I was born, grew up, and went to Elementary School, Middle High School, High School, and Undergraduate college in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a French speaking country. When I was a student there, the prevailing system of education was that of France and at the same time a Belgian-French system. I also worked for many years in that country, speaking the official language, i.e. French.
I have a tremendous experience in teaching. I have taught both French and English, the former as a second language and the latter as a foreign language. There are various teaching methodological approaches as we all know; they may differ from one another, but still give relatively satisfactory outcome. My teaching is mainly based on the principle that language is an imitation process as pertaining to such linguistic features as spelling, intonation, accent emphasis, and others. The first tools I provide my students with is to maintain an open mindset of what seems strange in a language, especially when one is foreign to it. Prior to getting into a practical study of French, my easy approach has been to make a short and practical study of Phonology (study of sounds and intonation) and Phonetics (how to deal with letter and symbols we don't have in English, but that we do have in French).
This approach leads my students to speak French as quickly as possible; I mean the French of France, the original French. They will also understand the environmental reasons why French spoken in other countries sounds different even though it is the same language with the same spelling.
I invite my prospective students to come, work with me, and realize how fast they will be able to communicate in French. This is my challenge to them. And I want the challenge to become not only a curiosity, but a real motivation.
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