Kristin Houdyshell, Boston University Part 2

I’m currently in French 111 (Beginner French) at Boston University and this was my second time using TalkAbroad and I had such a great time. We had to do an online exam in French, where we asked our partner about their likes and dislikes in art, music and books. We were assigned the task of asking interview style questions, learning about our partner and their culture and writing a biography (in French) afterward—about what we learned.

When going online and starting the assignment, I was really nervous to have a new partner. I had used TalkAbroad before and was familiar with the website and style of the conversation. Based on other students’ experiences, Camille was recommended to me by my professor as being great for beginners. As soon as I started talking to Camille, I could see why other students liked talking to her so much. Camille was so energetic, animated and took the time to answer all of my questions, talk about various topics and her culture. Camille is from Québec City, in Canada, and loved talking about all of the holiday traditions and markets that one can do there. I also felt like Camille was truly interested in what I had to say and reacted to all of my comments and answers with great enthusiasm and excitement. This made me feel really comfortable with speaking another language, using my French and getting to know other people on TalkAbroad and in francophone cultures.

As soon as I was done talking with Camille I felt excited to turn in my assignment, talk about them in our follow-up biography and thank my professor for recommending Camille. When I was done, I also got an email from TalkAbroad, in regards to submitting my assignment and checking the quality of the video before submitting it to my professor. It was nice to go back and review the conversation, make comments about how it all went and share my experience. We have had to use TalkAbroad since this conversation and I’ve always been eager to talk with Camille again and practice more of my French. I’m looking forward to the next time we get to use TalkAbroad and want to keep practicing talking to other people in French.