Going into his IUHPFL summer, Brian Murray didn’t have a high level of French, according to his own evaluation. Compared to the other students in his cohort, he had trouble understanding and expressing himself. Now, he’s a French teacher, has French citizenship, and is married to a woman originally from France. The two are currently raising their two Franco-American children in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Brian Murray remembers arriving in Brest, France in 2001 and feeling lost initially. For the first few days he took cold showers because he didn’t know how to turn on the hot water or how to explain the problem to his host family! Brian’s French slowly improved as he enjoyed long meals with his family and went on excursions with the group. Then, somewhere around the two- or three-week mark, something clicked for Brian. The no-English rule helped him to improve fluency to a point where communication was no longer something he struggled with.
After his IUHPFL experience as a stagiaire, French became part of Brian’s identity, and his first summer in Brest helped clarify his goals and path in life. He came back to the United States with a passion for French and the drive to become a teacher. Brian’s instructors had served as role models that he wished to emulate. He excelled in his language classes and studied French at IU, going abroad to Aix-en-Provence where he met his wife. He then completed his masters in French instruction. In 2009, eight years after his summer in Brest as a student, Brian was hired as an IUHPFL instructor in Brest. Revisiting the city that had started his language journey gave him a double perspective. He was able to see the city as an adult, but he also remembered what it was like to be in a new place without the communication skills he had now. As Brian’s stagiaires saw the Palace of Versailles for the first time, he experienced their initial shock and awe vicariously. In 2010, Brian taught as an instructor again, this time in Saumur.
For eighteen years, Brian has had various jobs teaching French and English as a Foreign Language in the United States and France. If he could give future IUHPFL students one piece of advice, it would be, “It is important to go in with positivity and an open mind. Communication might not be easy in the beginning, or you may get lost a few times, but it is worth it.” Brian’s academic, professional, and personal life were all influenced by his participation in IUHPFL, both as a high school student and an instructor.
