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FRI.| 4-12-24 | ENTERTAINMENT
Issue 1
September 27th, 2019
French returns to Rose word language options
FRI. | 10-19-23 | NEWS
French I and II are now available as electives at Rose to introduce students to the French language and culture. Dr. Nicolas Médevielle began teaching French at Rose this year with the intention of spreading the language.
This course is only taught at Rose during fourth period because Médevielleis instructs the same course at South Central in the mornings. Due to this course being new and last minute to Rose, the class is being held in room 216, which is also Spanish teacher Cynthia Williams’s classroom.
“The colleague I am sharing the class with is very nice and very accommodating so that's great,” Médevielle said. “This is mostly a Spanish class but I do have my French corner as well.”
This class is one of the smallest classes at Rose. This means Médevielle is able to work closely with each student, but at the same time, he is hoping for more students to join so he can share the language of France.
“Right now I only have 11 students, but [French] came at the very last minute, so students didn't know French was happening,” Médevielle said.
Since Médevielle was born and raised in France he is proficient in the language. He used his knowledge to earn a Ph.D. in French Studies to later teach high school students about the French language.
Photo by Rayleigh Hopkins
“I like to share the culture and not only share the culture of France, but I am also interested in sharing the culture of all different countries whether it be Quebec in Canada or Francophone in Africa [where French is also spoken],” Médevielle said.
A typical day in French I currently consists of learning the fundamental phrases.
“My students do not know any French, so they are just learning to say very basic things such as ‘My name is’, ‘How are you doing’, numbers, colors, days of the week, months of the year and just very basic things, ” Médevielle said. “Next month we will learn about the class environment [in Rose] and family and keep on building on those things.”
In order to teach the students French, there are some techniques Médevielle uses in class.
“It's a lot of repetition,” Médevielle said. “I'm using Google Slides that do have emojis, I'm using body movements, a lot of mimicking and rephrasing things until it clicks.”
Médevielle works with the only other French teacher in Pitt County, Sara Davis-Médevielle, who teaches at D.H Conley, to gain lessons and ideas on how to best teach French.
“I know the other French teacher really well,” Médevielle said. “We are organizing a trip to France in 2025 and we spend a lot of time talking about what we can do in the classes.”
Médevielle hopes that French will become popular at Rose again and to teach higher levels of French at Rose in years to come.
“When I was teaching at East Carolina University, the chair of French was a graduate of Rose, so I know that French used to be big at Rose and I hope that it is going to grow again,” Médevielle said.
Adding this course to Rose will help spread the culture and language of France.
“Come check out the French class,” Médevielle said. “If some people can speak some French and want to try out for French II they definitely should join and I hope that next year more students will want to try it.”
