Frédérique Tutor Interview

Q. Hi Frédérique! Could you please tell me about your hometown in France?: A. I come from a small town in central France called Vichy. It is famous worldwide for many things: it is a renowned spa town, the famous Vichy cosmetics are made there and sadly Vichy is also associated with the nazi regime during World War 2. I was born there and spent half of my life studying there too. I attended university in Clermont-Ferrand where I studied French literature and language. I love my hometown and am always happy to visit and enjoy the glorious parks and other green spaces we have there.
Q. According to your profile, you live in Nottingham, England. How is life there?: A. After completing my degree, I decided to go to England to work and study more English. I started like many other French people I know working in hotels and restaurants. I completed and passed all the Cambridge examinations. A teacher of mine encouraged me to apply for a teacher training course and this was the best ever piece of advice I had! Most of my teaching has been in colleges and I spent 12 years working at Nottingham University where I was a language programme coordinator and lecturer. Sadly, the department closed a few years ago and I am now working in a ‘further education college’ where my students take their A level exams and International Baccalaureate exam.
Q. I heard you are a friend with our tutor, Zoe. How do you know each other?: A. Yes! Zoe has been (and still is)a great friend and inspiration. We met online! I cannot exactly remember how it happened, but we may have belonged to the same Facebook group at the time. We started chatting and we sometimes skype. Although I have not yet met Zoe I am sure that on my next visit to France, we will get together! I was very reluctant to start online teaching but thanks to Zoe, she has encouraged me and here I am on Cafétalk!
Q. A lot of people are interested in French, but most of them are complete beginners. I want to know about your lesson, “Beginners French”. What do you do at the beginning of the lesson for them?: A. I have quite a few requests indeed for beginners French and have some regular students too. At the beginning of the lesson, I tend to kick off with basic introductions/greetings, so that the students get a ‘feel’ for the language and its pronunciation. I also do some more focused pronunciation, a bit of grammar. It may seem a little frustrating at first when you begin with a language such as French, but I always try to make my students feel at ease. I do like to provide my students with some good resources. Some of the topics that are covered in a beginners class are: personal introduction, nationalities, daily routines, likes/dislikes, food, travelling etc.
Q. How about "Chat in French with Frédérique"? How do you decide a subject for the lesson?: A. This is always a slightly more difficult one! I do offer a free 10 minute session which gives me the opportunity to informally assess the student’s level. The first lesson is always about the student’s life, interests. I do ask students if there are particular topics they would like to cover during the lesson, in which case I create a bespoke lesson. The document(s) is (are) sent to the student so that it can be prepared in advance. This is the most popular course I teach. It is interesting to see who the students are and why they want to do this course. Two of my students live in France and I find that their progress is amazing: with this course, they can really consolidate and improve their French. Recently, we talked about different regions of France through pictures, food, lifestyle and also some more specific issues like housing in France. I am planning on developing this course further, so watch this space!
Q. Finally, is there anything you would like to share with our students?: A. I will be creating some new lessons as I will have a lot more itme available and also introduce some English classes!