Sunday, August 2, 2009

FRENCH FLU ! ! !

My Voyage with French : Le français et moi !

This is a series of interactive sessions. The objective is to invite guest speakers from different walks of life who have a long contact with French. Speakers will share their experience with French language, culture and how they use it in their professional lives. This open session is to motivate students and to help them see successful real life applications of French language knowledge.

Interaction with Mme Smita Nair, French Translator-Interpreter
Written by Riddhi Doshi and Bhumika Mehta
FYBA (Compulsory French Class)
Submitted on 14th August 2009

Attention tout le monde! A recent analysis has revealed that many Ruiaites have become a victim to a very dangerous & contagious disease, known as “FRENCH FLU".

This is spreading on a very large scale and we are unable to find a precautionary measure against it. The major source and cause of this “maladie” is Mme Vasumathi and there are several sub sources, one of which is Mme Smita Nair!

Jokes apart guys, but seriously FRANCAIS is in the air. All of us have become an inseparable element of this department. Recently, we had a guest, Mme Smita Nair, who is an ex-student of our dearest "professor". Her journey with French has been tres interessant. She has seen all the ups and downs with this language, there had been tough times for her, but she surpassed then all and today, she is a French translator and interpreter. That's just the cake and the icing on it is that she is happily married to un homme français, Brice!!! (No doubt, she is the envy of too many girls!!!)

Her “voyage avec français“ deserves not only a mention, but also a full-fledged description. She was most unusually, a Commerce student and busy with the most exciting subjects on Earth like Accounts, Maths and stuff. She had no idea, whatsoever that one day a subject like French would not only be her “cup of tea” but also a source of her "bread and butter" and her identity!! One of her friends having recommended “Alliance Français” to her, she joined it and that was the turning point of her life. She wasn’t at all comfortable with it, but she managed to score well. Most strangely, there was a time when she was the only one remaining to pursue French in her batch. She would have definitely given up, but for the best thing that would have ever happened to her! She came across Mme. Vasumathi conducting her lecture in a class and just the sight of the fun that the students were having stopped her from quitting French (Undoubtedly!!!). Now that was a real landmark in her life, after which there was no turning back! Smita was then sent to France by the French Embassy as an Assistante English teacher in a French school outside Paris. She stayed on to complete her Masters in French from the Sorbonne University. As already mentioned earlier, she is a French interpreter & translator, working with Mazgaon Docks on their Submarine Project! Quelle chance!!!
All we students has a gala time interacting with her! She was highly co-operative and left no stone unturned to answer the least expected questions with utmost politeness and patience. Not only did she spare some time for us, but in a way motivated us to look at this language with a perspective and scope like never before. A short interaction with her helped us open new vistas for this adorable language. Her journey inspired us tremendously and the evidence is that pupils, who were just tourists sometime ago, have become permanent residents of French lecture!!
Now, we look forward to such guests and events that will, in a similar way, coax us to fall in love with this language. Vraiment, nous adorons le français. (Madame is going to be very happy and say “TRES BIEN "): P
WHAT WE GAINED: Avant le rendez-vous avec Mme Smita Nair , our minds were very well conditioned with the facts that our global economic world has space only to assimilate CAs, MBAs, Engineers and professionals of this type. But after talking to her and listening to her, we realized how confined and restricted our perspective was! The career that she pursued with the help of French was not only exciting and nouvel but a promising one also. Now, languages are no more limited to just be learnt & vomited out in the papers, but they give you a scope that can give you the most unique lifestyle. What I mean is, we came across various doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc...But how often have we come across a French interpreter or translator?? It's a career, we can be proud to pursue. And the most important thing, what I personally have realized is, that prior to this lecture, I had an impression that only tough, tricky & monotonous subjects give You a promising career. But Oh la la!! If a subject as beautiful & interesting as French can give you a flourishing career and so many varied opportunities, can we be foolish enough to lag behind and remain silent spectators?????
Of course not, so why not bag the opportunities before c'est trop tard!!!

10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. bonjour!!i never thought learning french wud b so intresting.

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  3. i agree..d idea of calin ppl n havin them share their exp wid french is amazin..i rili njoyd wen Maria had cum..d way she spoke..n obv had a gala tym wen Smita mam(mam cause she was my teacher at alliance..awesum fun v usd 2 hav der) came..wid her husband!
    all these r perfect examples of learnin bein combined wid lts of fun!

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  5. i completely agree! this makes learning so much fun & interesting + it gives a lot of knowledge which is not bound to the text!!

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  6. very true.....this is one of those class which i eagerly wait for....;)

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  7. is nobody out here misin d french classes??
    i mean..hopefuly evn if d colg strts tom..m gna mis d lec i njoy d most til 31st!

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  8. J'aime la langue français beaucoup. C'est une langue belle est très douce .

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  9. J'aime la langue français beaucoup. C'est une langue belle est très douce .

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