FIVE STUEDNTS from Manchester-based Northern Caribbean University (NCU) will be spending a year in France as English language assistants in primary or secondary schools.

"This is really a landmark achievement for the department. To have the largest number of students participating in the French Government's English Language Assistantship Programme should motivate many other students to pursue and study French here at NCU," said Carol Fider, chair, English and Modern Languages Department, NCU.

Sharing Jamaican culture

The five students going to France this year are Sherica Green, Charlton Jones, Sanjae Sterling, Tavia Peterson and Quline Morris.

"I feel as if I stand out because French is not as common as Spanish. The French culture is unique and I want to be a part of it and to share my Jamaican culture with the French people," Mr. Jones said on being recognised.

The Department of English and Modern Languages has been participating in the French Government's English Language Assistantship Programme since 2003. Three students, including Kenesha Edwards, a recent graduate of NCU, who is currently pursuing her bachelors in foreign languages in France, made up the last group of NCU participants in 2005.

The announcement was made earlier this month during Language Awareness Week held at the NCU Gymnatorium from March 5-9. The event featured a book fair with local book publishers, along with language presentations by presenters such as Yasus Afari, Anouck Carre (French Embassy), Carlos Valero (Columbian), and Nathaniel Gracia (Haitian).

The five participants in this year's programme will leave for France in September or October.