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Neguac mayor Richard Breault says he experienced his own version of French Immersion as a 13-year old when he and his parents returned to the Neguac area from the U.S.

Breault did not know French when he opted to attend a Francophone school. In fact, his parents offered him the choice of picking a school in the Neguac area, or attending an Angolphone school in the Miramichi area.

At the time, said Breault candidly, opting to attend a French school had little to do with language and everything to do with avoiding having to get up at five a.m. and taking a bus ride to Miramichi every morning.

However, he added, it was a decision he is very happy he made.

"I really didn't go through immersion. I went to a French school in a French community," said Breault.

"Of course, there were no French schools in New Hampshire and when we moved to Neguac in June and my parents gave me the choice, I had a few months to learn — and I did.

"But I can tell you, I was not speaking French at home ... Perhaps I did pick up on things a little faster because my parents would from time to time speak to each other in French, but never with me," he said.

Breault admits the first few months in the French school were tough, "...but I ended up graduating from a French school and going on to earn a Bachelor and Masters degree from the Université de Moncton."

Breault said his friends, the community and the school were very supportive and encouraging.

"Neguac is a highly bilingual community and I think everyone went out of their way to help me learn French. Again, I just immersed myself... I thought how hard can it be to learn a language. I admit it wasn't that easy in the beginning but I struggled through," he said.

By concentrating, getting some tutoring from one of his sisters and his friends who he would ask often to correct him, a thing he said they had fun with, something he had no problem with.

"I have spoken to others who have that kind of immersion later and they have been very successful at it. So much of it is attitude and I think it all depends on feeling if it is something you are forced today. It should be the choice of the parent and not the teen and in my case it was my choice. It was very clear, I just did not want to get on that bus," said Breault adding he also had a keen interest in learning French.

Today Breault says he considers himself both a Francophone and an Anglophone.

"English to me is more than a second language. Really, I am an Acadien first, even before I am Canadian," he said. "I am an example of starting at a later age and I think for any language to be successful you have to use it."