Two high students in New Jersey were inspired by their French teacher’s trip to Senegal with Vive l’expérience and launched a unique bilingual project that I would like to share with you. Here’s their story:
Bonjour! We are Eunsung and Dogyeong, rising high school seniors at Tenafly High School, New Jersey, and the founders of The Learning Compass. We are passionate about creating a community where children are heard, supported, and encouraged to be creative. Our mission is to help every child fit into a compassionate and supportive community.
We have decided to create our own picture books because we wanted to do more than simply donate goods or books written by others. Instead of simply running fundraisers and organizing drives to collect existing materials, we felt a strong urge to create something of our own– something that could carry our voices, intentions, and efforts directly to the people and children who read them. By writing and designing our own books, we were able to tailor the content to be more engaging, accessible, and culturally relevant, especially for communities where representation in literature is often limited. In doing so, we weren’t just giving a book– we were offering a piece of ourselves, hoping to inspire curiosity, confidence, and joy in every child who holds it.
Our teacher, Mme Megan Williams, played an inspiring and supporting role in mentoring and shaping the direction of our project. Her classroom is more than just a place to learn grammar and new vocabulary– it is a space where curiosity and cultural connection are actively nurtured. She consistently introduced us to meaningful experiences, such as participating in pen pal exchanges using her own resources and engaging with the broader Francophone community through units like Contes et légendes du monde, Manie Musicale and Tourisme Responsable. She also shared firsthand experiences and materials from her trip to Sénégal in 2023 with Vive l’expérience which helped us gain new perspectives about that beautiful corner of the Francophone world.
All these activities deepened our understanding of how language can create bridges between cultures, and they inspired us to extend our picture book’s impact beyond English-speaking audiences. Through her guidance, we began to see the value in reaching out to readers across the world, aligning with our mission to promote inclusive and accessible education.
Madame’s mentorship was especially significant in the process of translating our original English picture book into French. She provided thoughtful, detailed guidance and feedback that helped us maintain the integrity of our story while adapting it to suit the nuances of the French language and culture. Rather than treating translation as a mechanical task, she encouraged us to consider the playful tone and gentle emotions, ensuring that our message remained meaningful and engaging for French-speaking children.
We hope our book “Hippo’s Belly Bump” reaches children across the world who love to read, learn, and explore English and French. While our book may not be professionally published, it’s filled with creativity and purpose, dedicated to children. We hope our message about kindness and building an inclusive community resonates with the children who read it. And more than anything, we want them to enjoy spending time with the story, just as we enjoyed creating it.
We hope that children who may not always see themselves represented in books will be included as readers. Our goal is for young readers to feel seen, inspired, and curious when they open the pages. We also hope that families and educators who work closely with children in such communities will use the book as a tool to spark imagination and confidence.
Dogyeong: My dad used to learn French when I was little, and our family often traveled to Paris when I was young. Those trips made the French language feel warm and familiar– it was one of the first foreign languages I ever heard other than English. So when I entered high school, choosing French felt like a natural continuation of that connection. However, as I progressed my French studies at school, my understanding of the French-speaking world deepened. I came to realize that French is not just a language of France, but one that spans continents– spoken in countries like Senegal, Morocco, Belgium, and beyond. Since then, learning French became more than just an academic subject; it has become one of the gateways to engage with global communities and social issues. Through French, I found a meaningful way to combine my interests in language, storytelling, and global connection.
Eunsung: I first dipped my toes in French when I moved to Canada at the age of nine. After I moved to the U.S., continuing to study French gave me a sense of familiarity and helped me carry a piece of my identity into a new environment. Speaking and using French in Canada, the U.S., and later during a visit to France all felt different—the accents, the way people greet each other, even the simple phrase of “how are you?” varied. But that’s exactly what draws me to the French-speaking world: the way French is spoken may change from place to place, but at the end of the day, it connects people. The language that once helped me adapt has now become a thread running through my story. When I step back, I can imagine that thread weaving quietly outward—reaching a child reading our book or a reader discovering this blog page—and expanding into a shared connection, a continued sense of familiarity and belonging within the French-speaking world.
Visit our non-profit organization here: https://www.thelearningcompassnj.com/
Donate funds for our picture book: https://gofund.me/645fe7b4
Thanks for reading about this unique project. If you are interested in learning more about our French immersion trips FOR educators with educators, or leading a student trip, please contact Vive here.
– Katy Wheelock