A detail from the cover of Thora van Male's book, 'Liaisons généreuses'

Grenoble Life talks to Thora van Male, author of Les liaisons généreuses – l’apport de français à la langue anglaise, ahead of a talk she is giving organised by Alliance Grenoble-Oxford on April 7.

Grenoble Life: What is the topic of the talk you have organised with Alliance Grenoble-Oxford?

Thora van Male: I’m going to be talking about my latest book, Liaisons généreuses. It deals with the huge debt that English owes to the French language. We English speakers (I’m from British Columbia, in Canada) are more aware of this than the French are. My impression is that in France, people are so obsessed with the supposed invasion of English into French, that they don’t realize that, a) English would not be much at all without French, and that, b) a lot of the words that are coming from English to French are just returning home, so to speak.

When you see the many many areas where words from French predominate in English, it really makes you think; such subjects as law, religion, cooking, life in society, politics. There are very few areas of life in English whose vocabulary is not affected by – French.

GL: Who should come to the talk?

Thora: Well, I will be speaking in English, which means the talk is aimed at people who are interested in and speak some English. All the AGO people speak French, though, as do I, and the question session after the talk will be bilingual and bicultural, so to speak.

In terms of the content of my talk, it will probably be more of an eye-opener for French people than for the Anglo-Saxophones, as I call us. However, I intend to make the talk interesting and accessible to everyone. And I hope to provide a few chuckles, if not guffaws.

GL: How has the French relationship to the English language changed since you arrived in France?

Thora: Well, you know about the Loi Toubon that was voted in 1994; its objective was to prohibit the use of languages other than French (Read my lips: Eng-lish!) in official French documents, in business, in advertising, etc. This law also established quota rules about how much English-language music could be played on the radio, etc.

Just to put that into perspective, remember that the provincial government of Quebec had voted its Charter of the French language in 1977; this put legislative authority behind the enforcement of French as the language of government and law, as well as that of work, instruction, communication and commerce.

That being said — and people recognize this — English exercises a certain attraction to French speakers in France; dropping an English word here and there is considered to confer a touch of class. Conversely, as you know, the prestige of French exercises a huge influence on English speakers, to this day. Of course, English no longer borrows what I might call “meat and potato” words from French, words that English doesn’t have a name for — this is something I’ll be talking about — but there are still French words coming into English. I found this really noticeable in the latest issue of The Economist’s Intelligent Life. But also in a book of Woody Allen’s witticisms…

GL: As someone who has taught English at the University here in Grenoble and published books for learners of English, what changes have you witnessed in the way the language is taught in the French educational system?

Thora: There has been a continuing move towards getting learners to work with English in a “real world” environment. The conjugation tables and the translations that I grew up with gave way to audio language laboratories, but still with a lot of rote work. The Internet has totally changed that, and the focus is moving more towards experiencing English as it is spoken in environments that are meaningful to each learner. As I see it, that is a general trend.

GL: What needs to be improved?

Thora: Have you got a couple of hours? Judging from my students, I would say that in secondary education they need to hear more authentic English and to be dragged away from translation. They also need real-life experiences with English (Wouldn’t it be nice if English language films were shown on TV with English subtitles …). They also need to shed some inhibitions.

You remember the passage in My Fair Lady when Henry Higgins says “In France, every Frenchman knows his language from A to Z; they never care what they do, actually, as long as they pronounce it properly.” Well there is a grain of truth in this. Students just don’t want to pronounce a word unless they can spell it, and once they have the spelling they tend to “spell-pronounce” — you know, pronounce the L in ‘could’, etc. — in fact, pronounce every word as if it were French. The insecurity involved in jumping in and pronouncing a word that they might not know, or might not know the spelling of, just petrifies them!

But I should get off my hobby-horse: I love my job, and am quite willing, year in, year out, to put my heart and soul into teaching English to my students.

GL: Where do you teach?

Thora: Now, I teach only at the Institute of Political Science on the campus. But like so many expats (though I now have dual nationality) I taught English all over the place in Grenoble before I managed to get a post in the French university system.

GL: When did you originally come to Grenoble and why?

Thora: I came in 1970, with a scholarship from the French government. And I just never went back to Canada! I had always loved French … I think it was my mother who got me going when I was a child, when she taught me that silly song about “La plume de ma tante”. Had I stayed in Canada, I would no doubt have become a French teacher.

GL: You are a published expert on French dictionary illustrations.

