NVOT is a high school that provides a notable number of extracurricular offerings: esteemed sports teams, a vibrant arts department, and numerous clubs for students with all interests. But arguably the most active of these outlets–with meetings nearly every week–include NVOT’s various cultural clubs, from Chinese Club to Japanese Club. This year, NVOT received its latest addition to this list of cultural clubs: the French Club, founded by seniors Erin Kim and Chloe Parsi.
“We decided to create a French club because Erin and I are both very interested in French culture and language,” said Parsi. “Also, all of the other languages have a club, and we just wanted French to be a part of that, because it’s definitely a smaller language.”
Kim also added that in the French course especially, students “don’t get the opportunity to really talk about French culture” and they wanted to bridge that gap between learning the language and the actual customs.
Luckily, despite the French class’s small size, Kim and Parsi have extended French appreciation beyond the classroom and into the extracurricular setting. Currently, the club has a total of 30 members, a surprising amount for a new cultural club that just started in the last year.
However, this isn’t the first time NVOT has had a French club. In the 2021 to 2022 school year, ESL teacher Arya Safa began the French club to teach students about French culture as well, but the club was never executed completely or fully ran. When Safa retired, the club went with her.
But even after the French Club left, the demand for it still remained, and Kim and Parsi were determined to start it up again.
“It was actually pretty easy to start the club because there already was a French club in the past,” said Parsi “All we have to do was reinstate it.”
Now, Physics teacher Mustapha Elqariani supervises the club. Although he neither teaches French nor is of French descent, Elqariani is one of the only adults at NVOT who understands the culture and speaks the language fluently. Elqariani has even traveled to France twice, staying mostly around Paris.
“I want members to learn more about French culture and improve their vocabulary,” said Elqariani. “And that’s about it, but mainly learning about French culture, so when they go to France, they’re not shocked.” For him, teaching students about French culture is best done through fun, interactive club activities. For example, he noted that at the last club meeting, “we built an Eiffel tower with spaghetti and marshmallows. We do Kahoots about French culture. I think we’re going to bake French croissants or something similar in the future.”
While the original motivation for this club was to teach French students about the nation’s culture, Parsi, Kim, and Elqariani welcome students from any language class to attend their meetings. For the club activities, it is not required to understand the French language; members just need to have an interest and desire to learn about the culture through interactive ways.
Kim said, it “probably helps [to] know the language but you definitely don’t have to be in the class to join the club. You don’t have to take French to be immersed in French culture.”