They hail from France, Germany and Argentina. Each is fluent in English. They adore traveling and strong coffee, and share a passion for teaching.

Meet this year’s Foreign Language Immersion House directors. As native speakers of French, Spanish and German, respectively, it is the job of Clementine Sagot-Duvauroux, Analia Musso and Anna-Lena Schenck to provide opportunities for upper-level students to hone their conversational skills and gain insights into another culture.

The trio hosts film screenings and parties, offers tutoring and assists professors in the classroom. As required by their student visas, Immersion House directors also enroll in three courses per semester.
 
“This is a peer learning relationship,” says Foreign Languages Professor Martine Motard-Noar. “The native speaker is also a student on campus, but is there to reinforce linguistic skills.”

Foreign language majors are required to either study abroad for one semester or live in a language house for an academic year. Some students choose to do both. Martin Camper ’07 moved into the Spanish House so he could prepare for a trip to Guatemala. 

“In the French house, the students don’t have a lot of speaking experience, but they have made a lot of progress because they are practicing the language” on a daily basis, says French House director Sagot-Duvauroux. Communicating in English inside a Language Immersion House is verboten. Prohibido. Interdit.

One frigid morning, the three were sipping hot coffee at the Budapest Café and laughing together like old friends, even though they have been neighbors for just a few months. The French House is actually an apartment in the new North Village and the Spanish House is next door on Pennsylvania Avenue. This year, there is no official German House so Schenck stays in the French House and hosts events at various locations around campus.

Exploring off campus was a highlight of their winter break. They managed to get to New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Montreal and Quebec. They say navigating new cities is easy — when you speak the language.