Where CI Meets Cultural Immersion
This is not a typical educator trip—and it’s not a typical Comprehensible Input workshop. It’s both, and more – it is a CI French educator immersion trip in Senegal. woven together in one of the most vibrant Francophone countries in the world. Led by CI practitioner Elodie Channa and organized by Vive l’expérience founder Katy Wheelock, this program immerses French educators in Senegal’s rich culture while building practical, transferable CI skills grounded in real experiences.CI French teacher immersion Senegal
Every day in Senegal becomes source material for your CI practice. A conversation with a university student in Thiès. The rhythms of a djembe workshop. The layered history of Gorée Island. The warmth of sharing a traditional meal around the bowl with a Senegalese family. Elodie will guide participants through CI workshops that draw directly from these encounters, showing how authentic cultural experiences can fuel compelling, comprehensible language instruction back in your classroom.
Because K-12 schools will not be in session during our visit, classroom observations will focus on meeting and exchanging with high school French teachers and visiting university students and professors. These interactions provide rich, real-world CI modeling opportunities and will be integrated into workshop sessions throughout the trip.
Comprehensible Input (CI) is an approach to language teaching rooted in the work of linguist Dr. Stephen Krashen. At its core, Krashen’s theory holds that we acquire language when we understand messages—when we receive input that is just beyond our current level of proficiency. It’s not about memorizing grammar rules or vocabulary lists. It’s about creating conditions where language is experienced meaningfully, in context, and with joy. CI practitioners focus on communication over correction, stories over drills, and connection over perfection. The teacher’s role shifts from instructor to facilitator—using adapted speech, visual supports, gestures, repetition, and compelling content to make the target language understandable and engaging. Students don’t just practice French; they communicate in French.
Meaningful Messages: Language acquisition happens when learners understand what is being communicated—not when they analyze how the language works. Input must be interesting, relevant, and just slightly above the learner’s current level.
Community & Connection: CI classrooms are built on trust and genuine curiosity. Activities like Card Talk and Special Student Interviews center the learner’s own life and interests, making language personal and classroom culture warm.
Low Anxiety, High Engagement: Krashen’s Affective Filter Hypothesis reminds us that stress and self-consciousness block acquisition. CI creates safe environments where students take risks with language because they feel seen and supported.
In Senegal, CI comes naturally. Every interaction—from greeting a vendor in Wolof and French to listening to a griot’s oral history—is comprehensible input in its most authentic form. This trip will show you how to harness that kind of authentic engagement in your own classroom.
We walk through this itinerary day by day, talk about goals and costs, and answer your questions. Can’t make it? Register and we’ll send the recording.
See datesI feel rejuvenated as a teacher and feel that I got some of my passion back.
Thank you, Vive, for helping me to bring Senegal home to my students!
