LEWISTON — The Franco-American Heritage Center will conduct the winter session of its French Reacquisition classes beginning the week of Jan. 7. The classes run one night a week for six weeks and will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on ability.

Wednesday nights are for “false beginners,” who at one time possessed a basic level of French-speaking ability which may have diminished over the years though lack of practice. Participants get reacquainted with vocabulary, verb tenses and sentence structure in order to build on what they already know. Varied topics are used as a guide to help with speaking. The pace is relaxed and class is taught in both French and English.

Thursday nights are for those who speak French at an intermediate or advanced level and who wish to improve their confidence in a weekly forum where they get to practice alongside others with comparable abilities. These are conversational classes with very little grammar, and are taught almost exclusively in French. Materials vary and participants choose from a list of possible topics.

Teaching both courses will be Diane Pelletier-Perron. Born into a large Franco-American family in Lewiston, she has a bachelor’s degree in French and lived in France for 18 years, teaching and tutoring both French and English for more than 20 years.

“I’m delighted to see so many people getting reacquainted with their French language and heritage,” says Pelletier-Perron. “Speaking from my own experience, there’s a sense of satisfaction and pride when you can have a conversation in French and understand French news and cinema. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you last spoke French, you can definitely get it back. I did.”

Classes will be held in the Heritage Hall at the Franco Center. The total cost for the six classes is $75, and registration can be done via the telephone by calling 783-1585 or by emailing Joyce Coyne at jcoyne@francocenter.org. To register by mail, send contact information and payment to Franco-American Heritage Center, 46 Cedar St., Lewiston, ME 04240 Attn: French Reacquisition.

As the word “reacquisition” suggests, the classes are not designed for those who have never spoken any French at all and who have no experience with the language. The Franco Center also requires a minimum of eight people per class and if that threshold is not met, full refunds will be issued to those who have already paid.

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