Parlez-vous Francaise?

Young Chang

In one little nook near the Back Bay, the tea is labeled Baribel, a

French brand, instead of Lipton. The coffee is Nescafe and not Folgers,

the minority accent is American.

And once you’re at the French-American Cultural Center, you’re also in

the city of Costa May-za, accent on the ‘za.’ Not Costa Mesa.

Touches like these help Laurence Doimo, who moved to the United States

seven years ago from France because of her husband’s job, feel like she’s

in a Little France -- where her accent is nothing to notice, where others

also miss the cozy street-side cafes, souffles and art museums from back

home.

“Because you meet people who like France,” said Doimo, who helped

start the Center two years ago. “I talk about France all the time. I went

to the Center this morning and I saw a French woman I never saw.”

When Doimo and fellow organizers launched the language-teaching group,

they brought private lessons to people’s doors. Funds piled up while rent

didn’t need to be paid. Last September, a space in Costa Mesa opened up

and the center moved in. There were 16 children enrolled at that time.

Eight months later, the roster shows 57.

Children between ages two and 16 from all over Orange County take

classes in French here -- some are from France, some are American, some

are American in citizenship but have French roots -- while working adults

benefit from corporate lessons.

MGE UPS Systems, a supplier of power systems and power conditioning

units based in Costa Mesa, does business often in France. Its employees

take conversation lessons from Center teachers.

For both adults and children, instructors use a curriculum from the

French Ministry of National Education called CNED -- the Centre National

d’Education -- and offer classes in four different levels as well as

summer, private and company programs.

“Our clients are either French people here for a short period of time

and want to make sure the kids keep the same level [of language], or for

American kids who have attended French schools in America,” said Pascal

Leon, education director at the Center.

The group also holds social events, like Mardi Gras parties in

February, and makes their library of 800 books available for visitors.

“In Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, it has a big French community,” said

Doimo, who added that it’s a tight group.

Pascal said this community includes Franco-phones -- those who speak

French but aren’t French -- such as people from Vietnam in Westminster

and Little Saigon.

Victoria Juan, whose 5-year-old daughter Sophie takes lessons twice a

week, says the Center is an important part of her child’s life.

“For many reasons. Basically, she has a lot of family in France, but I

also think the diversity . . . that there are so many other cultures now,

and I think it’s important to learn other languages,” said Juan, whose

husband is French.

Why start so young? Learning a second language as early as possible

has been proven to help kids in other academic areas such as math, Leon

said.

“And it opens their mind for a different culture,” he added.

Sophie can say “hello,” “goodbye,” “I love you” and name toys in parks

such as slides and swings in French. During a phone interview this week,

she is too shy to take the phone from her mother and say “I love you”

like the French do.

Finally, from a distance in an echoing room, she shouts, “Je t’aime!”

Alexandra Brinkman, also 5, didn’t know any French when she started at

the Center last year.

“She can introduce herself and her name and how old she is, she knows

all the colors, animals, games in French and French songs,” said mother

Natalie Brinkman. “The teacher takes a long time working on

pronunciation.”

She added that her daughter was also, once, a bit shy.

“Going there has helped her with her shyness and brought her out a

little bit,” said Brinkman, who is English and married to an Englishman

who speaks French.

Doimo, a mother to two kids, wants to make sure the family doesn’t

lose touch with their native language.

“Because [my husband and I] are both French, I think it’s very good

for the kids to learn two or three languages,” she said. “For me, it’s

open mind of the kids and also we don’t know if we are going back or no

and I want to keep the French language.”

FYI

WHAT: The French-American Cultural Center

WHERE: 2651 Irvine Ave., Suite 150, Costa Mesa

CALL: (949) 642-6424