Daniel
Throughout my upbringing, I was surrounded by many family members and strangers who were multilingual. I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, but spent most of my childhood in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 200 languages are spoken. One of the most common languages in the Congo is French, which is my first language. I attended an international private school where I began learning English at the age of five. However, whenever I was not in school, I was immersed in the French language.
I loved watching shows on Canal+ like Angelo la Débrouille, Le Petit Nicolas, and my mom’s and my favorite show, Les Experts: Miami (CSI Miami), which aired every Sunday at noon on TF1. So yes, I was fluent in French and spoke it daily with my friends, parents, and siblings. But later on, I realized that something was missing. When I returned to the U.S. for high school, I was required to take a foreign language class, and I chose French, thinking it would be easy since I was fluent. My first French class was fairly simple, and I passed with a 100%. However, it wasn’t until I advanced to higher-level French courses that I realized I wasn’t as fluent as I thought. Although I spoke the language every day back in the Congo, I rarely had the opportunity to practice reading and writing in French, as all of my school materials were in English. I started to reflect and realized that I had been so focused on learning English that I had neglected the development of my first language.
By senior year, I began to truly appreciate the French language and recognized the need to improve my reading and writing skills. That’s why I decided to minor in French and take as many French courses as I could at UIC. I recently read a book called L’Étranger in Professor Ireland’s class – thinking back, I realized it was actually the first French book I had fully read. That realization struck me, and it motivated me to continue studying French and learning something new every day!