LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS - A fast-paced French greeting surprised Siobhan Quigg when she answered the phone a few weeks ago.

The Grade 11 student from Norman Wells found out she had been chosen to represent NWT at a French for the Future youth forum in Quebec City in February.

Siobhan Quigg, a Grade 11 student at Mackenzie Mountain School in Norman Wells, has been selected to represent NWT at a bilingual youth conference in Quebec City. - photo courtesy of Siobhan Quigg

"I was completely blown off my feet because I've never received a phone call in French before. It's a lot harder than in person to understand, I'll tell you that," Quigg said. "But once I finally regained my composure and started to understand what she was saying, I was very, very excited!"

Quigg, the daughter of two longtime educators, was raised in Norman Wells, where she's been taking French classes in school since Grade 1, inspired by a French-speaking kindergarten teacher who became her mentor.

"I really became interested in becoming fluent in the language in high school," she said. "I've had really good instructors to give me the building blocks to being bilingual."

The lessons paid off when Quigg heard about and successfully applied - out of 125 applicants - for the French for the Future program, which brings together 30 young French-speakers for a five-day conference to promote bilingualism from Feb. 25 to March 1.

Quigg is the only student attending from the NWT, and the sudden role of ambassador has her a bit nervous - some of the other youth claim French as their mother tongue, after all.

That's not true for Quigg, whose family hails from China and Ireland, but she loves learning about other cultures.

"Heritage has always been really important to me," she said. "I've lived my whole life in the North and I'm wholeheartedly Canadian. To be Canadian is to be a bit French because that's what our nation is - it's a bilingual country," she said, enthused by francophone culture and all it represents.

Asked what she's most looking forward to about the trip, Quigg unhesitatingly said she can't wait to eat French food, listen to the music, soak up all the culture.

"Even their language is beautiful. It's supposed to be the language of romance. In fact, one of my teachers once told one of the male students that if you have the ability to speak French, you can woo any woman. I don't think that will be helpful for me," she joked, "but it is a culture I'm looking forward to being familiar with."

It's not just the trip to Quebec that has Quigg excited. She likes the idea of coming back to Norman Wells to share what she's learned, especially since she one day hopes to be in a line of work that allows her to work with and help others.

"I've never gone on a trip where I've had to speak a second language for the whole time.

"It's definitely going to be a new experience and I'm really looking forward to it.

"I think I'll learn a lot and I'll use my French outside of the classroom."

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