Stagg French Students Sit in on College French Courses

Stagg French 2, 3 and 4 students had a unique and inspirational experience at Elmurst College this fall. They participated in a campus visit with a focus on world language studies. Dr. Rebecca Léal, French professor at Elmhurst, organized the program for the day.

Students listened to an admissions presentation, where they were given the valuable advice of 1) visiting as many campuses as possible, and 2) visualizing where they could picture themselves going to school. Some Stagg students then stepped into college academic life by sitting in on either a French 201 or French 301 class. Other students had the opportunity to Skype in French with an Elmhurst grad currently participating in the TAPIF program, the Teaching Assistant Program in France. Finally, the students had lunch while hearing from current Elmhurst students, all double majoring in French and other subject areas (including Music and Biology).

Dr. Léal talked to students about the importance of studying languages beyond high school, both for personal enrichment and for self-marketing.

“Majors and minors in French make great complements to other majors of study, and set you apart in the stream of applicants for jobs and graduate schools” Dr. Léal explained to students. She provided students with tips of what to ask about language programs when exploring colleges. French 3 and 4 students participated in this experience as part of a unit of study on describing college and other future goals in French.

“So many of our students are just starting to be confident, more naturally conversational speakers when they reach French 4,” said Stagg French teacher Nitya Viswanath, “but then they think that high school world language is the end of the road, just a requirement to check off of a list before moving on. We’re working
to change that.”

Dr. Léal talked to students about job shadowing in French, and also reminded students about testing into intermediate and advanced French courses, especially after having completed four years in high school. Students who were part of this pilot initiative reflected on their day.

French 2 student Dareen Abdelhadi reacted to her experience, “Despite having attended a similar event in the past, our trip to Elmhurst felt like a new experience. And rather than forgetting about it the next day, I now have something to seriously consider regarding the choices that I have ahead of me.”