Mount Si students write ‘bonjour’ to French pen pals
November 4, 2009
By Laura Geggel
Mount Si High School sophomore Keely Wayne received two fashion magazines and a handful of money from her pen pal, but the magazines weren’t in English and the Euros wouldn’t buy her anything at a local store.
“We’ve just been getting to know each other,” Wayne said of her French pen pal.
Mount Si High School freshman Teresa Tran reads a letter in English from her pen pal in France. Tran will write back to her in French. Photo by Laura Geggel
About 140 students in French teacher Sally Chambers’ classes have pen pals across the world in France. The French students write to Mount Si students in English, who then write back in French.
No one is perfect with the adopted languages, but many Mount Si students said it gives them more incentive to learn and study French.
“If you don’t practice, then you won’t understand it,” Wayne said.
Sophomore Kerry Anderson said her pen pal Maxence mixes up English words here and there, but she’s able to get the gist of his letters. For instance, when he wrote, “I would like to win the bingo,” Anderson knew he meant the lottery.
Letter writing goes both ways. Sophomore Chace Carlson got his pen pal pick — a girl who likes sports.
“I usually have a good idea of what I’m trying to say,” Carlson said. “I like to show Madame Chambers what I’m going to say before I send it off so she can double check it. I’m not the best at French, but I usually get a decent amount of it.”
The first French pen pal program at Mount Si started in 2001. A woman teaching English in France had a sister in North Bend and asked her sister to put her in touch with the French teacher at Mount Si.
Chambers took on the project and soon found a few other teachers in France who wanted to have American pen pals for their students. Chambers heard from an English-language teacher in France who had married a Mount Si graduate. She also met a teacher when studying in France as a Fulbright scholar.
The program was so successful, a Mount Si student visited her pen pal in France and a French student visited Snoqualmie Valley.
“It breaks down barriers between countries,” Chambers said. “This makes learning the language more valuable and interesting to them.”
Sophomore Jeremy Westlake said he instant messages his pen pal every morning, which, with the time difference, means his pen pal is just returning from school. Sophomore Meg Krivanec noticed a few differences between herself and her pen pal right away.
“A lot of them don’t really work, but they have all of this homework,” Krivanec said.
Freshman Meera Gilbert found she has something very meaningful in common with her pen pal.
“She’s been telling me all about her house in Portugal,” Gilbert said. “I’ve told her I have a house in Ocean Shores. Our favorite places are houses near the ocean.”
Students receive credit rather than grades for participating in the letter exchange. It’s more of a bonus that allows them to use their French to connect with teenagers half a world away.
The only pitfall is the cost of sending the letters and knick-knacks overseas, which can cost up to $100 for each class.
“In France, the school pays, no questions asked,” Chambers said. “The teacher was appalled that our school system does not pay for this type of activity. I’ve had to ask the parents to give me money because it is extremely expensive.”
Chambers said she is working on a grant application to the Mount Si High School PTSA, but in the meantime she encourages her students to write, e-mail and instant message their friends in France.
“I think it’s important that they not just get a letter but they get all of this other stuff to understand the culture,” Chambers said. “It can lead to exchanges and lifelong contact.”
Laura Geggel: 392-6434 ext. 221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.snovalleystar.com.
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Thank you for your article about the french exchange.
Mrs Chambers and I have tried hard to make it work so that our students would get a real impression of what French and English could be like, and it works perfectly!
My students will be thrilled to know that an American newspaper actually talks about them!