A curated immersion for French educators who want to deepen their CI practice through authentic cultural encounters in the land of teranga.
At a Glance
Program Overview
This is not a typical educator trip—and it’s not a typical CI workshop. It’s both, 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.
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.
This program is designed for current K-12 and college/university French educators, retired educators, and pre-service teachers who are actively practicing or deeply interested in Comprehensible Input as a teaching lens. Whether you’re an experienced CI practitioner looking to expand your repertoire or a teacher who has begun exploring CI and wants to go deeper, this trip will meet you where you are. We seek a cohort of 12 to 21 educators who are curious, open-minded, and ready to grow—both professionally and personally.
The CI Approach
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.
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.
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.
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.
Your CI Workshop Leader
Salut! Hi! Salaam aleekum! I’m Elodie. I teach French as a second language primarily at the high school level. I was born in France, moved around a bunch, started my career in Ontario, Canada, and now call British Columbia home. You may know me from my various social media presences, such as Mme Pois Chiche and Comprehensible Input Ontario.
My teaching practices and pedagogical beliefs have grown and evolved over time. The two anchors that ground my practice are: using Comprehensible Input (CI) to foster deeper language acquisition in students AND intentionally decentering a France-only view of “francophone culture,” especially given that the majority of daily French speakers live on the continent of Africa.
To me, the richness of language acquisition is not about learning the mechanics of the language, but having windows, mirrors, and doors opened to the world. We learn languages to connect to our own sense of self and to others.
This led me to travel with Katy Wheelock on her Summer 2 trip to Sénégal in the summer of 2025. It was an unforgettable experience that is so difficult to capture in a few sentences. It is a priceless gift to have met people like Zeinixx, the featured artist in a novel study I read with my students, or to walk in spaces I had read about, such as Fadiouth and Gorée. Having experienced the meaning of Teranga through rich interactions with locals is something that will stay with me for years to come.
The challenge has been how to bridge the experience of the trip back into the classroom in a way that honors own-voices testimonies, remains culturally responsive, and still aligns with Comprehensible Input practices that continue building student proficiency.
Katy and I have been dreaming together. What if we designed a trip where teachers who centre language acquisition using CI could gather, deepen their practices, and collaborate to create those bridges?
This trip is that idea coming to life. I would be coming alongside to lead workshops on Comprehensible Input, while Katy and her team will be doing what they do best, which is to create moments where participants experience the richness of the Sénégalese people and their land.
I do not yet have all of the answers (maybe one day!), but together, we could take steps in a direction that builds a community of teachers who want to take a more responsive approach to representation in our learning communities.
If that resonates with you, I hope we can connect!
The Experience
The program combines Vive l’expérience’s signature cultural immersion—the encounters, the places, the people—with focused CI professional development led by Elodie. Each day’s experiences feed directly into workshops where you’ll explore how to transform authentic moments into compelling classroom instruction.
Hands-on professional development sessions where Elodie models CI strategies using the day’s cultural encounters as content. Learn techniques like Card Talk, storytelling, and Special Student Interviews adapted for Francophone cultural themes.
Meet with Senegalese high school French teachers to exchange pedagogical approaches and discuss how language is taught across cultural contexts. Visit university campuses and connect with professors and students.
Immerse yourself in Senegalese life through visits to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, artisan workshops, griot storytelling sessions, batik and drumming workshops, and shared meals with local families.
Process your experiences with your cohort, brainstorm classroom applications, and develop CI-based lesson ideas and curriculum units inspired by everything you’ve seen, heard, and felt in Senegal.
Application
Because this is a specialized professional development experience with limited spots, we use an application process to build a cohort that is diverse in experience level, geography, and teaching context while united in a commitment to CI and cultural openness. Completed applications with deposits will be reviewed for program acceptance.
Tell us what you hope to gain from this experience.
We want to understand your connection to this destination.
Spots are limited. Begin your application or schedule a free discovery meeting to learn more about this unique program.