Rachel Explores!

Photo credit: Laura Shiffer

Hi! My name is Rachel and I recently graduated at the top of my class from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Music. I am now living in London and have started my music lesson studio Rachel Loerts Music. I am a classically trained mezzo-soprano as well as a pop, rock, and jazz vocalist.
In addition to, and because of my love for music, I have a love for languages. I received a minor in Italian language studies while at university, and since then decided to continue studying languages. As a classical vocalist I have to sing in not only English, but French, Italian, and German. While these are the most common languages, they are only a few of many!

This summer I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to the University of Moncton in New Brunswick for the Explore program. This program is funded by the Government of Canada and enables you to study French for five weeks in a Canadian province in a Francophone environment--no matter what your level of French knowledge is. We stayed in a residence hall at the University of Moncton and after taking a placement test, were placed in five different levels of intensive French classes. There was a strict “French only” rule enforced by our teachers and the bilingual program leaders. We had 18.75 hours of class and 5.25 hours of workshops each week, not including all the social activities they planned for us and not to mention studying! It was a busy five weeks, but I improved my limited knowledge of French more than I could ever have imagined. I was placed in Niveau (Level) 2 to my surprise, and while it was challenging, the hard work certainly paid off.

In addition to copious amounts of studying, we got to explore New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada with day trips. We got to walk on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy where the highest tide in the world is, eat lobster aboard a boat on the Bay of Fundy, climb through trees at Tree-Go, and see the Confederation Museum in Charlottetown, visit the Anne of Green Gables house, and visit the beach on Prince Edward Island. Other activities included the many different cultural events happening in Moncton every week including the Canada 150 celebration on July 1st! I had a great time in Moncton and made a lifelong best friend, but it was very nice to come home to my boyfriend Rob, my cat BMO, and my own bed! 
Next summer I’m planning on continuing my language studies with courses on German, and after that I want to learn Spanish! One is never finished learning with languages--and music.