Au printemps tout le Monde est Content. Indeed everyone loves Spring and there is so much to do with our students who have made significant progress since September.
These last few months, TOUT EST VERT at French for Fun. Many believe that the color GREEN brings balance, harmony and good fortune. It must be true!
Read on and you will see that we have been enjoying so many great moments this spring at French for Fun.
The biggest news for me as the teacher is that three of my students now in 8th grade, were accepted to go into French 3 at Acalanes High School in Lafayette. One of them has been in my class since she was 3 years old, the other since she was 5 and our amazing newcomer joined FFF at the age of 7.
These very active and bright young ladies have been coming 4 afternoons a week after school for 45 minutes throughout elementary and middle school. Their level of comprehension is excellent, their knowledge and understanding of the French culture is impressive, and yes they have mastered a lot of grammatical rules and the conjugations of most common French verbs.
FELICITATIONS LES FILLES!
This Spring, thanks to MONSIEUR BAIMBA and his kindergarten/first grade students, we held a very special exhibit, L'EXPOSITION DE NIKI SAINT PHALLE. This was a premiere at French for Fun and truly a very successful unit.
My 4th graders have been studying la Bretagne and will entertain us June 2nd for our end of the year program.
Thanks to MADAME ISABELLE, a professional musician and instructor at FFF for 7 years now, we are enjoying many songs, in particular the one written by MADAME ISABELLE, "DANS LA FORET DE BROCELIANDE".
My 2nd / 3rd graders who also have grown up at FFF since many of them were babies and tots have gained so much vocabulary through the years that our classes are all about story telling. The benefits of STORY BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING have been outlined in many professional articles. Good stories captivate the children's imagination as we can see through their illustrations.
Good stories lead to reading of course and discussions...skills that we have been developing all year long and that these young children are truly mastering. Listen!
I wear many hats like all small business owners and truly my passion and calling have been me the teacher. However, I am also the administrator, the PR person who is always looking for opportunities to grow my business and be involved in our community.
This spring we hosted our RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY, celebrating with our two new neighbors, Carlos the Tailor and Marilyn Chalmers, the personal trainer.
The event was so much fun, very well attended by students, parents and friends. Philippe Chevalier treated us with fine hors d'oeuvres and Madame Isabelle and her husband Jeff entertained us.
To top it all, we had the honor of welcoming the Mayor of Lafayette, the City Manager and the Director of the Chamber of Commerce.
I have been interested in reviving the LANGEAC SOCIETY for some time and we have now the blessing from the city to go forward. Le Marquis de Lafayette had a property near Langeac, a small town in the center of France. Some residents in Lafayette worked on the SISTER CITY PROJECT and sponsored events through the Langeac Society many years ago.
These folks had been looking for someone else to carry on. OUI BIEN SUR, FRENCH FOR FUN should be involved. Please contact me at madame@frenchforfun.com
if you would love to find out more. We are just at the very beginning stage of this exciting community project.
To see us in action, stop by anytime or attend our end of the year brunch, Sunday June 2nd at 10:30 AM.
A TRÈS BIENTÔT
Catherine Jolivet
