OUI Experience

Discover our new campus-wide initiative that aims to make learning French as a Second and Additional Language more accessible to its student community, and to enable students to discover Quebec culture. This immersive experience will offer our non-francophone student population a wide range of linguistic and cultural opportunities.

A New Language, A New Freedom

OUI Experience aims to make learning French and discovering Quebec culture accessible to everyone, every day, on campus, both inside and outside the classroom. Extended to the entire university, this initiative will allow French-speaking, English-speaking, and allophone members of our community to meet and interact in French in a warm and welcoming environment. This approach also aims to facilitate the integration of people from outside Quebec into the community through fun and educational activities.

“Being bilingual or plurilingual is a valuable asset that opens many professional, cultural, and interpersonal doors. It is this richness that the OUI Experience wishes to promote, in the context of our English-language university in the heart of a French-speaking city and province,” says Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Sébastien Lebel-Grenier.

A Wide Range of Activities in French

You do not need to be enrolled in a French class to practice your French! As part of the OUI Experience, we offer a variety of opportunities to help you build your skills, including:

• The French Hub – a welcoming space to connect with others and practice conversational French. Here, we host the OUI Café, OUI Lunch, daily tutoring (in the ‘Tutorat’, at the top of the stairs in the LLC), zine-making workshops, themed dinners at the French Hub, TV series lunches, movie nights and book clubs.
  
• OUI Cafe – Our relaxed conversation workshop runs twice a week — Mondays at 1:00 p.m. and Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. Come chat, learn, and laugh in French over a nice cup of coffee! Suitable for all levels — from beginner to fluent speakers.
  
• OUI Singalong – Join us for a just-for-fun sing-along in Bandeen Hall Mondays at 11:30-12:45, featuring songs from Québécois artists across the decades. Discover new vocabulary, enjoy live piano accompaniment, and let the music bring your French to life!
  
• OUI Lunch and Lunch Series – On the last Friday of each month, enjoy a free lunch at a local restaurant in Sherbrooke, followed by a scenic walk around Lac des Nations. A perfect way to practice your French and connect with fellow language enthusiasts. Or, join us on Tuesdays from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. for Lunch with Gia — a relaxed lunchtime gathering where you can chat in French and connect with others over food and conversation. You can also join us for Watch & Lunch, every Wednesday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m., where we watch popular Québécois TV shows together. It’s a fun way to discover local culture, practice your listening skills, and share reactions — all while having lunch!
  
• Cultural Outings – About once a month, the French Hub organizes cultural outings to explore the region and experience French culture firsthand. In Fall 2025, we visited Foresta Lumina and the Coaticook Ice Creamery, explored the fall foliage at Mont-Bellevue en Couleurs, discovered the Abbaye Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, and spent a full day in Old Montréal, visiting the Biodôme and enjoying a theatre play in the evening. Each outing is a unique opportunity to learn, explore, and connect — in French!
  
• Multimedia Language Lab – fully equipped with lessons, exercises, and other resources to help you get started or continue honing your French – open to all members of the B.U. community. There are dedicated computer stations at the top of the stairs in the LLC, or you can access the lab from anywhere. Click here to go to the Moodle page for the Multimedia Language Lab.

Inclusion and Classroom Courses

The French as a Second Language courses offered by our Département d’études françaises et québécoises are also part of the OUI Experience. The inclusion and development of all individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and the achievement of their personal and professional goals are at the heart of our course content. Students are prepared to interact in French in a cultural and professional context, while developing their oral and written skills.

For more information, contact frachair@ubishops.ca or follow us on social media:

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