Learning a new language

One. Two. Three.

That’s all Aidan Jones could say in French when she walked through the doors of Ruth Inabnet’s Coeur d’Alene home earlier this month.

By the end of the weeklong French camp, the 7-year-old from Post Falls could sing entire songs in French and even order meals.

She got to sample some French treats: Le biscuits.

“Le biscuits are really good cookies,” she said.

A half-dozen children signed up for the first session of French Language Summer Camp – an idea that Inabnet and North Idaho College French instructor Beatrice Heberer came up with after meeting in a French conversation group.

Several parents said they signed up their kids because they were looking for a little bit of culture in North Idaho.

Sarrah Jones of Post Falls took a French refresher course from Heberer and found out about the summer camp and decided to enroll Aidan.

“It’s good to introduce your children to other cultures and that’s kind of hard here in North Idaho,” Jones said.

Tracie Pistocco of Post Falls said she was searching for the same and decided to enroll her daughter, 7-year-old, Dea.

For Hannah Melton, French camp was a chance to learn even more about French, a language she began studying in kindergarten.

“I learned that je m’appel is two words,” she said.

That means “My name is.”

In a skit the children performed for family and friends on the last day of camp, Hannah played the role of Mademoiselle Nicole, a waitress at a French restaurant.

Christiane White is French and said she was ashamed to admit she hadn’t taught the language to her grandson, Ricky. “We’re planning a trip to Paris, so Ricky really wanted to learn,” White said. “He enjoyed the class.”