French senior citizens link up with language students in lockdown
ShareAmi scheme aims to combat the isolation felt by many older people during the pandemic
After spending a third of his placement in France stuck in lockdown, modern languages student Elliot Bellman was worried his conversation skills might suffer. But his weekly chats with Mme Tolu, a Parisian care home resident in her 80s, have helped keep his fluency up to scratch.
During the pandemic it's difficult to travel and have those normal experiences, going out and talking to new people," said Bellman, 20, a third year student at the University of Warwick. So this allows me to keep talking to someone in French. And Mme Tolu doesn't have any family around her anymore, so I feel like I am helping somewhat with the loneliness. It's mutually beneficial."
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