Hello,

The advantage of being "older" is my life experience as a whole. I have lived in 3 different countries (France,USA, Italy) for over 15 years each, and it has given me not only a linguistic fluency but also what Chomsky refers to as a linguistic "competence", i.e. the necessary tools to understand and process a deeper and more subtle way of communicating in a foreign language. Body language, silence, distance, repertoire, and adaptation to social and psychological profiles.

I am also a writer and a jazz connoisseur as I have been involved in selling original jazz vinyls in the last 20 years. My professional experience, apart from teaching, includes goat herder and movie theater owner... Many years have passed since I taught French in California as I had to interrupt my teaching career to move back to France where my presence was needed. When my wife, (she is Italian but we met in California) inherited a property in Liguria, Italy, we shared our time between Paris and Italy. I have nurtured my passion for language teaching by hosting foreign students during school vacations. My wife and I offered a comprehensive linguistic sojourn where students would learn French or Italian for 3 hours in the morning, after which we would drive them to cultural trips. I have also consistently given private French lessons throughout the years.

I am confident that we can enjoy the rewarding journey of learning a new language as a door to enriching and enlightening our daily life experience.

Thanks for reading!

François

1989 - 1990

Taught French 101, 102 to undergraduate students. University of California at Davis

1990 - 1991

Taught French 101, 102 and conversation to Community College students. San Diego Mesa Community College

1991 - 1996

Full-time French instructor and Chair of the European and Asian Languages Department SBCC

Formation

1990 - 1991

Other - French Literature

1988 - 1989

Other - French Literature

1984 - 1987

Bachelor's - English

1989 - 1990

Other - French Literature

1986 - 1988

Master's - Linguistics

Regarding teaching methodology, I have always been a proponent of task-based learning in terms of communicative tasks. The most important aspect of my tutoring will be devoted to pronunciation. Although it is important to have a good degree of mastery in grammar, reading, and writing, correct pronunciation is the key to successful communication.

I often use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) as a very efficient tool to grasp the somewhat difficult relation between a written word and its actual pronunciation. As an example, if you read "beau" for the first time, chances are that you will have difficulty pronouncing it correctly. But if I transcribe to you in IPA, you will easily be able to realize that this word has only 2 sounds, i.e. the sound for b and the sound for o, and I would transcribe it for you in IPA as: [bo].

When I was a college professor, I always encouraged my students to participate in extra-curriculum activities and I created a monthly French journal called “Dialogues” that was entirely written in French by my students. I also directed the French play Huis Clos (No Exit) by Jean-Paul Sartre and it was performed by my French 101 students entirely in French. All this means that I am a strong proponent of incorporating current cultural material into our tutoring sessions.

My priority is to accompany my students in reaching a near-fluency level in their speaking skills as I emphasize the importance of being understood clearly when communicating with French native speakers. I will address grammar according to my students' needs.