Thora: Yes, I am, but my expertise is limited to those little ABC primer type compositions that represent several objects whose name starts with a certain letter. Though this is common in children’s’ alphabet books, France is the only country I know of that has them in dictionaries for adults as well. So when you look at the alphabet illustrations in a dictionary dated, say, in the 1850s, you have a sort of snapshot of French culture and society at that time. It is fascinating. To my amazement, this is a field that had never been researched until I got involved in it. It has been a lot of fun. Since there was no existing research on the subject, I really had to start at zero, and create the tools to analyse all these pictures. I even coined a word for them, since French didn’t really have one; and that involved a meeting Alain Rey, the author of the Petit Robert, a very interesting experience. I love the “treasure hunt” side of this work: you’ve got all these pictures, and you have to figure out what they represent. Plus, I’m always on the lookout for some dictionary that I haven’t yet come across.

GL: What sparked off this particular passion?

Thora: Well, I often jokingly answer this question by saying the answer is contained in an alphabetical list of things I love: A as in alphabet, B as in brocante, C as in calligraphy, D as in dictionary, E as in aesthetics, F as in France, G as in Grenoble, H as in hedonism … The dictionaries I work on are up to 150 years old, and their alphabetical illustrations really combine these elements. In fact I love the alphabet so much that one of my recent books is subtitled La Vie secrète de l’alphabet.

GL: You have also curated a touring exhibition about dictionary ornaments. Tell us about that and where we can see it.

Thora: Shortly after I published Art Dico, I was invited by the Lyons printing museum to curate an exhibition there. It was a lot of fun choosing among the many old illustrations, having huge blow-ups made of them, and showing the general public how rich this apparently naïve form of illustration can be. Another fun aspect was rounding up dozens of artefacts, finding the actual objects that appear in the illustrations. I presented two groups of 26 items, one for children and one for adults, and the game for the visitors was simply to find the names of all the objects. Many of these artefacts were things that people just don’t see today. What I loved about that part of the exhibition was that it showed how the world reflects the dictionary, as opposed to how the dictionary reflects the world. But I could go on about that for hours, too …

Chance being what it is, once the exhibition was over in Lyons, I met a man whose surname is almost identical to mine and who is both a calligrapher and an alphabet-exhibition manager. What serendipity! Bernard Vanmalle has now taken the ART DICO exhibition under his wing. It has circulated widely in France (mostly in public libraries and médiathèques). Unfortunately, it was in Grenoble three years ago for several months, so I do not think it will be here again in the near future …

GL: This wasn’t your first exhibition, though. You exhibited photographs of rue Brocherie at the Grenoble Maison de la Culture in 1981.

Thora: That was another really interesting project. I asked all the merchants on the street I live on to stand on their doorstep for a picture, and to tell me about the past history of their shop. Then I produced a set of panels that combined my photographs and some fabulous line drawings done by a man who worked at the Maison de la Culture at the time; I wrote a text about the history of each shop, and calligraphed it onto each panel.

This exhibition doesn’t circulate any more, and I hope that it will at some point join the Musée Dauphinois collection.

GL: Tell us about your charitable work and how our readers can get involved.

Thora: For several years, now, I have been volunteering in a soup kitchen in the centre of the old town. The association provides breakfast every morning, hot lunch twice a week in the winter months, clothing, food hampers and a variety of other services. The people who come are not all homeless, but they are all in fairly distressing situations (this can include being a refugee, having mental health issues, drug or alcohol problems, or just plain poverty). We have between 40 and 100 people every morning.

If your readers want to help us, one thing we are always in need of is men’s shoes. They can be dropped off at 4 bis rue du Vieux Temple, any week day between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. The association also accepts monetary donations; I myself am very interested in donations in kind, however, and can promise you that any shoes that are given will find a pair of needy feet!

Thora van Male will be talking about her new book at Maison des Langues on campus on Thursday April 7 at 6.30pm. Contact Alliance Grenoble-Oxford for more information.

The Upstage 2011 cast and crew

The cast and crew of Upstage – an English theatre group comprising students at Cité Internationale Europole in Grenoble – share their experiences as rehearsals gather pace for this year’s production: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas, March 15–19. 

Francesco Amadori 

This is my first year in upstage productions and I am so pleased to be part of it. From day one, everyone was really friendly and made me feel at ease in the rehearsals. We work in a great atmosphere and I love the way the directors take their time to pay attention to every detail in the scene which we are practising. 

