Saturday February 25, French Honor Society members participated in Immersion Day combined with the induction ceremony for new members.  Members came and devoted six hours of their time to practice speaking only in French while they engaged in various activities such as cooking and preparing for their upcoming competition in March.  

Speaking French is a challenge in itself, but these students put their knowledge and understanding of the language to the test when they ditched English to speak solely in French.  

French teacher, Nora Bordt, explained what the experience was like for her students to put their French skills to the test.

“[It can be] a little frustrating, but once they get into the swing of it, and realize that they need to limit what they need to say to what they can say, then they do alright,” Bordt said.

Senior Co-Artistic Director Bailey Rice explained what it was like from a student perspective to speak only in French for the day.

“It’s a new and interesting experience,” Rice said.  “It’s really cool to speak in a different language for a day.”

As if speaking only in French wasn’t challenging enough, the FHS members took part in cooking several French treats.

“We [made] chocolate mousse, eclairs, madeleines, and crepes,” Bordt said.  “Some of them have never tried to cook these things before, and I like them to see how easy and wonderful they are.”

Junior Elizabeth Lowery explained what the experience was like cooking French foods for the first time.

“It was quite difficult for me because I don’t cook [often],” Lowery said.  “It was a [fun] experience to taste foods from different cultures.”

This year Bordt added a new element to the Immersion Day.  For the first time ever, she included time for the members to do a dress rehearsal as a way to practice for their French competition in March.  Rice told how she felt much more prepared for the impending competition because of Immersion Day,  

“[I] definitely [feel more prepared] because we [used] Immersion Day to practice for the competition,” Rice said.  

Senior Gabi Schuvart agreed with Rice saying how she felt more prepared after practicing for the competition at Immersion Day.

“It is usually pretty difficult to get everyone together with all of our busy schedules,” Schuvart said.  “Immersion Day allowed us the time we needed to prepare for competition day.”

Bordt has set high standards for her French Honor Society students and has set up intricate requirements to be considered for joining the Honor Society.  She made it clear that she expects a lot from her students but sets attainable requirements so that the club will be made up of students who have a passion for the language.  

“They have to have had French III, or be in French III, their grades have to be on an honors level, both in French and their other classes, and there are service hour requirements [as well as] enrichment hour requirements,” Bordt said.

Although it requires some hard work and dedication to get inducted into French Honor Society, members were happy to offer encouraging words to urge others to get involved in the club.

“It’s a very fun club that focuses on the French culture more than just the language; you explore a culture very different from your own and learn new skills that you wouldn’t be able to learn otherwise,” Schuvart said.

“If you enjoy learning about a different culture I would really recommend joining,” Lowery said.  “It’s a lot of fun to make friends, speak in a different language, and get immersed in French.”

Bordt and the French Honor Society members put a great deal of time and effort into this club.  Having an Immersion Day is a fun way for them to get out of the regular classroom setting, and practice French through real life situations.  

“It is so much fun to have a day where we can leave the textbooks alone, and see how French works as a language,” Bordt said.  “That’s a lot of fun.”