Bonjour! One of the things I love most about Stern is how motivated students are to organize activities and pursue their interests. Recently, a handful of my friends and I expressed interest in learning or brushing up on our French. We mentioned this to a classmate from France and he instantly volunteered to start hosting a class on Thursday afternoons. While I was excited by the idea and his offer, I was weary as to how the class would actually shape up. Yesterday, I attended my first one and it was outstanding! We covered everything from pronunciation to grammar to conjugation. Everyone was clearly at different levels, but we enjoyed the company and asking each other questions. One of the aspects I enjoyed most was that this lesson was about chocolate. Our gracious teacher even brought us some from one of Manhattan’s finest Chocolatiers, La Maison du Chocolat. Needless to say, the chocolate didn’t last long around a handful of hungry and tired MBA students, but our conversations did continue.
I appreciated that our classmate looked to make these lessons center around culture. It was clear that he put thought and effort into our afternoon. For an activity that is not a formal club or class, it’s great how dedicated he was to sharing his knowledge with us, although this is not atypical for Stern students. Next week, we are going to focus on wine as a topic of culture and conversation. I think this is a lesson that can’t go wrong. I will report back on how these classes proceed. Until then, au revoir!