French Mentoring
Please note I am not offering lessons in Edmonton anymore – Daniel and I have left Edmonton and are getting ready for our world trip! I’m leaving this information here until I rewrite the page for teaching on the road.
SPEAK AND BE CONFIDENT!
I’m a teacher of French as a second language with over 10 years experience, including schools like Alliance Française de Shanghai and Shanghai American School, the largest international school in China. Before moving to Edmonton last year, I was teaching French to immigrants at Université de Montréal, as well as for Immigration Québec. So far, I have taught pretty much all levels and age groups, but nowadays I specialize in helping adults become more comfortable speaking. So if you have learned French before and wish to improve your fluency, spontaneity, grammar and pronunciation, please contact me! I offer private lessons and classes in small groups. I mostly teach at home, as I enjoy the freedom that working for myself involves. I should mention I have a cat, for those who may be allergic! I’m a native French speaker and language enthusiast.
Method: My method involves real communication in a fun, friendly and respectful atmosphere. Private conversation lessons can be more or less structured, depending on your needs. In my group lessons, I like to use the type of fun, task-based communicative games and activities that ESL teachers use. I also like to provide interesting materials to read, especially as a way to improve pronunciation, and songs as a fun way to improve listening skills. My aim is to help you remember and activate what you’ve learned before, and then polish it. I am not teaching formal classes with a lot of grammar and memorization: you will learn by doing.
Pronunciation: I love to work on pronunciation (and listening skills, as they’re linked). This does not only involve the individual sounds of French, but also how they come together in a sentence: liaisons and “enchaînements” are very important, as well as rhythm, intonation, accentuation, and more advanced phenomenons such as the dropped “e”. You can check out my links for important skills that will help you understand French and sound natural!
Grammar: My view on grammar is that it’s useful for people who want to understand how the language works, but ultimately, it’s the actual practice that will make them fluent. If you’re learning to swim, at some point you have to jump in the water! That being said, I’m skilled at explaining grammar in the simplest way possible – then I’ll gently push you in the water! 
Error Correction: First of all, you should know that research on second language acquisition has found that a lot of mistakes correct themselves over time, just by practicing, so it’s not necessary to correct everything, all the time. That being said, I will skillfully correct your most important mistakes, and remind you if you make them again, so you can learn.
Find out more: Whatever your needs, please contact me and we’ll see how I can help you! Before accepting a new student, I like to first meet in a cafe for a chat, to see if we’re comfortable working together, and also to assess to your level. This is at no charge to you. And if you’re interested in group lessons, we can see which group would be best for you. Please email me for more information!
h e l e n e . c o r m i e r (at) g m a i l . c o m
“Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language – natural communication”
Stephen Krashen
