Seminar’s participants Andres Diaz Hernandez, Renato Lago Pereira Chaves, Caroline Archambault, Gérard Pelletier, Jérémie Ruellan, Valérie Patenaude, David Prince and Taïeb Hafsi. (Absent : Deepshikha Priyadarshini and Stefan Tams.)
The first “French week” at HEC Montréal, from March 18 to 21, was a perfect opportunity to highlight the importance of French at the School and to reflect on its role in the business community and management research.
A number of different activities were held during the theme week organized by the Centre de formation en langues des affaires (CFLA):
The event’s organizers were delighted with the success of this first edition, which raised a number of valuable questions, and increased awareness of the CFLA’s services and activities.
They plan to hold “French week” at the School again in the coming years.
Andres Diaz Hernandez
“Sure, it would have been easier to write in English. But I decided to get out of my comfort zone a bit,” says Andres Diaz Hernandez, explaining why he chose to do his Master’s and write his thesis in French.
The student, whose mother tongue is Spanish, spoke fluent English when he enrolled at HEC Montréal. Andres got help from the CFLA in improving his knowledge of French, to the point that he felt confident enough to consider writing his thesis in his third language.
“It’s challenging […], but I’m finding it a great experience,” he adds.
He specializes in applied economics, and his thesis deals with the influence of education quality on a person’s future income.
During the seminar held during French week, Andres presented his research in French to the audience.
Renato Lago Pereira Chaves
Renato Lago Pereira Chaves came from Brazil less than a year ago to complete a PhD in management, strategy and organizations, and is determined to perfect his knowledge of French. He has already made great strides with the help of the CFLA.
He was also one of the students who spoke at the seminar on the role of French in management research.
“I needed to learn French for professional and personal reasons,” he explains. “[My goal] is to settle here, so for me, French is essential. Besides, I like the French language.”
Like the vast majority of PhD students, he is hoping to have his papers published in scientific journals. For that reason and because he is more at ease in English for the moment, he has begun writing his thesis in English.
But he remains open to writing one of the three papers for his PhD in French and emphasizes that he is definitely interested in eventually publishing his research findings in French.
The dictation’s winners Benjamin Brunot, Renato Lago Pereira Chaves, Lucie Séguin et Matthieu Gruson, flanked by Jean Elsliger and Valérie Patenaude. (Absent: Winner Janet Chan.)
Students
1st prize: Benjamin Brunot ($400) – 14.5 mistakes
2nd prize: Matthieu Gruson ($200) – 19 mistakes
3rd prize: Janet Chan ($100) – 21.5 mistakes
Staff
1st prize: Lucie Séguin ($50) – 12.5 mistakes
Special CFLA prize
1st prize: Renato Lago Pereira Chaves ($50)
Winners received gift certificates from the HEC Montréal Co-op.
