French for the Future » Featured Student: Kayla Whitesel

Featured Student: Kayla Whitesel

February's featured student is Kayla Whitesel.

Kayla has lived in a small city in Ontario called St. Thomas her entire life. She has been in the French program for seven years and will continue with French in a gifted class during her final semester of high school (Parkside Collegiate Institute).

She has recently decided to represent her high school in the Thames Valley District School board’s Concours d’art oratoire. There she will present, by heart, an original piece.
She will attend university next year, studying French and English. Last summer, after having travelled in Ireland and Scotland for the first time, she developed a great love for travel (and a great fear of flying) that helped her make the choice to become a travel journalist after university.

Kayla is a very active participant in the music program at Parkside. She is a member of the choir and the orchestra and has been involved in three musicals, both on and off stage.

Kayla was nominated as student of the month by her teacher, Dennis Dlouhy.

Name: Kayla Whitesel
Age: 17
Grade: 12
City: St. Thomas, Ontario
First language: English
Favourite music: I love many kinds of music, but my favourites are jazz, reggae and alternative.
Favourite food: vegetarian food
Favourite French book: Le Comte de Monte Cristo. I also love the film.
Favourite way to practice French: I like to write in French and I try to do so as much as possible.
Why she thinks it is important to learn French: There are many important reasons to learn French. French is spoken in many countries. It’s important for opportunities in the world of business and to communicate with people around the world. It’s important in order to meet new friends and, for me in particular, to travel.
Best experience "en français": I visited Montreal where I spoke for the first time with Francophones. It was difficult, but I survived!
The coolest Francophone country is, in her opinion: France, of course. I would love to travel there.
How she will use her French skills in the future: I would like to work as a journalist and be able to write in both French and English.
Where she would like to go: I would like to go to France, Italy, and Russia.

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