France 101

Amy Florian is attending a youth conference in France. (Nick Pearce Photo)

How does spending two weeks of your summer in the south of France sound?

Well, that’s exactly what 21-year-old Amy Florian will be doing this summer. Ms. Florian, originally from the Annapolis Valley, was one of four students selected from the Atlantic Provinces to represent the region at a youth conference in Montpellier, France. She is doing a double major in biochemistry and French and just completed her third year here at Dalhousie.

Along with being President of the Dalhousie Arts and Social Sciences Society and the commissioner for the DSU Vice President, Ms. Florian found time to write a paper to France’s representative to the Atlantic Provinces explaining why she should represent Atlantic Canada at the youth conference in France this July.

“Let’s just say my paper started at six pages and had to be whittled down to two,” she says with a laugh. “I just wanted to list all the reasons I wanted to go.”

The strongest message in Ms. Florian’s letter was that in order to fully appreciate a language you have to live it. “So actually going to France would give me a better appreciation of the language I’m studying.”

On March 20, Ms. Florian attended a French movie screening and discussion where she learned she had been chosen to attend. “I was SO excited,” she recalls.

Ms. Florian will be staying with a French family while she’s in France to study.

“Every morning I will be studying at university to improve my French, but in the afternoons there will be activities and workshops all regarding French culture; I’ll be learning things like French dance, and history and visiting vineyards.”