Thanks for sitting down with us! Could you tell us a little about your family and your experience with Bonjour NY in general?
My pleasure! I have 2 kids – my little one is 5 and the older one is 10. I always wanted my kids to be able to speak French, but both my husband and I are American. I took a little French in college, but no one speaks it at home. I was very happy to find Bonjour NY; they’ve given me exactly what I wanted. In terms of our experience with the camp overall, we signed up for 4 weeks in July and my boys were very happy there. My little one came home every day singing French songs, and told me so many stories about [his counselors] Martin and Val! Even my older one was happy to get to camp so he could play with his friends.
Wonderful! What about your experience with the Bonjour NY staff?
Counselors were great. One would always immediately come up to my kids in the morning to welcome them and to answer whatever questions I had. Amazingly, they were as energetic in the afternoon when I came to pick the kids up! Everyone was very patient and warm. They immediately put my non-French speaking kids at ease. After five minutes on the first day, both were happily playing games with the counselors and talking with the other kids in their groups.
What do you think was the best part?
As a parent, I was particularly happy that Bonjour NY offered so many different activities. My older son really loves soccer and it was hard to find a compromise between the French I wanted and the activities he did. At Bonjour NY, he played soccer, in French! He loved not having to be the big brother all the time too and was happy to do his own thing with kids his age. And even when it rained, the kids still had fun! It was very easy to leave my kids in the morning as I knew they’d be well taken care of.
Which were your boys’ favorite trips?
[laughs] My little one still wears the hat he made at Le Pain Quotidien sometimes. After he saw the polar bear at the zoo, my big guy kept asking to go back! So I’d say those were their favorites.
That’s great! How about their French? Did you see progress?
Yes I did. The weekly themes were great because the kids learned and then used the same words while they played all week. I remember when they learned “cow” and “tractor” and then went to a farm where they got to actually milk a cow and ride on a tractor! It really brought the language to life for my kids. I even learned some words myself!
Would you recommend Bonjour NY to friends?
Absolutely. We’ll definitely be back next summer! I’m even thinking of signing up for an after-school program so my kids get some French during the school year as well.
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