This year my French III teacher decided to organize a “camp d’immersion” for students of French, for interested students in her online classes and local students who wanted to experience a weekend of French language and culture.

My parents and I drove six hours down to Atlanta for this “camp d’immersion,” and the trip was definitely worth it!  Our goal for the weekend was to speak French the entire time, and even though it was a challenge, everyone did really well. It was difficult to not slip into English, but for almost the entire weekend, my brain was in French mode! I even found myself thinking in French Sunday morning. 

Right when we got there the first day, we had some brie & baguette. My French teacher was incredibly accommodating and made almost every meal we had gluten-free.   For dinner we had quiche and salad, which was surprisingly good, as I haven’t had quiche in a while. 

On the first evening, we spent time playing several board games that Mme. Summer modified so that we could play them in French, like Headbandz with French words to guess, Spot It (which there is a French version of), and Guess Who? 

The game that worked best in French was definitely Headbandz, because it gave us a chance to practice a wide variety of vocabulary words and learn some new ones as well. One girl had glasses as the object she was trying to guess, and she was wearing glasses, so we gave her the hint “it’s something very close to you” and it took an amusingly long time for her to get it. All of those games were just as fun, if not more fun, in French. 

Saturday was our full day together, and Mme. Summer planned so many different activities.  And every few hours, we had the chance to sample different traditional French foods.

The crepes we had for breakfast were some of the best I’ve ever had. I asked Mme. Summer for the recipe so I could attempt them at home! My favorite filling was the Nutella and strawberry combo, of course, but strawberry jam with strawberries was a close second.

Before lunch, we played a game called petanque, something I learned how to play when I was around eight in Paris. It’s played with metal balls and it’s a game of skill. Everyone really liked the game, and we spent around two hours playing it outside. 

For lunch the second day, we each made our own croque monsieur, which is a traditional French sandwich with cheese, ham, and bechamel sauce. 

In the afternoon, we played a game called Est-ce-que tu aimes ton voisin?  (Do you like your neighbor?)  and the goal was to use our French vocabulary to make up creative hints to get other people in the game to move around in the circle. I really enjoyed this game, and I think it’d be so much fun to try and introduce it to some of my other friends who speak French! 

For dinner, we had another traditional French dish: tartiflette.  The combination of  bacon, potatoes, and cheese was delicious!  Definitely another recipe I want to try at home.  

Our last French treat was dessert, a wonderful pot de creme. Those are typically made with chocolate and are a very rich, decadent, thick chocolate pudding. Think of a much denser mousse. 

Overall, I’m so glad I went to the “camp d’immersion.” It was really beneficial to my French, especially my writing. The conversational benefits were fantastic, and I’m hopeful that I will be able to attend again next year!