Bonjour tout le monde, je suis ravie de faire partie de votre communauté.

Hello everyone, I am happy to be a part of your community.

Je m’appelle Elizabeth Schmermund and, since I will be taking on weekly blogging responsibilities for the French Language and Culture Blog, I’d love to tell you a little bit about myself.  Hop, on y va!

I am a doctoral student (doctorante), freelance copywriter, wife and mother, and hopeless Francophile. I wear many hats, but one thing is consistent: I love writing, and I love writing about French language and culture. That’s why I think I’ll be a good fit here.  Je suis sûre qu’on va bien s’entendre ici!

Studying abroad was the defining moment in my life. At 21, I moved to Paris for a year, and my second week there, I met my husband, Fadi. Fadi is a Frenchman, but he’s got an interesting background: He’s half-Algerian, and half-Iraqi. The beur, or Arab, population in France is large and is an important part of contemporary French culture. I loved learning about the confluence of French and North African traditions in Paris through Fadi’s family, and I’ll write more about this one day.  We lived together for two years there.  Il faut dire que tous les jours Paris me manque, meme si on y retourne tous les étés.

I spent several years living in France and then moved back to New York to do my MFA in writing at The New School. Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to go for my doctorate in comparative literature and cultural studies. I’m currently in my third year of studies, and I love what I do: I get to study French literature and culture, along with women’s studies, and Arabic language texts. My dissertation is likely to be on female narratives involving the Iraq War and the civil war in Lebanon, although this might change. I understand that a dissertation topic is something you’ve really got to love enough to research for years and years on end…  C’est comme si cela ne termine jamais!

Un peu plus sur moi: I love good movies, especially comedies and documentaries. I’ve spent four years learning Arabic, although I’m beginning to realize it’s a lifetime project. I have a nineteen-month old son named Theo (pronounced Tay-O in French) who keeps me on my toes and is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine, otherwise known as Thomas le petit train. I love to run and, in my spare time, I write novels that may never see the light of day.

But here’s the most important part of all this: I am thrilled to write for your community, and I would love to hear from you. Please tell me about topics you would like for me to write about, tricky grammar issues that you’d love someone to explain, or anything else you’d like to see on this blog.

I’m writing for you, my dear readers, so let me know what would make you happy.

A plus!