This summer one of the Canadian Studies Center’s Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellows in French traveled to Québec City to study at L’Université Laval. Amy Delo, MA in International Studies, shares her experience:
“Through the Canadian Studies Center and the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Québec to study French in the epicenter of francophone North America. As a master’s student in the Jackson School of International Studies, I was drawn to researching national secession movements, and my French language ability helped me focused on this in Québec. This summer I spent two weeks in Montréal getting accustomed to French and the Québécois accent, while still being able to fall back on English if I ever got into a pinch. The remainder of my time was spent in Québec City where I was enrolled in the French language program at Laval University. Many people in Québec City do not speak English so I was forced out of my comfort zone by speaking French in daily life, as well as in the classroom. The ability to study in Québec was invaluable to my improving my French language skills, and developing my research aims. I now plan to focus on the relationship between Québécois nationalists and the Indigenous peoples of Québec.”