MADAWASKA, Maine — Through the power of letters, Aroostook County residents and young people in Quebec are bridging divides.
For the past few months, residents living at Country Village Estates assisted living facility in Madawaska and an English class at Cegep de Cabano College in Cabano, Quebec, have been writing letters to help the French-speaking students hone their English skills.
After months of communicating via letters and some video chats, the two groups finally met this week in Madawaska to celebrate the end of the semester. Their collaboration transcended language and generational barriers and has resulted in lasting friendships.
“It went really well,” said Paula Gendreau, Country Village Estates’ activity director. “A lot of the students took the residents’ addresses and they’re going to continue to communicate when they go back home. And they want to come back and visit.”
The program began last year, but only about seven residents at the facility participated. This year, that blossomed to 19. Gendreau is optimistic that just as many will want to work with next year’s group of students.
The class, taught by English professor Mark Parent, gives students social and real-world experience using the English language as an addition to classroom activities. Each student paired up with a resident and they became pen pals, writing several letters back and forth and also communicating through online video calls.
None of the students speak English as a first language, and they were all challenged to speak exclusively in English to their pen pals. Almost every Country Village resident speaks French, but the St. John Valley dialect is somewhat different compared with that of Quebec.
The class also included five students from France, who speak another differing version of the language than their American and Canadian counterparts.
“The French students were kind of learning two more languages, because their French was different from Quebec’s,” Gendreau said, adding that she was surprised by how quickly the five students from France communicated and bonded with the residents.
For Rina Corno, a resident at Country Village Estates, this was her first year getting involved with the program. She was inspired to join when Gendreau asked her to participate, she said.
Corno said that French is her first language, but the dialect was so different that it was easier to communicate in English with her pen pal.
“They talk very fast,” Corno said of the students in the class.
But Corno, who Gendreau said is very tech savvy, did not personally see a lot of generational differences between herself and the students.
Students and residents also overcame a generational barrier, as the average student is between 18 and 22 years old while most residents at Country Village are in their 80s and 90s. But they bridged the gap and found plenty in common, Gendreau said.
“Food was a big similarity,” she said. “Their food is very similar because a lot of my residents are from Canada.”
The biggest difference was the use of technology.
“The kids today rely a lot on technology for entertainment and education,” Gendreau said, “but when the residents were that age, there wasn’t any of that.”
Gendreau said she hopes residents continue participating with the class for years to come.
“They talked about traditions, their families, their kids, and what they did for a career, and what the students were looking for in a career,” Gendreau said. “I don’t know how to put it into words. It was just heartwarming.”