“A summer without Roeland would not feel like a real summer”
If memory serves me right, I started going to Roeland language camps when I was 8 years old. Now - 20 years later - I’m still going. I can't imagine a summer without Roeland, really.
Another language
Signing up for a Roeland language camp means expressing yourself in a language that is not (yet) your own. At French camps or English ones alike, no one was supposed to speak Dutch.
From my first French camp as a junior, I remember being extremely nervous because I feared my knowledge of the French language would be insufficient to survive a language vacation in style. But the enthusiasm of the animators and teachers lifts you gently out of your comfort zone, to let you learn as much as possible. Afterwards, I realized I had picked up an amazing number of new words and sentences from that camp, which gave me a head start in school the following year.
Sports and games
What makes a Roeland camp especially cool is that in addition to the lessons, sports and games are at the very center of the activities. Up to 2 hours of sports are a part of the daily program. That's how I went wall climbing for the first time in Marche. At the English language camps, I also learned how to play cricket. Weather permitting, water games are also a part of the deal. Even if your clothes get a little dirty and wet, it’s a great way to have a lot of fun.
Stratego at the English language camp in Langley is still one of the coolest games that I remember playing. The whole camp was divided into four teams and almost the entire area was the playing field. As a team we had to try to capture the flags of the other players as quickly as possible.
Day trips
Field trips are an inextricable part of each camp as well, in addition to the daily lessons, sports activities and games. It’s a great way to get fully immersed in the language of your camp. On these trips you also engage in something that you would normally not do by yourself. The coolest trip I can remember was a visit to the city of Cambridge. That day we saw one of the most prestigious schools in the world: Cambridge University. We also went ‘punting’ (travelling on a river in a narrow, flat boat), an experience that will stay with me for a very long time to come. Thanks to Roeland I was given the opportunity to collect a lot of wonderful memories.
Volunteer
After my last camp at the age of 18, I thought I had to part ways with Roeland. But luckily this was not the case. Three years later, friends I had met at a Roeland camp had no trouble convincing me to join up as a volunteer. So, in the summer of 2015, I went to Cottesmore for the first time.
Originally, I was planning to join as a volunteer for just one year. Now, 7 years later, I am still a volunteer at the Roeland camps, and I could not imagine a summer without it. I can honestly say the people I've met here are friends for life. When the camp weeks are behind us, we still meet up on a regular basis.
Mathieu De Groote
Logistics employee
