Bonjour tout le monde! I am a graduate of Indiana University with a BA in History and French. I discovered an intense passion for French while working towards my BA in History, which happens to be my second passion. It has to be said that I was fortunate enough to study under talented and inspiring professors, who made the difficult process of learning a language interesting and exciting. Under their tutelage, this new passion was unearthed which I never knew existed. From there after, I knew French was going to be a part of my life. I was going to major in it and work on it every day. Through hard work and persistence, I was able to participate in a work study abroad program in the magnificent city of Montpellier, located in the south of France. This was a life changing experience for me, and I cannot recommend enough the wonderful experience of travelling abroad. I am now pursuing graduate school with the goal of becoming a high school French teacher.
Not only do I love talking about French or history, and helping others improve their knowledge in these fields, but I want imitate those professors I had in college. I want to make the process of learning easier, and thus reduce the dread and anxiety it can cause. It's not about jumping from a D to an A immediately, that is just not possible. A plan has to be made, and one needs to stick to plan religiously. Sure cramming can help with some things such as vocabulary that you won't be tested on again. Although with verbs, one has to work on them until they become second nature, because they are always used. While tutoring French, I like to encourage students to work in their interests. If we are looking into a new tense for the past, they can talk about a concert they went to and what they did while they were there. If someone is having trouble making those difficult pronunciations, I find it useful to be overly silly while explaining them. For example, the "ou" sound is deep and comes from the chest. I always remember it because my professor acted as King Kong making the "ou ou ou" sound over and over. That kind of thing sticks with someone and adds in a breath of fresh air to what can sometimes be a dry subject.
Outside of academia, my interests are film, music, video games, cooking, trying new restaurants, and travel. I'm also an avid Game of Thrones fan, and I love theorizing about what is going to happen next. Luckily for me, it is easy to transfer my passion for French to these subjects by listening to French music, watching French movies, following a French recipe, or playing online games with French speakers.