French Club is rebooting itself and aims to transport Georgia Southern University students into a francophone world, bi-weekly and throughout the semester.

“I found it fascinating that there are so many French speakers on this campus. There are many different dialects. It’s crazy how much French is out there in the world. It’s one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union,” John Goodrich, senior international studies major and French Club president, said.

French Club is open to all proficiencies of French speakers and those who are just interested in French culture.

“As a French major I really enjoy it. It gets you more comfortable talking in French with other people. No one gets made fun of and it’s a very accepting environment. You can’t get that much one-on-one in class,” Maria Amiel, freshman international studies and French major, said.

“Speaking is one of the hardest parts of learning a language. I’m trying to help all levels of French speakers and I want everyone to feel comfortable. One thing that I am trying to do this year is provide tutoring outside of the club,” Goodrich said.

GSU also has a host of students whose native language is French including students from Burkina Faso, Belgium, France, Morocco and many other countries.

“I think it is helping to spread knowledge about French and French speaking countries. I was able to share my culture and learn about other cultures as well. We learned that many other West African countries speak French and that a lot of English words come from French,” Brice Tonde, English language program student, said.

French Club is also planning to have many activities this year including movie nights, music, games, trips and a talent show.

“We can learn the culture here and not just focus on the language like we do in class. I’ve learned about how life is there opposed to here, food and even jokes,” Amiel said.

They have not made any major plans yet because they want to see what people want from the club and work toward building it up together.

Goodrich said, “It’s not just a place to come because you are taking French. It’s a place to come because you enjoy the language and want to take the time to learn information about it freely.”

The first meeting of the semester will be held tonight at 4:30 p.m. in Forest Drive room 1311.