For as long as I can remember, I have been drawn to the French language and culture. I was raised in England and no matter what grade I was in there always seemed to be French exchange students in my school. I began taking French classes in elementary school and although it was always a struggle to express myself in French, I loved trying to communicate with the French students that I became friends with. The idea of going to France grew in my mind from those early years but unfortunately the opportunity to go never materialized. Not long after I turned sixteen, my family moved to California where I continued with French classes in high school. I attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where I did a double major in French and Political Science.

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After graduating from college, I decided to finally realize my dream of going to France and went to Paris where I had obtained an internship with UNESCO. I still have a very vivid memory of walking in front of Notre Dame one day in those first few weeks and realizing that I was actually living and working in Paris. I loved living there so much that my plans to stay just a few months turned into a stay of almost ten years.

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At the beginning of my stay in Paris, my comprehension skills were quite strong but I still struggled with fluency in speaking, however, this was about to change. I was very fortunate to be introduced to several French students and recent graduates that were similar in age to me. I quickly became part of their friend group and ended up living with some of them. These were the only friends I had at that time and within a very short time my speaking skills improved immensely. I recall during that time that I still had to focus quite a bit before speaking and also have very clear recollections of studying the language and mannerisms my friends used when they spoke to each other. Little by little, however, the words came to me quicker and my friends no longer had to slow their speech or be careful in their choice of words when speaking to me. When my internship ended, I decided I wanted to stay in Paris and applied to a Master’s program in International Relations. I also was hired to work in the flagship store of Pierre Cardin Haute Couture.  After my Master’s, I began working as a management consultant with the French office of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Both jobs required me to speak French to colleagues and clients almost all of the time.

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These rich linguistic and cultural experiences helped me to become fluent in French. That said, I still consider myself very much a student of the French language and culture. No matter how well I feel I speak the language, it seems there is always something new to learn and improvement to make. I continue to read and listen to French news daily and when possible, converse with French people I know in my area. Even after all these years, French still has the same draw on me as when I was a young boy in England.

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Teaching French was not on my mind when I moved back to the US, as my family life and career took me in different directions. Many years later, however, when I was coaching high school soccer, I began to think about teaching French and of how enjoyable that may be. I approached the head of the French program at the high school where I was coaching and discussed opportunities to volunteer. Within a short time I started leading conversation sessions with the French honors class two times per week. I really enjoyed this and so did the students. I then decided to try tutoring and started working with a small tutoring firm that worked with high school students needing help in French from beginner to AP course work.

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These two experiences solidified my thinking about teaching and I decided that I wanted to pursue it more formally. I applied to the MATL at USM and at the same time sent my resume to a few private schools. I was contacted by a K-12 school in San Francisco that was in need of a French teacher and so I began teaching part-time around the same time that I started my first course in Sociolinguistics at USM. I am now approaching the end of my MATL experience and feel that the course work in the program, combined with my background in French and my teaching experience have combined to help me develop a solid foundation from which I can launch my teaching career and help others find the same passion for the French language and its culture that I have always had.