AUTHOR NARRATION
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Read by the author in the original English, including the French lines.
Ode to Mme. GodetEnglish narration
POEM + IMMERSION
Ode toMme. Godet
FRENCH GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL
Three Weeks in French.
Virginia’s Governor’s French Academy was a selective, three-week residential immersion for high-school students from across the state, held on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park campus in Richmond.
French was not confined to the classroom: it was used during meals, activities, entertainment, and everyday conversation. Participants pledged to speak French for the duration of the academy—the rule at the heart of the poem.
Several language academies shared the campus, forming a small “Global Village” in which language immersion mingled with residential life, performances, games, and exchanges among the programs.
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