Bonjour! I’m a passionate and curious French teacher. Maybe even your next guide on this exciting French journey! tm : IST

Find out more about Tess

• 1. Tell us more about your subject. How did you develop an interest in this field?

  I am a French teacher here at Superprof. French is a very intricate language with a lot of exceptions in its grammar. At the same time, for English speaking people, French vocabulary can be quite accessible, since English and French share many words.
  Teaching a language, however, is not just about speaking it. It's also about discovering the culture behind it. The French language has a rich cultural and historical background, which makes it really enjoyable to share with my students.
  French is not only the language of France, it is also spoken in about half of the African continent, in several islands around the globe, and in parts of Canada. When I explain this to my students, they often get excited about all the opportunities they didn't know French could offer them.
  
  I developed an interest in this field through my passion for interculturality. When I was doing my bachelor's degree in Paris, I had many friends who were living in France without speaking the language. Seeing their struggles, I decided to help them learn French using books and what I already knew about language teaching-especially since I was also enrolled in language learning myself (Hindi).

• 2. What or who is the motivation behind you choosing to teach & why?

  When I decided to help my friend learn French, I really enjoyed that exchange of cultures and it was a first for me. At the same time, my English wasn't very strong, so by teaching French through English, I was able to improve my English while he learned French.
  
  Since then, every time I teach a new student from a different background, I discover new lifestyles, cultures, and traditions that they share with me. I really value the moments before class starts, when I ask them how their day, week, or weekend went. They try to explain it to me in French, and I can ask them questions in return.
  
  These moments boost the students' confidence, because they realize that with time, they can actually hold a conversation in French. And for me, it's a way to learn about different ways of living. I've grown a lot thanks to teaching.

• 3. How does your work help society?

  I have some students who live in France or in Quebec (a French-speaking province in Canada). Before starting classes, many of them had a basic understanding of French, but they often lived in isolation, unable to socialize beyond their family or community. These students struggled to find jobs or to understand the society they were living in. Some couldn't even ask for help with important administrative tasks, like renewing their residence permits.
  
  This kind of situation can create a lot of stress and make them feel like they're merely surviving rather than truly living in the country. It can have a serious impact on their mental health and professional life.
  
  As a teacher, my role goes beyond just teaching them how to speak the language. It's also about helping them understand how to navigate life in their new environment : how the system works, what the local mentality is, and how French culture might actually be much closer to their own than they expect.
  
  For other students who learn French as a hobby, the process helps them strengthen their memory and overall adaptability. After a while, they're often surprised at how much they can understand and say in French. This really boosts their self-confidence and hopefully, makes them much happier too.

• 4. If you had to think of a role model for your work, who do you think of & why?

  I'm not particularly fond of the idea of having a role model, because I believe it can sometimes limit our ability to invent new ways of working and to innovate in our field. Rather than having a single role model, I prefer to admire certain qualities in different people. For example, I've admired many teachers, some for their ability to capture students' attention, and others for the way they use technology to enhance their classes and make learning more effective.
  
  One such teacher was a French instructor who taught us Hindi. He used an app called Anki to create digital flashcards for his students. He built a deck of over a thousand flashcards from scratch, covering all the vocabulary we needed to speak Hindi fluently. While I didn't particularly like his teaching style because he could be rude to some students and tended to ignore those with learning difficulties like dyslexia. I still found his use of flashcards incredibly effective. It significantly helped us retain vocabulary more efficiently, and it made me realize how powerful the right tools can be in language learning.

• 5. Tell us about your hobbies outside teaching.

  Outside of teaching, I have a real passion for cooking. I currently live in India, and I've been exploring ways to blend French and Indian cooking styles to create new and unique flavours. I'm also learning more about traditional Indian cuisine from my neighbours and the family I live with, which has been a rich and rewarding experience.
  
  In the future, I'd love to live in different countries, discover their culinary traditions and lifestyles, and integrate them into my own cooking and way of life.
  
  Apart from cooking, I also enjoy reading novels and taking photographs with my camera. Those two hobbies that let me slow down, observe, and appreciate the world around me.

• 6. Do you have an anecdote to tell us about your student or professional life?

  Honestly, I have a lot of anecdotes about my students because teaching is always so much fun. I have one student who is about 8 years old. She attended a French-medium Canadian school, but due to some administrative issues, she and her family had to return to India. Her parents were worried that she might lose her French skills, so they asked me to continue teaching her.
  
  She loves tricking me into ending the class early. Sometimes, she tells me that her grandma asks how much time is left in her French class and whether she can finish 5 minutes early because she has to go out with her family. The first time, I didn't question it, but after a while, I checked with her mom, who told me that she didn't actually have anywhere to go after class!
  
  Once, in the middle of class, she asked me in French, "Can you tell me what I'm spelling?" I thought, "Okay, a little pause won't hurt." So she started: "T and H and E..." Then, "C and L and A and S and S..." After the third word, "I and S..." By this point, something felt off, but she kept going, finishing with, "F and I and N and I..." I stopped her and said, "No, no, the class isn't finished!" She looked at me and said, "No, you said it!" We both laughed, and then we got back to studying.
  
  I don't give her lessons anymore because she returned to Canada and now has a special French tutor at school, but I'm still teaching her mom. She sometimes listens in on our lessons, and at the end of the class, her mom lets her speak to me. Once, she asked if we could have some time to chat, and that really melted my heart.