Vol. 38, No. 18

11-14-2007
By: Adam King

Parlez-vous francais?

Students to get real-world language lesson from Blue Jackets’ goalie

Rostislav “Rusty” Klesla sat in the classroom-turned-European café, sipping coffee and eating pastries while having a lively discussion in his native Czech language.

The Ohio State students in Czech 101 and 104, who were on the opposite end of the conversation, had the dual benefit of meeting a National Hockey League player and conversing with a native speaker.

That initial September 2006 gathering was so successful for the Foreign Language Center’s GOAL (Go Local, Go Global) program that four more have taken place since, with other public figures meeting with students learning Hindi, Japanese, German and Spanish. The next will feature Klesla’s teammate, goalie and Canadian Pascal Leclaire, who will visit French 104.03 students Nov. 19 in Hagerty Hall.

“Our whole approach is we teach grammar and vocabulary as tools only and not in isolation so the students can do real-world things with the language,” said Wynne Wong, associate professor of French and director of French Basic Language Instruction. “GOAL is a perfect opportunity for them to do so. They find out information about a celebrity and they’re using French to discover these things. It reinforces our teaching approach.”

Not one person GOAL Coordinator Karen Sobul has approached about conversing with students has turned her down. They have included Indian author Nilu Damle; Japan-born Columbus Symphony Music Director Junichi Hirokami; former Columbus Crew members Ivan Becerra and Jose Retiz (both from Mexico) and current member Marcos Gonzalez (Chile); and OSU men’s tennis teammates Steven Moneke, a native German, and Chris Klingemann, an American who grew up speaking German with his parents.

“The students asked me about what I do in my spare time and about my family, what did they do while they were here, to find out stuff about me,” Klesla said in an interview on Fox Sports Network. “They know more about me than some other people. I opened myself to them and it was a fun conversation. It was pretty cool.”

Sobul started the program because she is a hockey lover and often watched foreign Blue Jackets players struggle with their English. She thought it might be a great idea to give those players a chance to speak in their native language without having to leave Columbus.

Sobul said she intends to act as both facilitator and middleman, seeking out speakers she finds interesting as well as acting on suggestions from others.

“We offer more than 30 languages, and if I had my way, we’d have a GOAL event for every single one of them,” Sobul said.

Diane Birckbichler, director of the Foreign Language Center and chair of the Department of French and Italian, says this innovative community outreach makes languages come alive for students.

“This is a way to make the students see languages are more than a grade and a class,” she said. “It’s an opportunity for them to see worlds outside their own and have an insider track on that.”

The students visiting with Leclaire will be in their fourth quarter of French, which Wong said should lead to solid conversations.

“At this level they’ve had instruction in all the basic grammar structures and vocabulary, and here we have them use it in real context,” Wong said. “There will be errors in the conversations, but they should be able to get their ideas across and comprehend native speakers.”

The program is more than just about language, however. Participants are immersed in the culture of the speaker. While the French 104.03 class is studying French contemporary society and Francophone countries such as the Ivory Coast, with Leclaire’s visit they will expand their curriculum to French Quebec and hockey.

In preparation, the students are learning to speak hockey terms in French and they will sing a national French Canadian song to welcome Leclaire. Wong, who taught for three years at Quebec City’s Laval University, is acting as native cook, preparing traditional dishes that should help Leclaire feel right at home (see menu in box).

Leclaire has received preparation as well to make sure he speaks clearly and gives students a chance to process what he says.

Freshman Sean Plaskett said he should be able to follow along easily, but he can’t quite speak French without hesitation. He expects this to be an experience he can use well beyond his graduation.

“I’m an aspiring psychologist and a premed minor,” said the New York native. “Broadening my horizons in breaking boundaries with language will help me with my patient care, especially when I start my own practice. So I support the whole idea of Ohio State bringing in opportunities like this for us.”

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