Vive le Club des Franco-Fun!

Parlez-vous français?

If that sentence got lost in translation, don’t fret. After a three year absence, Connecticut College finally has revived a club dedicated to helping students experience an enriching French culture.

The club is now called Le Club des Franco-Fun, a play on the term “francophone,” which signifies its inclusion of all French speakers.  It was created by Sybil Bullock ’14, Stefany Buchi ’14, Norah Hannel ’14, the president, vice-president, and class of 2014 SAC representative, respectively.

Le Club des Franco-Fun’s first meeting last Tuesday evening,  yielded a fairly strong turnout of over fourteen students who hailed from all French-speaking capabilities, grades and countries. Though some were anxious about the initial requests for a simple introduction in French, the freshmen encouraged students just to try, given that “we’re all going to be friends here!”

If nothing else, they encouraged people to pronounce their first names with a French accent.

As freshmen, Bullock, Buchi and Hannel all expressed their own fear of leading such a club with little direction. As freshmen leaders, however, they are likely to stay invested in the club for the next four years, which offers an opportunity for substantial growth from these determined demoiselles. The three leaders are all either fluent French speakers or approaching fluency. Bullock’s parents are French and American, Buchi is of Swiss descent and attended a French-American high school, and Hannel, though German, is equally strong in the French language.

At the meeting, President Bullock discussed why she started Le Club des Franco-Fun’s. “I’m hoping this will become a space for you guys to learn about French culture while improving your language level – some activities won’t necessarily involve speaking, and we’ll make sure those that do have subtitles, like French comedy acts, songs and movies.”

She continued, “I’m really happy we have different fluency levels, because those of us who speak more easily will be able to help those who are still learning.”

Possible activities Bullock proposed include cooking and enjoying Francophile food like Swiss fondue and French pastries, a professional French chef demonstration and learning and singing French drinking songs. As Bullock commented, “Singing is so much more fun than those weird ball games with cups… singing gets you so pumped up!”

Bullock also mentioned possibly Skyping with a wine connoisseur to learn the art of drinking wine, as it is very prevalent in France, followed by French folk tale storytelling read by her French grandmère, which students could attend in pajamas.

Exposing the group to contemporary music, movies, French slam poetry and French slang lessons is another goal – a considerable help to anyone thinking of pursuing study abroad in a Francophone country down the road.

Finally, the leaders expressed a desire to revive the language tables in Knowlton’s dining hall, which have lost familiarity among students in recent years.

Their first meeting was already off to an unfortunate start, however, given that SGA funding was not nearly as plentiful as the leaders had hoped it to be: the group requested $900 from the Finance Committee, and was allocated $175. Needless to say, the promised cheese hors d’oeurves advertised in Conn’s Daily CONNtact newsletter were not served.

“We were really considering doing Harvestfest,” Bullock said emphatically.  “But after finding out how much it cost just to get a table, and then all the money we would have to invest in making the [popular choux puff pastries] profiteroles to sell, I just don’t know if we’ll be able to.”

Therefore, in lieu of participating in Harvestfest, the group intends to hold a cabaret fundraising performance. After a look of apprehension among the students attending the meeting, Bullock reassured them, “I know what you’re thinking, and yes that is a kind of cabaret – but what a cabaret really is, originally, is just a dinner with a show.” The group plans to prepare a meal for the wider community and then either perform a show of their own with Conn’s Dance Team performing the can-can or secure entertainment of the French variety outside of Connecticut College.

This fundraiser would hopefully result in enabling the group to take a trip to Montrèal, Canada at the end of the year.

To close the meeting, Bullock expressed her desire to continue to increase the amount of French spoken throughout meetings, insisting that it truly helps to hear the language spoken outside of the classroom, and would ultimately make the French club experience that much more enjoyable.