Expanding the Circle: Middlesex’s New French Department

Join Harrison in his discovery of new French teachers M. Roodly Jean and M. Konrad Herath’s plans and hopes for the Middlesex French Program.

Have you ever been greeted with “Bonjour !” or “Ça va ?” as you walk down the hallway at the basement of Eliot Hall? If you have, you might remember feeling M. Jean and M. Herath’s contagious enthusiasm and positivity. If you haven’t, I encourage you to experience the place where you will discover the most authentic and welcoming learning of the French language and Francophone culture, from using your imagination to make posters about future scooters, to reading and talking about the French immigrant experience by Tahar Ben Jelloun, to laughing at a skit about a foreigner in Paris at the Soirée Francophone.

As an avid French learner curious about the future of this academic department, I sat down with the two new French teachers to discuss their backgrounds, surprises as well as difficulties during their transition to Middlesex, changes they have implemented in the program, and plans for the next few years. 

Born and raised in Haiti and speaking French, Jean found his passion in teaching French after switching his major from Chemistry to French at Bowdoin College. Before coming to Middlesex, he had taught at a private school in Connecticut. 

Like Jean, Herath had his desire to be multilingual early on growing up in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and surrounded by Arabic. “I was very much in the same place as a lot of students at Middlesex right now, so you don’t have to speak a language at birth or be in a 100% immersion environment to get really good at a language,” Herath notes, “If you want to learn a language, opportunities are always open to you.” This philosophy captures the essence of the Middlesex French program. 

When talking about their transitions to the Middlesex curriculum and lifestyle, “easy to put myself into the fold” was a constant refrain. When he first stepped foot onto this campus, Herath was surprised about how hard Middlesex students work. “The amount of workload is incredible,” he says. The day is not limited to the classroom and does not just end with the last bell; it continues with athletic practices, club meetings, and even conversations in French in the dining hall.

Looking forward, a big potential change is more elective courses. Some of these, as displayed in the course catalog, are Literature, Court-Métrages, Films, and Culture of the Francophone World in the Caribbean Islands and North America; in Asia, Europe, and the Islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans; as well as in Culinary Arts. Students who are interested in exploring the cultural aspects of French or hoping to pursue AP in their junior or senior year could take advantage of such electives.

The two, one a fan of the natural landscape and the other who loves an adrenaline rush, are also actively brainstorming new travel opportunities to Francophone countries and territories, taking students “beyond the classroom.” More feasible and less costly opportunities, such as a trip to Montreal during a long weekend rather than long-distance flights, can be very appealing. 

“Expanding the Circle,” as Jean aptly puts it, is what defines the French program and the Middlesex experience of learning a foreign language. “Don’t close doors that you don’t have to,” Herath echoes, seeing students drop French after they’ve met the minimum requirements to graduate. Instead of thinking of French as a language requirement you must pass through to graduate, it can also be engaging and enjoyable, even “the highlight of your day” when you have more to choose from.

Yes, learning French takes place in Eliot 1 and 11A, but it can also take place in the French castles of Rhode Island studying francophone architecture, the Quartier Français in Louisiana learning about immigration, and the gardens of Morocco appreciating the intersection of nature and art.

The French program built by Mme. Chantal Jordan over the past decades has been exceptionally strong, and Jean and Herath hope to be good stewards of that foundation. Continuing the focus on a strong grammatical base and intellectual conversations on a daily basis while adding more diversity to the learning experience, they together run a department that educates and prepares students to be the “citoyens du monde” — global citizens who master the language, appreciate different cultures, and absorb perspectives.

Harrison Huang