A growing success in French
Last fall, Sandrine Makaya of Champaign took her children Dikson (10) and Kyria (7) to the local library to attend a new and important event. Her children were going to learn French, the official language of her home country.
Sandrine moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2006. She speaks English, French, and Lingala – a Bantu language.
“I want them to keep their languages. It’s going to help them to speak with my family back home,” said Makaya.
Both her children participated in a program led by Aurore Mroz, professor of French at the U of I, and Florence Mathieu, a teacher from Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana. The program, called Le Cercle Francophone – meaning the French Speaking Circle – was started by Mroz and Mathieu last fall and held at the Champaign Public Library.
When it started, Mroz said the program was even more successful than she anticipated. About 30 children signed up for the sessions. “We didn't (expect) to have so many kids and we booked rooms that had a capacity of 22,” she said.
The children ranged from ages 3-11. While both Stratton Academy for the Arts in Champaign and Yankee Ridge offer dual-immersion French programs to students, Mroz said additional community programs such as Le Cercle Francophone fill important roles, as language learning for this age group is highly beneficial. The earlier children learn a language, the more likely they are to retain it. Mroz, whose research includes foreign language education and second language acquisition, added that attending to a child’s first language is beneficial for all their other languages.
Mroz said that she also helped create the program because of growing need for connections within the local French-speaking community. She said some new members of the local French-speaking community are asylum seekers from Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been experiencing violent conflict causing displacement since last year.
“We have a vastly growing French-speaking community and it's a little bit under the radar, but people are now realizing how much bigger the French-speaking community is getting,” said Mroz. “And those kids, they kind of crave a sense of community and to meet other French speakers that might not be in the programs.”
Oumaima Mahri is a foreign exchange student at the University of Illinois who is serving as a teaching aide, working closely with the kids to teach them French. She said they do a range of activities in the class, including learning animals and singing songs in French. “I definitely noticed an improvement in them, to a certain extent,” said Mahri.
Part of learning for the children also includes having them read French language books. Mroz said that they are applying for grants to help with materials and primarily books; they recently received a $10,000 grant from the French Embassy.
“We need a lot of French books because whether it's the Champaign or the Urbana libraries, or even the schools, they don't really have a lot of (French language) books,” Mroz said.
Katherine Meacham-Hensold attended the program with her daughter Josephine (4). Meacham-Hensold began learning French herself about a year before. “I wanted my daughter to try to learn as well to give her a second language, because I always regret not having a second language,” she said.
The program is free to attend. Mroz said she plans to continue the program every semester for at least the next three years. The next session is on Saturday, Feb. 1 and is held every Saturday. The last session this semester will be March 1.
“Anybody who wants to donate their time, their attention, or books or magazines in French are welcome,” Mroz said. “All are welcome to help us in any way, shape or form.”
