one negative point, it is inconvenient when you come here and you haven't got a car, you cannot travel around and I thought that I could rent a car and go for drives all over Ireland but this is not the case. Fortunately, I have some friends who brought me to a small youth hostel in Glencolmcille and well, that is something I would advise other students, to bring their car or else, in fact, you have to stay here. And Letterkenny is not Ireland!
DR: What have you learnt about Irish society?
BB: First of all, that it is very, very, different, well, not very, very different but there are a lot of differences between French society and it is nice when you go abroad to be even more aware of the values of your own culture because it is seen from a different point of view. The Irish are very peaceful people, very confident and very welcoming. It is not the same in France. But I think that a year is not long enough for you to be able to completely understand, it would be necessary to stay much longer, but at the same time, it's long enough for me. Let's say that I have a good feeling about Irish society and leave it at that for the moment.
DR: What do you miss the most?
BB: The most? Well sorry to the Irish, but the food here is not up to the French food that is what I miss the most, along with my family inevitably. There are moments when my moral is low. But yes! The bread, for example, I used to eat it, I used to eat it for the first month and then I gave up. And then!
DR: And what are you going to remember?
BB: That is a good question. What am I going to remember? Some very good memories, really some very good memories and just to refer to my first day, I had nothing in my stomach and the first thing that I had to drink here, in fact, was tea with milk and that was a first! I didn't know that it existed. And I was so hungry that it gave great pleasure to my stomach and me. This is what I am going to remember. Above all, some very good memories.
DR: That's it! Thank you
BB: You,re welcome. Delighted to have done this interview with you.
REVEAL/HIDE FRENCH TRANSCRIPT
D.R: Bonjour je m'appelle Deirdre Ruddock, j'étudie le français. Je suis en deuxième année de LIB à LYIT. Benjamin est mon partenaire tandem, il est l'un des étudiants français de l'université d'Orléans. Il est ici pour toute une année. Donc...ensemble nous avons des cours en commun.
Benjamin, Quelles sont les raisons qui ont motivé ton choix de venir étudier en Irlande?
B.B: C'est marrant parce que ça va ê tre la première fois qu'on va parler autant en français tous les deux. Les raisons qui ont motivé cette année en Irlande... En fait, comme je suis en troisième année, on m'a proposé de partir à l'étranger. Les raisons qui ont motivé cette année en Irlande? C'est d'abord pour parler anglais, vraiment parler anglais. Puisque j'étudie l'anglais et l'espagnol. Et, en fait comme je suis en troisième, ma faculté m'a proposé de partir soit en Espagne soit en Irlande et j'ai choisi l'Irlande puisque je pensais, je pense que l'anglais est plus intéressant à maîtriser étant donné que je l'étudie avec le commerce. Et la deuxième raison pour laquelle j'ai profité de cette chance là, c'est simplement d'un point de vue financier, puisque partir à l'étranger pour un an c'est faisable, mais quand on reçoit des bourses c'est d'autant plus intéressant
D.R: Autour de combien le gouvernement finance t-il cette année?
B.B: En gros c'est un petit peu compliqué et mê me moi je m'y perds, mais si on cumule toutes les bourses que je reçois par mois, cette aide financière couvre à peu près 80% de mes dépenses. Ce qui fait que c'est vraiment, vraiment, vraiment intéressant. Et on a droit à une seule année Erasmus, dans notre cursus universitaire.
D.R: Quelles images de l'Irlande avais-tu avant de venir?
B.B: L'image que j'avais avant de venir... Je voyais un pays vert, je pensais qu'il y avait plus d'habitants ici. On nous parlait du mauvais temps et j'avoue que là, tous les matins, quand je sors de chez moi et qu'il pleut je me rends compte que c'est vrai. Ensuite j'imaginais les moutons qui croisaient la route. Et j'imaginais quelque chose de beaucoup plus rural Et la grosse surprise quand je suis arrivé ici, c'est que ben, j'ai appris qu'il y a eu un énorme boom économique, et que tout était énormément plus moderne, et Letterkenny notamment. Ça c'était la surprise.
D.R: Quel est le bilan que tu peux faire de cette année pour le moment?
B.B: Donc là, en gros on est au trois quart de l'année.
B.B: C'est marrant parce que ça va ê tre la première fois qu'on va parler autant en français tous les deux. Les raisons qui ont motivé cette année en Irlande... En fait, comme je suis en troisième année, on m'a proposé de partir à l'étranger. Les raisons qui ont motivé cette année en Irlande? C'est d'abord pour parler anglais, vraiment parler anglais. Puisque j'étudie l'anglais et l'espagnol. Et, en fait comme je suis en troisième, ma faculté m'a proposé de partir soit en Espagne soit en Irlande et j'ai choisi l'Irlande puisque je pensais, je pense que l'anglais est plus intéressant à maîtriser étant donné que je l'étudie avec le commerce. Et la deuxième raison pour laquelle j'ai profité de cette chance là, c'est simplement d'un point de vue financier, puisque partir à l'étranger pour un an c'est faisable, mais quand on reçoit des bourses c'est d'autant plus intéressant
D.R: Autour de combien le gouvernement finance t-il cette année?
B.B: En gros c'est un petit peu compliqué et mê me moi je m'y perds, mais si on cumule toutes les bourses que je reçois par mois, cette aide financière couvre à peu près 80% de mes dépenses. Ce qui fait que c'est vraiment, vraiment, vraiment intéressant. Et on a droit à une seule année Erasmus, dans notre cursus universitaire.
D.R: Quelles images de l'Irlande avais-tu avant de venir?
B.B: L'image que j'avais avant de venir... Je voyais un pays vert, je pensais qu'il y avait plus d'habitants ici. On nous parlait du mauvais temps et j'avoue que là, tous les matins, quand je sors de chez moi et qu'il pleut je me rends compte que c'est vrai. Ensuite j'imaginais les moutons qui croisaient la route. Et j'imaginais quelque chose de beaucoup plus rural Et la grosse surprise quand je suis arrivé ici, c'est que ben, j'ai appris qu'il y a eu un énorme boom économique, et que tout était énormément plus moderne, et Letterkenny notamment. Ça c'était la surprise.
D.R: Quel est le bilan que tu peux faire de cette année pour le moment?
B.B: Donc là, en gros on est au trois quart de l'année.