For ISU students who are interested in improving their French skills, a little-known opportunity awaits.

The conversation table, a place to speak French with people from the ISU campus and Ames community, allows people to discuss topics such as French politics, current events and grammar.

Nelle Hutter, adjunct instructor of foreign languages and literatures, frequents the French conversation table.

Hutter said the conversation table gives French speakers a chance to speak and interact with others of similar skill levels.

“If you can’t go to France, then France can come to you,” she said.

Bryce Campbell, junior in materials engineering, said he has been attending the French conversation table since last semester.

He said the French conversation table lets him learn things about the language that he wouldn’t learn in class.

“It helps me understand the grammar better because native French speakers also come to the table,” Campbell said.

Campbell said he likes the French conversation table because open-minded people attend, and he likes speaking French with others who speak the language well.

“It’s fun to watch people learn French,” he said.

Campbell also said the group is diverse because of all the different categories of people represented at the table, such as professors, students and French-speakers from other countries.

Hutter said she contacts French instructors and the Study Abroad Resource Center to spread awareness about the conversation table. However, she said more publicity would be helpful.

Both Hutter and Campbell said attendance could be improved at the French conversation table.

“It’s never been very large,” Hutter said. “It’s the quality, not the quantity.”

She said some people might feel intimidated by the French conversation table because people who come are encouraged to speak only French.

“Once they come, they usually keep coming,” Hutter said.

Hutter said the French conversation table has been going consistently for about eight or 10 years and is an outgrowth of the French Club.

The French conversation table meets Wednesdays at noon in the Cranny of the Memorial Union Food Court.