Two French-born residents of the Bridgewater-Raritan community and their guest from their country were on hand to interact with the AP French students from Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
The speakers made their appearance on Monday, October 28, to speak to Maria Kostits’ AP French class in the high school’s library conference room.
Phidias Tettekpoe and his wife, Semepha, who immigrated from France, spoke to the students along with their guest from France, Tessa Marinier, who was visiting on vacation.
Among the students who participated in the event was Thea Tettekpoe, the couple's daughter who is a junior at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Ms.. Kostis, who coordinated this productive session, reported on the event.
“Our AP French students enthusiastically spoke to our guest speakers. They had the opportunity to ask questions in a formal setting and then we broke up into three groups so students could talk exclusively in French in smaller clusters.
She continued to share the engagement.
“Every student was observed engaged throughout the entire class period. Their only regret was that the class went by too quickly and they’d like to do this again for a longer period of time. As Mr. Tettekpoe reminded students that knowledge is power, and speaking more than one language truly is an important skill to have in today's global society.”
Ms. Kostis added:
“The speakers were truly impressed with the level of French that these students have, especially considering they've only been studying French since seventh grade.”
The speakers told the students that “they should be proud and grateful to have an enthusiastic teacher, such as Ms Kostis to teach them, not only how to speak French, but to appreciate the French language.”