Yolande Matumbu, now Hirst, knows what it is like to be a foreigner in a strange land, not knowing the language and customs.

She and her three children have lived in 11 countries including her home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The other countries include Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Belgium, France and the United States.

In her native Congo, French is spoken in government and business as well as native tongues of several African languages. Hirst worked in the national tax office, the French Direction Generale des Contributions.

She is a certified teacher, has lived in the United States for eight years and she also has become fluent in English.

While in Portland, she became friends with the mother of her children's friend, Sheryl Kennedy. Listening to Hirst tell stories of her life in the Congo and other countries, Kennedy told her she needed to have classes to teach languages and knowledge of African cultures.

"And I am your first student," Hirst said Kennedy told her.

Taking her friend's advice, Hirst began the French and African Language Culture Center (FALC) because "life doesn't have borders," she said.

While in Seattle, she met James Hirst, an information technology specialist at the University of Oklahoma library and an Air Force veteran, through her cousin. Hirst moved to Norman and the couple will be married a year in June.

"We want everyone to feel comfortable wherever they are," Yolande Hirst said. "Things are so different. I used to see American people in my country, or Canadians, that didn't speak the language. I wondered, 'what can we do? What can we say to help them?' In Africa we have a very big sense of hospitality and we want to greet and communicate with people."

Hirst said the lack of knowledge of a country's language and culture puts a barrier in front of you. Everything is different here, she said, noting weddings, funerals and graduations.

"Here if someone passes away, if they are famous, you might hear about it on TV," she said. "Otherwise, you would never know about it. In the Congo, it is very noisy."

At her wedding, Hirst had many family members here; her mother, cousins and an older brother from the Congo. They celebrated the Congo way, patting their mouths and yelping. Her children told them "don't do that, people will not understand you."

"The kids are definitely American," Hirst said.

However, she doesn't speak English to her children at home. She wants them to know their native language and customs so when they vacation in the Congo there will be no barriers, strangers or surprises.

Not only can FALC make visitors more comfortable when they travel to different countries, but visitors to the U.S. and immigrants can feel more welcome here. The FALC teaches English as a second language along with American culture.