Students Enjoy La Vie En France

     As she stood on the top of the Eiffel Tower and looked down at the City of Lights, Bourne High School junior Claudia R. DaSilva was overwhelmed by one thing—disbelief.
     “Just the feeling that I actually was in France. It blew my mind,” she said. “Standing on top of the Eiffel Tower, it was so beautiful. It was hard to believe. It just hits you all of a sudden. It was amazing.”
     Claudia’s moment atop the Eiffel Tower came last month during a trip to France that she and eight other students in Julie A. Angell’s French class took during spring break.
     For the students, the trip offered more than just the opportunity to take in some breathtaking views. It was a chance for the young adults to set aside the daily routines and cultural norms they are accustomed to and immerse themselves in something completely different.
     The trip began with students introducing themselves to host families in either Compiègne or Beauvais, in the north of France.
     Jerome A. Mehrman said he was quickly divorced from any notions he had about a stress-free stay in the French countryside when he met his host family.
     “Nobody spoke any English,” he said, which meant that if he wanted to communicate, he’d have to do it in French. “It was sink or swim.”
     Katherine R. Davis said that in addition to picking up new aspects of the language through immersion, she was treated to new cultural experiences by her French host family simply because she wasn’t able to say no.
     “Any time they asked if I wanted to try something, and I said ‘no’ they would just ask me again,” she said. “They just thought I wasn’t understanding the question.”
     Jerome concurred. He said that rather than potentially seeming rude, or dense, he simply went along with any suggestions offered by his French family.
     The students said that their willingness to trust their host families paid off, mostly in great meals.
     Frog legs, escargot, and crepes stuffed with ham and cheese were among the culinary highlights they listed.
     However, Jerome said he will remember one meal above all the rest. Having grown accustomed to a half-hour lunch break as an American student, he said he was a bit surprised to be regaled by his host family with a three-course meal, consisting of corn beef and cabbage and homemade gravy, during his two-hour break from classes. “It was so good. I will never forget that meal,” he said.  
     As a group, the students agreed that their fondest memories of France came when the language barriers between them and their host families began to crumble.
     Claudia reminisced fondly about teaching her host family’s daughter a few American dance steps, and learning a few French ones in return.
     Katherine said that for all the new experiences she had in France, her favorite moment probably came while doing something distinctly American—playing video games. “There was one night after we got to know each other that we started playing video games,” she said. “We could all finally understand each other, it was really fun.”
     After a week with their host families, the students regrouped in Paris. They checked out le Louvre, le Centre de Pompidou, la Tour d’Eiffel and Cathédrale Notre Dame, all of which made for edifying and memorable experiences.
     However, what stuck with them the most was city life in France.
     Navigating the Metro in search of food and art, the students experienced the city they’ve read about in textbooks since middle school, all while trying to pick up pieces of conversations held in a language they’ve tried to learn for just as long.
     “I definitely got a feeling of independence,” Claudia said. “You get on the Metro and you have to know what you’re going to do and where you’re going to go. You feel more free.”
     Ms. Angell kept a watchful eye on her students during their Paris awakening. Having traveled in France herself, both as a student and a teacher, she said the point of immersion is to alter the language learner’s way of thinking.
     All the museum trips and restaurant visits are geared toward getting the students to stop thinking in English and start thinking in French.
     “It forces you to produce everything in your head, so it comes out of your mouth,” she said.
     Perhaps not all of Ms. Angell’s students will be thinking in French for years to come, however, they’ll certainly be thinking about France.
     “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about going back,” Claudia said.