Take a trip with the French Pen Pals

Recently, the french students at AHS have had the opportunity to exchange letters with a pen pal in France. This was a new development as of 2023, and so far, it’s been a hit. This is all thanks to Sophie Doyle-Hurlbut, an Aurora High School alumni. 

“Becoming a teacher in the French public school system has been my career goal for a few years now…” Ms Hurlbut exclaims.

Ms. Hurlbut has worked hard to become a French teacher, and this all started in high school. She took all her French classes with Madame Cook, from French 1 to AP French. Graduating in 2015 and then going to college, her dream to become a teacher in Paris came true when she obtained a valid work visa, one of the hardest parts in this journey. Ms. Hurlbut had spent a good while teaching in France through a Fulbright teaching grant; however, during the start of the pandemic, she was sent back to the US. Thankfully, she was able to obtain her work visa again, and because of her prior teaching knowledge there, she was able to adjust quickly. 

Ms. Hurlbut expressed her opinion that talking to native speakers is essential for improvement, especially when it comes to speaking freely and comfortably in a different language: she’s the prime example. She ended up majoring in French Studies in college, mastering the language. Constantly, she was told that her French was excellent in high school and at university, however in France, it was compared to that of a “60 year-old woman”. The problem was that native speakers spoke in a relaxed way, while foreigners are a little uptight, in a way that makes it obvious that French isn’t their first language. 

“I remembered that in my first or second year of French with Mme Cook we also did a language exchange with another school, so I contacted her and we set up this exchange together.” 

Here at AHS, the French students are interested in the exchange, where they can finally converse with a native French speaker around their age. Not only will the students’ language skills improve, it’ll also give them the right exposure to the speaking style. Many of the students in France are also intrigued by this concept, because they learn English, and work on their skills just like the Aurora kids do with French. So far, this has been off to a great start, with snacks being mailed to the other school. Of course, it will take a while for letters to be sent back and forth, but it’s worth it to talk to someone.

Elaine Robledo, a current French 4 student and senior here at AHS says, “I thought this exchange was interesting, and the snacks were also really good. It’s fun to talk to French speakers our age, who are actually fluent in the language. Also, I like seeing their english too, because both of us are like teachers to each other, but we’re also both learners”. 

I had one specific question for Ms. Hurlbut, and I asked her what her favorite memory was. She responded by saying, “I guess the first one that pops into my mind is when we were playing a speed game where we moved all the desks into a circle in the middle of the classroom.  There were enough for all but one student to sit on a desk in the circle.  The one student standing had to then say a fact about themself—for example: “I like dogs more than cats.”  If the sitting students also identified with the statement, they had to stand up and quickly find another desk to sit on.  Whoever was left standing then had to be the next to state a fact about themself.  It’s a simple yet sometimes competitive and chaotic game.  You could easily invite chaos into the classroom by saying something simple and making everyone move or you could be a bit more selective in who you target to have to get up. I don’t even remember what was said, but I remember locking eyes on the desk I wanted to move to and I booked it.  I ran, jumped, spun around to be the first to land on the desk, and BOOM!  Down went me and the desk.  That was the first and only desk I have ever broken in my academic career.” 

It’s interesting to imagine that anyone we know can become so accomplished through their dreams, hard work, and determination. Ms. Hurlbut is a perfect example of someone who was able to go international with her ambitions, and even connect her hometown. The start of this French Pen Pal exchange was a great idea to connect cultures in a timely and interesting way, and the students enjoy this very much.

By Krisalyn Joyce

Image provided by Martha Stewart