How French am I? Teacher's background.
Early background
I was born and brought up on the Bassin d'Arcachon on the Atlantic Coast near Bordeaux. I did a literary Baccalauréat and then a degree in French Literature at Bordeaux University.
Foreign experience
I have worked as a French language assistant at a Teacher training College in the South of Spain and at a Comprehensive School in London. In England, I married the Head of the Modern Languages Department and spent five years perfecting my English, working as a trilingual administrative assistant and starting a family.
Return to France
Since 1986, we have been in the Pyrénées Orientales, first in an agricultural village and now in Perpignan. We are a double nationality bilingual family. Our son is in his last year of secondary school and our daughter has just finished Business School. We have always been fully integrated in local life and activities, while at the same time maintaining contact with the anglo-saxon world.
Throughout this period, my husband and I have been involved in language teaching, either as a private business or on a salaried basis for government and semi-government organisations (Secondary schools, Perpignan University, Perpignan Chamber of Commerce etc).
I completed my language teaching qualifications with a degree in FLE (teaching of French as a foreign language), University of Perpignan 1987 and with the CAPES (French National Competitive exam for secondary school teachers) in English 1999.
My experience of language teaching is wide : from individual tuition to groups of 35, from infant school to senior citizens, from general conversation to specific exam preparation. I have taught French to English, Americans, Finns, Germans, Argentinians, Chinese and Vietnamese amongst other nationalities as well as French as a mother language (language and literature) and English as a foreign language to French students.
In September 2007 I registered as a freelance business (Siret: 49960624200018) and now work entirely on a private basis. One of my main customers is the local rugby union club, USAP, where I teach Englsh to French players and commercial staff and French to some international members of the team.
At Expolangues Paris 2008