Most people think that in order to speak fluent French, you need to spend hours and hours studying, learning tons of vocabulary, conjugating hundreds of French Verbs…I thought so too, because this is the commonly used method in most schools and training centres everywhere. But after graduating from university and starting to teach French, IRead more
Imagine what could happen if you were to learn one new element of French each day and put it into practice, even if it were for just a few minutes a day. By the end of the year, you would have mastered 365 new elements of the language! That may not seem like much butRead more
In my experience, the answer is YES!Traditional methods for learning French do not work!Students get frustrated because they do not progress quickly enough, and teachers get discouraged because their students are frustrated.I take a different approach to teaching French. I want my students to succeed from Day 1 so I start by building a firmRead more
Winter has finally arrived in the northern capital. Last Saturday the Parade of Lights was held in our little suburb. It attracted over 100,000 people, and yesterday we had our first snowfall. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! “Vive le vent” is a little refrain which is sung to the tune ofRead more
I have been an educator for over forty years and I have witnessed thousands of people struggle to learn the French language. These people all had enormous talent; unfortunately, the traditional methods they had been using to learn French did not work well for them. That’s why they came to me.I have developed some non-traditionalRead more
Literally translated, that sentence means “the leaves are dead”.It’s true – November is here and the last few leaves on the tree in our backyard are hanging on for dear life. Some are more determined than others it seems.What a great analogy for describing the students who are the most successful at learning another language.Read more
I love to cook and I’m always trying new recipes. Recently I realized that there is a good recipe for learning French.Start with the basic elements and build a solid foundation. Don’t over-complicate things. Keep it simple. Build it one step at a time.Second, be courageous and start talking as soon as you know a little bit in French, even ifRead more
Why are traditional methods of learning French like a sinkhole? A near fatal tragedy occurred near our home a few years ago. On the highway exit close to where we live, a very large hole suddenly appeared during the after-work rush hour, swallowing up a mid-sized car. Fortunately, the driver was able to scramble out with only a few scrapes and bruises. TraditionalRead more
It seems that French is not the only language which is alive and well in our community.Last weekend, our small community held its first ever Oktoberfest celebration. German food, including sausages, potato salad and sauerkraut were served while an oompah band provided the musical entertainment so that our local residents could kick up their polkaRead more
Teaching French to others is more than just a job for me.
I eat, sleep and breathe French! I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night with another idea to revise my program so that it will provide better results for my students.
