New funding will go a long way towards helping the Department of French extend the Frecker program in Saint Pierre into the winter months. Traditionally there has always been a winter Frecker program, but because of declining enrollment it was stopped in 1999. Since then, however, interest in the program has been steadily increasing and 19 undergraduate students are set to leave in early January.

“We could not be happier with the additional funding coupled with increasing enrollment,” said program director Chantal Jordaan. “The Frecker program is an incredible learning experience for students who get to live fully immersed in a French culture. And the students really seem to enjoy it.”

The Frecker program started back in the 1970s and over 1,500 students have attended to date. The program used to be offered at the Frecker Institute, a building leased from the Catholic Diocese of Saint-Pierre, but it is now offered at the Francoforum, the French Language Institute run by local government. The purpose of the program is to allow students to complete their required second year courses in an immersion environment. While in Saint Pierre students take five required French courses: 2 intermediate French writing courses, phonetics, francophone culture and grammar and reading. Students commit to speak only in French with each other and their host family.

“The students get the opportunity to live fully in French for 13 weeks: going to the gym, cultural events, visiting classrooms in local schools, excursions, playing sports with local French teams, singing French songs and the list goes on,” added Ms. Jordaan.

When asked why the sudden increased interest in the program, Ms. Jordaan suggested heightened visibility.

“I do promotional visits to classrooms to let students know about the program and answer any questions. Also, the vast majority of participants are delighted with their semester and so, word of mouth certainly comes into play.”

Funding for the program comes from the Provincial Government and originates from Canadian Heritage. The funding takes the form of bursaries, each worth $1850, which are awarded to the program on behalf of each accepted student. Interested students can consult the Web site http://arts-srv.arts.mun.ca/frecker/ or contact Ms. Jordaan directly by email at cjordaan@mun.ca or the Department of French at 737-7636.