Business Management student Olga has taken IWLP French for three years: she started at Stage 2 as a post-beginner in her first year and is now finishing her degree at an intermediate level with Stage 4. In her photo, she is stood next to a magnolia tree in a French village near Strasbourg (Did you know that magnolia trees are named after a French botanist, Pierre Magnol?). Read all about Olga’s experience and advice for future IWLP learners:
Salut everyone!
My name is Olga and I am currently in my third year as a Business Management student. I started studying French when I was still in school but eventually had to stop due to being in my final year. I restarted French in my first year of university as my 6th module. Initially I chose it b
ecause I knew the language and thought it would be interesting to be trilingual, but as time passed, I remembered that I enjoyed talking in another language… it’s a like a secret code. Between you and me, I speak French with my mum when I want to tell her a secret. Of course, like any foreign language, there were challenges – for example, speaking is the most difficult for me. From pronunciation to correct order of words, it needs time and effort to get used to. But we have projects that aide in exactly those areas. We could choose from a variety of cultural references and present our findings; I talked about the food and cuisine presented in Beauty and the Beast.
I think the most valuable advice I could give to someone who is considering taking the IWLP module is: go for it! It will be challenging and you will have to put effort in, but you get to learn about different civilizations and cultures. If you are worried about how much time you should spent in improving your chosen language, speak to your tutor, see a film, find friends that are native in that language…. not everything is about reading and memorising a book.
À bientôt everyone!