Who Knew?

The short story of how French changed my life.

French classes at NU started out simply as a way to fill my WCAS language requirement. Who knew that four years later I would be living in Cannes, soaking up the sun and celebrity stars, watching Friends and 24 in French, eating Nutella and teaching cute French school children.

Learning French, while initially not my favorite thing to do, has enabled me to have extraordinary experiences. I spent two quarters in Paris with a French family while taking classes at the Sorbonne. Winter in Paris is far better than in Chicago (let's face it, winter quarter is rough) and Spring in the City of Lights has no comparison.

Then, in the nerve-wracking, nail-biting, indecisive throws of the senior year job search, a friend told me how much fun she was having teaching English in France. I thought, why not live in France? Luckily I got placed in Cannes, home of turquoise waters, purse-size poodles and cinema-star quality. Teaching was teaching, but living in the south of France was incredible.

By now my French skills are vastly improved and I am headed off to Morocco to take master's classes in French. Without struggling through my language requirements at NU, I would not be a happy Nutella addict headed off to Casablanca. Perhaps Arabic will be my next language. Who knows…