Book Clubs Offered by the Alliance Francaise of Silicon Valley

A relationship manager for LinkedIn Learning Solutions in San Francisco, Anaïs Saint-Jude holds an MA and a PhD in French and humanities from Stanford University. The founder and former director of the BiblioTech program at Stanford, Anaïs Saint-Jude continues her involvement in academia as a member of the Board of Alliance Française Silicon Valley (AFSCV).

Dedicated to promoting and enhancing the appreciation and knowledge of French, AFSCV offers various education and arts programs to all individuals. One of the organization’s monthly activities is its book clubs, which involve the discussion of various French-language books. Since discussions are in French, the meetings are a great way for guests to develop their French language skills.

There are two book clubs maintained by AFSCV: Club de Lecture in Menlo Park and Cercle de Lecture in Los Gatos. 

The Club de Lecture meets in Menlo Park’s Language Pacifica building on the third or fourth Thursday of each month. Led by two volunteers, discussion revolves around two books per session. One of these books is easy to read while the other is more complicated. At the start of each discussion, members provide a short presentation of the book.

Meanwhile, the Cercle de Lecture meets in Los Gatos on the fourth Thursday of the month and is led by one volunteer. This event focuses on books that have been released within the past 10 years, with only one book discussed in each meeting. The club also discusses one classic of French literature every October.

Three Quick Tips to Instantly Sing Better

Anaïs Saint-Jude earned her PhD in French from Stanford University. Currently a relationship manager for LinkedIn Corporation, she has pivoted her career into sales. In her free time, Anaïs Saint-Jude enjoys singing. 

Singing provides a fun, yet often challenging, way to express oneself through music. Whether you want to become a worldwide musical sensation or simply embarrass yourself less the next time you karaoke, these three quick tips can help you to improve your singing ability. 

1. Open Up - Simply opening your mouth wider as you sing can help project a more powerful voice while also improving your tone. This tip rings true for vowel sounds as well, which will cause less strain while producing greater resonance. 

2. Avoid Dairy - Dairy products like milk and ice cream produce a lot of phlegm, which can be a singer’s worst enemy. Extra phlegm will get stuck in your throat and cause your voice to crack.

3. Warm Up - Singing makes use of the muscles in and around your throat, so warm up your muscles just like you would before exercising. Spend about 10 minutes performing vocal warm up exercises before you perform to ensure that your throat muscles are ready to go for your big number.