Allons-y!

Traveling to a foreign country can be an exciting experience for anyone, and learning a new language can be just as fun.

Junior Jacob Larson traveled to Cherbourg-Octeville, Normandy, a region in France, as a foreign exchange student during his sophomore year.

Larson was mainly in France to become fluent in French, and he achieved just that.

“Before [I went to France] I thought I knew the language, but as soon as you hop into it [a conversation], they start speaking, and you’re like, ‘I don’t understand you because you’re speaking too fast,’” Larson explained.

Larson also helped in his newly adopted community.

“Over there, I was active with Interact, which is a youth organization which provides services to help other people around the world.”

While living in a foreign country, your daily life can completely change. Even your diet is different!

“It [the food] was different because in France, you [naturally] eat French food. You don’t really eat anything else,” Larson stated.

According to Larson, even the school lunch food in France is a lot better than the cafeteria food in America since it is all local and freshly made daily.

If that isn’t enough reason to travel to France, I don’t know what is!

Larson started studying French during seventh grade with Madame Melanie Barker, and he continued to learn until he was ready to leave the country by himself for a year. In fact, becoming bilingual was Larson’s goal. His determination to learn a new language is admirable.

“I wanted to speak fluently with my sister [who spent her junior year in France], and I thought the language sounded pretty,” explained Larson.

If you’re learning a new language, go for it. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss out on, advised Larson.

Learning about other cultures outside of Beaver is a journey one can never forget.

“I would definitely recommend it; it’s very eye-opening to see another culture and speak another language. Just to see a different point of view from the U.S. and [to participate in] our relations between different countries throughout the world is amazing,” Larson concluded.