"Bonjour!" Early each school day, the sounds of students greeting each other in French echo through the campus of Yongchun High School in Taipei. The students here have caught "French fever," and thats lucky because French is actually a required course for entering freshmen. French teacher Chou Ying-chis teaching methods are lively and engaging, and Chou is a favorite faculty member among students. Yongchun principal Yang Ju-ching says that the schools promotion of French as a second language has been going on for some years now, originally as an elective option, but seven years ago French became a required course for students here.

Compared with other high schools that use multiple electives or use informal classes to encourage students to choose courses, Yongchun is the only school in Taiwan that requires French.

Chou is one of a handful of qualified full-time French teachers in Taiwanese high schools today, as well as the guiding spirit behind Yongchuns promotion of French. She teaches using multiple methods, putting together activities to flesh out the language, and makes her own teaching aids. Her efforts have made French classes a popular course at Yongchun, and she has become something of a superhero to students.

With "song appreciation," wine tasting, and French poems all parts of the curriculum, Chou says that freshmen French is mostly videos and songs, and not too much grammar is discussed. The aim is to stir up interest and teach everyday things in a practical way, so that students can get their French feet wet and generate greater interest in learning the language.

By sophomore and junior year, other electives are available so that those who are interested can continue their studies.

Principal Yang says that the school has a full time French teacher mostly because of the older students. Among Yongchun grads, quite a few go on to major in French or other foreign languages, and the school has even set up a sister school relationship with a French school for student exchanges. At present, EU and French education officials are visiting as well.

In addition to Yongchun, Chingmei Girls High School and Tatong High also offer second languages to students. Chingmei offers Korean, German, French, Japanese and Spanish, with freshmen required to choose one. Tatong also offers German, French and Japanese, which are required courses for new students.