LEWISTON — The Franco-American Heritage Center has announced the latest cycle of their well-known French Reacquisition classes. This offering is a series of six workshops specifically tailored for people who wish to relearn or reawaken their French language skills. The classes begin on Wednesday, Sept. 19, and continue to Oct. 24.

For those that want to continue and take additional classes, there will be three other sessions. The second session runs from Jan. 9 through Feb. 13, the third session begins March 6 and ends April 10 and the fourth session begins April 24 and ends May 29.

The classes meet at the Franco Center Heritage Hall, begin at 6 p.m., and are two hours in duration. The total cost for the six sessions is $75, and registration can be done by calling 783-1585 or by emailing Joyce Coyne at jcoyne@francocenter.org. To register by mail, send  contact information and payment to Franco-American Heritage Center, 46 Cedar St., Lewiston ME 04240 Attn: French Reacquisition.

Leading the course will be Diane Cecile Pelletier-Perron. Born into a large Franco-American family in Lewiston, Diane’s parents always spoke French in the home. Like many Lewiston/Auburn residents growing up, she somehow lost the ability to speak French, but retained the ability to comprehend it. Once in school, she came to the realization that she had lost most of her French language abilities, which then sparked an unquenchable desire to preserve her French language and heritage.

Pelletier-Perron received her associate’s degree in liberal arts at Bakersfield College in California and a bachelor’s degree in French with an unofficial minor in Franco-American studies. For her bachelor’s, she attended the University of Santa Barbara in California, l’Universite Michel Montaigne in Bordeaux, France, and completed her final year at the University of Southern Maine. She lived in France for 18 years, and taught English as a second language, teaching and tutoring both French and English for more than 20 years.