My Penpal

Diane Lemay lives in Fall River, MA, and is a wonderful and caring individual. She has a son named Marc who is married, and he has one child and is expecting another soon. She is very active with her computer and talks with students at Nobles via e-mail. She has high hopes of someday going to France or Montreal where she could speak French, a language at which she is very fluent. Diane enjoys whatching sports on television, and especially enjoyed the recent Winter Olympics. Because she is a kind person, she relishes helping people with computers and shares her plentiful knowledge with others.

Emily Holick is a current student at the Noble and Greenough school and is a pen pal of Diane Lemay. She has studied French for three years and is able to talk with Diane in French for practice with speaking the language. A seventh grader, Emily enjoys sports and being outdoors.

A collection of letters sent between Diane Lemay and Emily Holick

1st letter
Dear Mrs. Lemay,

Bonjour! My name name is Emily Holick and I am a seventh grader at Nobles. I would like to be your pen pal for my CPI class! I have learned that you speak French, and I also speak French at Nobles. I enjoy it very much! Maybe we could write to eachother in French sometime? Actually, I don't know a lot about the language; i have taken it for about four or five years. I have always wanted to go to Paris or anywhere in France!

Just some quick things about me so you can get a better idea of who I am: I really like reptiles, and I have five lizards and two tortoises. What do you think of reptiles? I also have a brother, Mike, who is a senior at Nobles.

I am just writing to say a quick hello, and I hope to stay in touch!

Talk to you soon!

-Emily Holick

******reply******

Emily, s'ils vous plaits, vous pouvez m'applez Diane..

Sa prends du tends pours parlez aux ecrits les mots en francais..Suis pas decouragez,vous avez la chance d'etudiez si sais un langage que vous voulez savoire ,je peut vous aidez avec sas...

Mois mas fete de naissance vas etre dimanche le 18... Le noms de mons fils et Marc Lemay ils travaillent pours le Local Musisc Station,et dans son maison...

Bien a demain et votre nouvelle amie,

Diane B-) :)

For the tranlation for Diane's letters in French click here!

******letter+reply******

Dear Mrs. Lemay,

Thank you for the letter! Wow...you are good at French! I wish that I was as talented as you in the language. It took me a little while to translate the letter, but I did it! I only wish that I could write to you in French. I can only write things about me or other people. Example:

Je suis Emily Holick. J'ai treize ans et mon anniversaire est le huit janvier. Mon frere s'appeller Mike, ma mere s'appelle Sally, et mon pere s'appelle Micheal. Est-ce son fils s'appelle? Talk to you later!

A DEMAIN VOTRE NOUVELLE AMIE,

Em

BONJOURS!!! JE SUIS TRES HEUREUSE DE FAIRE VOTRE CONNAISSANCE. VOUS ETES LA DEUXIEME FILLE DANS LE CP1CLASSE DE M.BERGEN QUAS VEUX MECRIRE EN FRANCAIS. MOIS AUSSI VOUDRAIS VOIRE PARIE FRANCE AUX MONTREAL QUEBEC.. MOIS J'AIME LE MUSIQUE, CHANTEZ, GARDEZ LES OLYMPIQUES SUR LE T.V., BASKETBALL, BASEBALL, FOOTBALL, AUSSI J'AIME A VOIRE UN MOVIE QUIS METTRE SUR LE DEVANT DE NOS CHAISE,ET J'AIME ETRE ENAVANT LE COMPUTER POURS ECRITS DES MOTS A MES NOMMES DE PLUMMES.

A DEMAIN VOTRE NOUVELLE AMIE,

DIANE B-)

******more letters******

Dear Diane,

How are you? Sorry that I haven't written for a while. I saw your video from when Mr. Bergen had interviewed you, and I was quite impressed with your French! I hope to visit soon when Mr. Bergen makes his next trip to you. It is very nice outside. Have you had a chance to enjoy the weather? Did you watch the Super Bowl? Green Bay lost! Oh well. School has been interesting, and I have taken your advice to try my best in every subject. I am losing a lot of things...I lost one of my gloves because I let someone borrow it! Oh well. Hope to talk to you soon!

Sincerely,

Emily

DON'T WORRY! AIYEZ-PAS PEURRE SI VOUS POUVEZ PAS VENIR DIMANCHE CES LE FETES DE NAISSANCE DE VOTRE FRERE ET JE VOUDRAIS PAS QUE VOUS PASSEZ LE CHANCE D'ETRES LAS AINC ACAUSE VOUS VOULEZ ME VOIRE ONTS PEUX A VOIRE UN NOTRE CHANCE,JE SUIS PAS FAUCHEZ ...

AUX BIENTOTS ET DITS A TON FRERE JE SOITES UN BONS FETES DIMANCHE ET JE VEUX LES CHICAGO BEARS BONS CHANCE AUSSI???

VOTRE AMIE,

DIANE B-) =)

Je suis tres heureuse de savoire vous voulez ma voire pours votre nomme de plummes...

Quest-ce que vous avez veux dans Pariee,France?

Mes parents et mes grandparents sont morts, mais j'ais un garcon,sa femme et une petite fille, je vas avoir un nouveaux enfant dans mas famille. Si j'ais la chance j'aimeras alez ans France ous a Montreal,Quebeque. J'aime a garrdez les olympiques,football,baseball, bowling, j'aimes aussi etre dans le cuisiniere, et j'aime aidez les personnes ici avec le computer j,etais une aide devous que j'ai residez chez Fall River,Ma....

Biens cets tous que je peux dire aujourdhuis, a Bientot

Diane Lemay :) :)

More about Daine, in her own words!

I love arts and crafts and activities, but mostly now you will find me in front of the computer. Mostly frustrated trying to find my son's World Wide Web site. But I'm glad to say that we finally did. He also mentioned to me the other night that he will be updating TLMS and saying Hi to the people at the Boston Home, and if they wish to E-mail him they can. My son's Web page for a cable access show is www.channel1.com/users/tims while another one (less reliable) at www.massachusetts.com/times is for his PR business. Marc DeMay has an e-mail address of tims@user1.channel1.com and writes that he won't admit this publicly, but I think Pitino is exactly what the Celtics need!

My son, Marc, is in Medford Mass, at TV three. Betty and Denise have helped me a lot in learning how to use the computer, and I also was able to teach myself by watching. I also want to thank Steve Bergen for his knowledge and expertise.

Here are some translations of Diane’s letters from French to English

Emily,

please call me Diane...It takes time to write in French. Don't be discouraged. You're lucky you have the opportunity to study it (French) and I can help you. My birthday is going to be on Sunday the 18th. My son't name is Marc Lemay and he workds for the Local Music Station as well as at home.

Until tomorrow......You new friend,

Diane Lemay

Hi! I am really happy to meet you. You are the second girl in Mr. Bergen's CP1 class to write to me in French. I also whould like to see Paris, Montreal, Quebec. I like music, singing, watching the Olympics and basketball, baseball, and football. Also I like movie thrillers and sitting in front of my computer and writing to my penpals.

I am really happy that you want me as a pen pal. My parents and grandparents have past away, but I have a son who is married with a little girl and there is another child on the way. If I have the chance, I would like to go to France or Montreal. I like watching the Olympics, football, baseball, and bowling. I also like to be in the kitchen and I like helping people with computers. I live in Fall River, Massachusetts.

For information on Diane Lemay and her son and others from the Boston Home, click here!