6 Words You Should Know in Another Language

September 21, 2013 by Michele Cherie in French Language Learning, Teaching French

Hello. Goodbye. Please. Thanks. Yes. No.

These six simple words are often the first words in foreign language textbooks, and among the first you'll want to know when traveling abroad. In our native language, they're the ones we remind our young children to say ("Yes, please!") because they show so much about the speaker's intent and heart towards others.

Acknowledging others. Showing courtesy and respect. Communicating needs and desires clearly. Sharing ideas and perspectives. This is the purpose of language.

Someone recently asked how I got my daughter to ask me to keep speaking French (rather than English). I think it's because our relationship has always been conducted in French and she identifies me with that language. Plus, my husband's high school students and athletes tell her it's "so cool" that she speaks French, so she gets positive reinforcement from them on a regular basis.

But context also is part of the story, since I only switch to English when I am exhausted or angry--a minute or two when parental criticism or lazy commands come rushing out of my mouth. Apparently, the constraint of a non-native language is a curb that I should appreciate more. If I don't speak with kindness and forethought, my daughter doesn't want to hear it said.

Those six simple words are a reminder of what we all want to hear as we learn to communicate with others.

The Grand Experiment: Speaking a Non-Native Language with Children

September 16, 2013 by Michele Cherie in French Language Learning, Reflections on Parenting, Teaching French

As an American who was raised monolingual, speaking French to my children requires an ongoing mental effort. Admittedly, I taught French to middle and high school students for several years, but when my first child was born, I still had doubts about my ability to speak French consistently. I am a fluent French speaker (you can find more about how I learned French here), but since it is not my native language, there are plenty of gaps in my knowledge.

Responding to the Messages of September 11th

September 12, 2013 by Michele Cherie in International Exchange, Teaching French

Twelve years have passed since the attacks of September 11th, 2001. At the time, my now-husband and I were students working towards our Master's in Teaching degree. When we began teaching the following year, September 11th was a day of mourning marked by a moment of classroom silence, then discussion. Today's high school students no longer remember September 11th firsthand--they were too young. (It's eye-opening to see how quickly collective memory begins to disappear.) But the questions of that autumn day can still be taught: Why our nation was targeted. Why America is not loved by everyone outside her borders. And equally important, how people responded--and how we ought to respond to those who wound and scar us.

Growth and Contentment: My Hopes for You

August 25, 2013 by Michele Cherie in Contentment, Reflections on Parenting, Teaching French

I live in Oregon, on the outskirts of a city where there's a scattering of cedar trees native only to this area. Most of the cedars here have grown for over a century, adding growth rings as farmhouses and cookie-cutter housing tracts were built around them. Years ago, I moved into one of those cedar-lined neighborhoods as a newlywed. At the time, I didn't appreciate our house--I'd envisioned something larger, sunnier, and certainly not an hour's drive from my workplace as a French teacher. But it was near the job my husband loved, and he'd purchased it just before we'd gotten engaged. Moving to a point halfway between our workplaces still would have required a moderate commute for both of us. So instead of moving, we agreed that I would leave my teaching position at the end of that year.