Two French women open school to teach their language in Naperville

Laure Imbert moved to Naperville on March 20 and one month later, she was on her way to giving the area something it didn't have: a French language school.

Ecole Francaise FLAM Greater Chicago hosted its first classes in September, teaching 13 students ages 4 to 9 the vocabulary, grammar and structure of a language they already speak at home.

"The school is a little bit beyond the idea of speaking French," Imbert said. "In parallel to learning French, we emphasize the culture, the books, the songs the literature - even at a very young age."

Imbert worked with fellow French native Caroline Cezilly, who had been a teacher in her home country, as well as the FLAM program of the French government for "Français langue maternelle" or "French as a First Language" to establish the school.

"It's a program meant to diffuse the French language and culture around the world,helping families who don't attend the French school in their local country," Imbert said.

The deadline to receive FLAM program funding, which can support the first five years of operations if yearly applications are approved, was April 20, Imbert said. So while she was unpacking boxes after her family of six moved to Naperville from California, she was busy recruiting students via a Facebook group for French families in the Naperville area and setting up what she calls "a service to the French families - including mine."

"The kids really enjoy it," Imbert said about the French school, which meets on Saturdays for two-hour classes. "It creates a bonding of the French parent with his/her kids. They learn the same songs and read the same books we all used to learn as kids. They would not learn this content in their American school."

The school now is expanding starting Jan. 15 to offer 90-minute Wednesday evening classes for students ages 6 to 15 and adults ages 18 and older who are not as advanced at speaking French. Native-speaker classes are open to children ages 4 to 15. Tuition is $800 a year.

Brenna Verdier, who teaches French at Naperville North High School, said she plans to switch her 7-year-old daughter into the Wednesday evening class next month even though the family speaks French at home.

"With the strong influence of English at school, we needed a way to counteract that," Verdier said, "and we're just so glad we found the school to help."

Verdier said the school fills a gap of French learning for French-speaking families in the area with early learning that can help connect students to their linguistic roots.

"I have a lot of families from France who take French, but it's always been missing the mark for the younger siblings," Verdier said. "This is a great way to reach that demographic."

Guillaume Lacroix, French consul general in Chicago, said Thursday he has visited the school twice to offer the consulate's support, once in October and once last weekend. He said the population of French citizens in Naperville and surrounding suburbs is higher than even he realized at roughly 1,200 people. And he called it "impressive" how quickly Imbert and Cezilly established the new school.

"Clearly the initiators of the project had a clear vision in mind," he said. "They've been able to fulfill their vision in a quite impressive short amount of time."

The French school meets inside the School Readiness Center at 430 River Road in Naperville, in a space rented in a partnership Imbert said has been beneficial. It also is working to offer a French library for children's books, a children's choral club, a board game club and a cooking club.

For details, visit https://www.facebook.com/Eole-Francaise-FLAM-Greater-Chicago-2279705315576017/ or email eflamgc@gmail.com.