By Sophia Payne
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, French courses at UC Santa Barbara were in high demand. Today, French lecturer Marion Labatut has just eight students in her Intermediate French class — and she and her colleagues are determined to reverse the trend.
The French and Italian Department is now offering fun new programs and activities in hopes of boosting student interest and participation. That includes Francophone scavenger hunts, French film screenings, and conversation hours. There is even discussion about a future partnership with Education First in Santa Barbara, an international organization that specializes in immersion language training and educational travel.
Marion Labatut, French lecturer at UCSB, says that language is a mind-opener. She speaks about the personal and professional benefits of learning a second language.
The aim is to inspire students to fall in love with French and discover the personal and professional benefits of learning a second language. A key figure in these efforts is Labatut, who came to UCSB in 2011 on a year-long teaching exchange program with L’université Paris 8 in France. She fell in love with sunny Santa Barbara and found herself wishing she could stay. After completing her master’s degree in France, Labatut moved back to California and has been a lecturer at UCSB ever since.
Her passion for languages and her students is the driving force behind her teaching career. Before UCSB, Labatut was a French language assistant at a school for girls in the greater London area. In addition to teaching, she says she also enjoys sharing her culture with her students. Labatut sat down recently for an interview, discussing the drop in enrollment, as well as why she feels learning a second language is so crucial.
Q: Before COVID and the drop of enrollment, what was the biggest class you taught?
A: Wow. We had a hard time finding spots. There were long waitlists. We had some classrooms where students would sit on the floor because there was not enough room, while we waited to see which crashers would stay. Depending on the class, you are supposed to have as many students as authorized in the room. We could have up to 28 to 30. Sometimes I had more. I had a fellow instructor—she was a T.A.— and one time she had 36 students.
Q: Why do you think enrollment numbers have been low recently?
A: Other than the COVID pandemic, I am not sure…I don’t know about all the other language departments, but the ones I know of have also seen a decrease in their enrollment numbers. Hopefully they will be back. I am waiting for it to pick up. We are trying to encourage that by creating these partnerships and activities, and we are hopeful it will help.
Q: What is the department doing to encourage students to take French?
A: We really want to encourage our students, so whenever they do something that involves French, we give them extra credit. We have an activity going on right now, a Francophone Scavenger Hunt, or la chasse au trésor. There are 10-12 prompts, and students can choose any of the listed activities, like find a French painting on campus, act, or sing something in French. We are also talking with Education First. We are trying to set up an exchange between the French students taking English classes at Education First, and our French learners here at UCSB. It would be exchanging letters and conversation or meeting up. The students would have a 30-minute conversion in French and 30 minutes in English, so both parties benefit from the exchange.
UCSB has had a French Club for more than two decades, which took a hiatus during the COVID pandemic, when enrollments also dropped. French lecturer Marion Labatut and her colleagues are revving up extra-curricular activities to grow the numbers. Photo by Romuald Meigneux, Sipa, of French fans celebrating a World Cup soccer win.
Q: What is the aim of the French and Italian Department?
A: I can only really speak for the French side. We want to encourage students to discover French, fall in love with French, and minor or major in French. We want to attract more people to the language, to the culture, to Francophone literature, and to expand the popularity of French-speaking culture. In upper division classes, we have a lot of literature classes, especially about Caribbean culture. We also have classes on the Middle Ages, Renaissance literature, and some more contemporary ones as well… The point is to try to entertain the students so much that they love French, and they continue it.
Also, I think for us teachers of the French language, the goal is not only to enable access to the language, but also make it easier for people to learn. We know it is a difficult language. We know it has a lot of grammar, which I emphasize a lot. But it’s important, and it’s important to see how the language works, how a French brain works. The mentality, the culture, it all is connected. For me, grammar is a path to introducing the way of thinking. Not just pure grammar for the sake of grammar.
Q: Why do you think it is important to learn another language?
A: All the reasons in the world. It is good for your brain to practice, to learn another language. As I said, when I insist on grammar, it is also to focus on how the French-speaking brain works. The French language demonstrates the attitude, the mentality, the culture. It’s a whole different mindset, really. It’s the same for any language; you will have to think in the language. It is important to learn, because you expand your brain, you expand your vision, and you travel. It enables you access to original works, like in French you can read Molière in its original version. The same way, I was stoked to be able to read Shakespeare in its original version. I mean, you can read the translation, but that’s not the same. That’s my perspective of things. But without even thinking of literature or art in general, it is just important to learn ways to enrich your brain and think differently, to open your mind. A language is a mind-opener.
Q: What are the career opportunities available to students learning French?
A: So many. First, you can travel to France. You get to communicate and interact with locals, meet new people, and find possible opportunities on the spot. It can also enable you to study in France, to get a French degree, to get an equivalent of your American degree, and be able to teach in France, for instance. There are many options when it comes to teaching, but you can also do other things.
There’s journalism: you can be a reporter abroad. You can work for French organizations in the world. There are plenty. You can also travel and work in different French-speaking countries, there are many of them in Africa and Canada. Other work opportunities even include science-related paths. French can help with chemistry. We have a lot of opportunities for chemistry and physics in Canada, Switzerland, and France. At any job at this point, when it comes to communication, it is important to have one or two additional languages. Whether it’s French or not, another language or two is always a plus.
Sophia Payne is a third-year Communication major at UC Santa Barbara. She wrote this article for her Digital Journalism course.