Newspaper Page Text
Page 4B
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9 - 16, 2018
Elizabeth Wilson, left, joins French class members for a Bastille Day luncheon at Cafe Alsace in
downtown Decatur.
The French flag hangs at Cafe Alsace, where the senior center class has twice gone to celebrate France’s equivalent
to America’s Independence Day.
Parlez-vous frangais? Seniors answer oui’
BY KATHY MITCHELL
“If you are lucky enough to
have lived in Paris as a young man,
then wherever you go for the rest of
your life, it stays with you, for Paris is
a movable feast.” - Ernest Heming
way, to a friend, 1950.
Paris—and all of France—stays
with many who are exposed to it in
their youth. An abiding attraction
to the country’s language, history
and culture is what brings many to
French classes at Central DeKalb Se
nior Center.
Elizabeth Wilson, who teaches—
or as she prefers, leads—the classes,
grew up in Decatur in the 1960s, and
became infatuated with France as a
young woman. She said, “I studied
French in school from seventh grade
through freshman college. In high
school, I had two particular teach
ers who loved all things French and
I guess it was catching. One year,
however, our teacher was a real
Frenchman—and all us Southerners
had problems understanding him.
But along with learning the language,
music, film, etc., were included,
which, of course, made it all the
more interesting.”
Wilson said her parents encour
aged her interest in French culture
and it has remained throughout her
life. “I remember when we could find
French magazines and paperback
novels at the Atlanta airport news
stand and Dad would drive me out
there occasionally, so I could see
what I could find.” Among her finds
was a copy of the novel Gigi. “Not
sure I did that well reading it, but of
course, I had seen the movie.”
When Wilson was approached
about teaching the class by longtime
friend and senior center Director
Victoria Kingsland, the two agreed
that it would be a combination of
conversational French and French
culture, with subjects ranging from
history to music to the visual arts—
anything related to France. Creating
a curriculum, Wilson said, was a
“trial and error” process that took
her back to a collection of old French
grammar books, including one pub
lished in 1932.
Wilson first resisted taking the
position insisting that she wasn’t a
teacher. Kingsland countered, “You’re
an excellent communicator and that’s
what teaching is.”
“Victoria told me that she felt that
my love of all things French and my
ability to communicate made me a
perfect match to lead these classes,”
Wilson recalled.
After approximately two years,
the class—which had always been
made up of participants with a range
of proficiency in French—split into
two classes, one for beginners and
another those who studied French
previously. The second class, Wilson
explained, is called Conversational
French since it focuses not on clas
sical grammar, but on how the lan
guage is actually spoken today.
Both classes meet each Friday—
the beginner class at 10:30 a.m.,
followed by the other class at 11:45.
The classes are open to senior cen
ter members. Any DeKalb County
resident age 62 or older may join the
center.
The new class, Wilson said, was
created by popular demand. “After
two-plus years of the first class, we
were pretty far along, and we had
new folks who wanted a beginning
class. There were also some who
have been with me from the start
but wanted to go back to the basics.
Some of those who have been with
me from the beginning, remain for
the second class because we’ve all
gotten to know each other so well—
and they’re interested.”
Wilson said of her students, “Each
person seems to have a different rea
son for coming to the class and a dif
ferent approach. Everyone seems to
take it pretty seriously, and I think—
and hope—they go home after class
and review what we’ve covered. I also
know they enjoy the camaraderie
that has been established over many
months.”
Like many of the classes’ partici
pants, Wilson travels as much as she
can, adding that she doesn’t get to
France as often as she would like.
“My first trip was in 2004, when I
was invited to visit by Atlanta friends
who bought a house in Brittany. I
was only in Paris two days. My last
trip was just Paris—and how I love
that city! Next year I hope to return
-and to explore some new areas of
France too,” said Wilson, explain
ing that between trips she has used
lessons in her car CD player and a
refresher course at Emory to remain
sharp on pronunciation and usage.
She admitted it is a challenge
“coming up with two interesting
classes every week: a solid grammar/
conversation/dialogue segment, and
a new and interesting subject for
what we now call ‘le lecture’-be it
history, art, whatever. Many in the
class have traveled to France—some
many times. So, I’m not working
with a bunch of novices,” she said,
adding that one of the best things
about her role at the senior center is
“meeting wonderful, educated, in
terested and interesting people who
have so much to share—and who
teach me! We may be ‘seniors,’ but
we’re not slowing down in the least.”
Because she reads a lot and has
always been interested in history,
Wilson said, she finds a variety of
interesting subjects for the lecture
portion of the class. “I still remember
the term paper I did in high school
on the French Revolution. Trips to
France also, of course, provided ma
terial, as I saw and learned more. For
example, in 2010,1 went from Paris
to Normandy before going on to join
friends in Brittany. In addition to the
D-Day sites, we went through the
beautiful medieval village of Dinan -
and therein lay a lecture on Anne of
Brittany. I follow French news, too,
of course. We’ve talked about every
thing from the legendary baguette to
the French Resistance during WW
II to French composers. This spring,
I was in London, and came across
a memorial to Violette Szabo, who
died with the SOE/Resistance fight
ing the Germans in France—another
lesson!”
Wilson said she tries to keep the
classes fun and has even incorpo
rated such special treats as a Bastille
Day (a sort of French Independence
Day, celebrated July 14) lunch this
year and last at Cafe Alsace in De
catur, lunch at Au Rendezvous in
Chamblee, and a French covered-
dish lunch at the center. The class in
the same spirit of fun last year called
Wilson downstairs with a fake phone
call and surprised her with a cake on
her 70th birthday.
Despite the light atmosphere,
Wilson said she takes pronunciation
seriously, because the French do.
“I’m really picky about pronunciation
and I ask the class members to come
‘up front,’ speak up so we can all hear
- and I really get specific about pro
nunciation. It’s not true, really, but I
use Henry Higgins’ line from My Fair
Lady: “The French don’t care what
they do actually, as long as they pro
nounce it properly.”