Since his childhood, Gustavo Henrique Alciati has been fascinated by the French-speaking world. This young Brazilian even made it his goal: to go to Montréal, study French and integrate into Québec. He succeeded thanks to the École de français de la Faculté de l’éducation permanente.
Only nineteen years old, Gustavo Henrique has always dreamed of studying outside Brazil. However, that is not his immediate family’s custom. His great aunt had given him a taste for freedom. She traveled outside Brazil a lot and when she returned home, Gustavo, then five years old, was the first to want to hear everything about her travels. He was her best audience, especially when she told him about her trips to France.
Since he was little, he loved the French language and, at his request, his parents sent him to a French school in Sao Paulo, his hometown. At the end of high school, the young Brazilian began preparing his applications for university when he met members of the Université de Montréal in Brazil. His dream of studying in French outside his country becomes a little more achievable. “I liked the idea of living in Montréal, it seemed like a fascinating city. I love French, art, culture and Montréal values that. It really appealed to me,” explains Gustavo.
His dream comes true in August 2023, when Gustavo arrives in Montréal. He has some basic knowledge of French, but is not used to expressing himself fluently. “In secondary school, they didn’t place enough importance on learning languages, at least in Brazil. So I had the basics, but I didn't practice enough. I finished my secondary school in 2021, and did not speak a word of French until 2023,” explains Gustavo, who today, six months after arriving in Québec, speaks French at a good level.
The importance of École de français courses
Gustavo began his preparatory year at the Université de Montréal in the fall of 2023. “I took the French language studies diploma (DELF) in Brazil after secondary school, but when I arrived here, everything is in French, your daily life is lived in French, it’s totally different.” No choice for Gustavo, he must adapt quickly – on one hand to follow the courses and on the other to integrate into Québec society. “In my preparatory year courses, I took psychology, visual arts and philosophy courses and since I already had courses in French in these subjects in Brazil, it came back quite quickly, which reassured me as it became easier.”
Gustavo sees that he has progressed a lot in the few weeks since the start of the year. “There are three things that make me progress the most. The first is that, for some time now, I have forced myself to only speak French with everyone, even though I am more comfortable in English or Portuguese. Then, in my preparatory year, I take a literature course where we read one book per week. Lastly, and most essentially, are my intensive courses at the École de français.” Since the start of the winter 2024 session, the young Brazilian has been following intensive courses at the École de français de la Faculté de l’éducation permanente de l’Université de Montréal. “I didn’t think it would help me this much. But in the end I understood that it was important because I was able to understand grammar and conjugation, especially thanks to José Luiz Pedron, my teacher.” José Luiz Pedron is very positive when he talks about his student’s progress: “His attitude in class towards learning, his dazzling wonder when discovering a new aspect of French, and his ability to integrate and reuse new concepts and notions, which seemed to break the paradigms, fascinate me as a teacher nearing the end of my career.”
Study, practice, integrate
Studying a new language requires a lot of effort. Gustavo is fully aware of this. “It takes time to understand, but I have a lot of time to learn the language. Yes, the École de français courses are credited, but in any case, it’s essential to take the intensive courses. I would also say that you have to practice more and more, so as not to lose the habit. We must make this effort to better master the language and culturally integrate into Québec. It opens you up to another world.”
To progress faster, Gustavo reads a lot of books in French and is a member of the Cinémathèque québécoise, his method for integrating, remaining in the French-speaking world and practicing the language. Gustavo, who would like to become an artist and work in this world that fascinates him, will begin a bachelor's degree in linguistics at the Université de Montréal in the fall of 2024. “I am a lover of art, literature and cinema. I see these disciplines as languages to be analyzed.”