Hannah
I had always been interested in French as a little girl. I loved French children’s books like Le Petit Prince and Madeline. In school (and as an adult), I always enjoyed reading and learning about other people or other languages. I also would unconsciously say “excuse-moi” and other little French sayings I picked up over time.
It was not until high school that I could properly learn the language. I chose French because everyone freshman year of high school chose to take Spanish and I wanted to do something different. After taking the required 2 years, I ended up loving the language and decided to stay in the class. My teacher (Madame Watkins) made the classroom environment a place that welcomed questions and confusion. In addition to this, because so many people took Spanish, the French classroom setting felt familial because most French students remained with the same group of students each year. Also after the required language years were over, the amount of people remaining in the language classes was very small and this allowed for a more concentrated student to teacher ratio.
After high school, I knew I wanted to continue French because I wanted to continue all of the work I put in for 4 years. We did a lot of music comparisons and cultural comparisons, which always kept me engaged. I also intend to study abroad or work abroad and I feel it is important to have those skills. There are French-speaking African countries that have Maternal Health study abroad programs that greatly interest me. Having French skills would help be in formal/professional settings for those programs.
It can be difficult to be surrounded by people who have multiple languages and can attribute that language to a certain place. It is a reminder that Black history can often only be traced to a certain place and time.
I have also considered (if I am fluent enough) doing OPOL (one parent one language) to encourage my children to have more than one language , because many African Americans do not have the privilege of being attached to a language from a certain place because we did not have well documented history due to chattel slavery and erasure of written ancestry.