I play a well-to-do, hard-handed land-owner named Thomas Putnam. He is a participant in the trials of Salem and “helps” the prosecution of Giles Corey. This part, seeing as it is not one of the major ones, allows me to participate backstage during the play, as well as being on stage. 

Alba Besson 

Girls found dancing in the forest; women accused of witchcraft; a mighty judge brought to Salem to sort it all out and to hang the guilty… Sounds like a pretty good play don’t you think? 

I’m Alba and I play the part of Samuel Parris, Salem’s egocentric reverend, and so far I’m really enjoying being one of the baddies! The cast this year is really fun: we all get on great and function well as a theatre troupe. The rehearsals, with a little nudge from cakes and the soundtrack to “The Boat That Rocked”, are progressing slowly but surely and through them is emerging an exciting adaptation of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”. 

Hopefully, Parris’s selfish, sly and self-righteous personality won’t rub off on me too much! 

Mariam El Boudi 

Hi everybody! I’m Mariam, a 17-year-old girl who plays Mary Warren, a naïve young woman, and Rebecca Nurse, a conventional 72-year-old woman. Exploring The Crucible through Mary Warren’s character is a powerful and overwhelming experience, especially since this will be the first time I’ll be playing in Upstage. The balance stems from Rebecca Nurse’s character who is, according to me, of a much lighter tone. As Mr Simpson [David Simpson] said “the emotional levels and the acting challenges are very demanding”; therefore, we are experiencing a break away from Loot which was performed the previous year and was much more hilarious. 

I’m looking forward to be performing with the rest of the team!!! 

Jaicy Elliot 

This is my third and last year in upstage and I am proud to say that I play the splendid Elizabeth Proctor. 

This is a great change as I have been accustomed to playing men. Elizabeth is a very strong lady dealing with deep emotional conflict within her marriage as well as playing an extremely important role in the witch trial. 

The play is definitely more serious and grave than the past few upstage has put on but I’m glad to say that the very new actors’ enthusiasm and good humour still fits in what we call the upstage family and style. 

Matias Gaggiotti 

Hey, I’m Matias and in The Crucible I play Deputy-Governor Danforth, a pretentious and selfish judge, who is extremely loyal to the rules and regulations of his position. He constantly changes tone and mood and so I am sometimes pushed to act calmly and then erupt into an explosion of anger. He is a challenging character to portray but it’s also fun to immerse in this selfish, “just” character. The team this year is convivial and we all feel comfortable acting in front of each other. The production team is doing a brilliant job and the play is evolving swiftly and surely. The actors help the production team from time to time in making the tickets and other technicalities. Overall everyone is having fun and enjoying their role. Although the play is a challenge (due to its sometimes complicated language and strong themes) the team faces the challenge and overcomes the difficulties to produce a first class performance. Of course there is place for improvement but we will all be there coming March to preform the play in all its splendour. And I’m sure you’ll be there too. 

Andrew Hanlon 

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I have come here to refer you to the facts. Every year for the past 18 years there has been an Upstage production, and every year there are a talented few, selected to perform and be part of the Upstage Experience. Ladies and gentlemen of the court, ladies and gentlemen of Salem, I am no lawyer, I am but an old farmer with 600 acres with timber in addition but I challenge you now, find one of that chosen band who will testify here, before God and the good people of Salem, find one who claims that their time could have been better spent. Find one who says that the few hours a week were not worth the feeling of success. Find one, I challenge you, find one who would not have become one of the select few, chosen to join the Upstage family. Just one. Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I rest my case. 

Anthony du Hecquet de Rauville 

Hello there assembly! I’m John Hale. Reverend John Hale that is. 

Now for today’s opening sermon, I have chosen to read to you from the Book of Upstage, Chapter The Crucible, Verse 2011. 

You see, this verse details how Anthony de Rauville joined Upstage and what he thought of it. 

Everyone knows that when in trouble, Upstage is the best reference when it comes to chilling. After all, it is THE place to be. What more could a young man such as Anthony want? He decided that he wanted to not only enjoy himself, but entertain others. After a long audition, he was finally admitted into the book of Upstage. Many a cold winter afternoon, you could see Anthony and his friends practising away, repeating line after line, movement after movement, and so, after many hours of hard work and perseverance, he was finally admitted into the Chapter of The Crucible. Do you see what an interesting life he and the other members led? Wouldn’t it be a waste not to enjoy this chapter? Well then why don’t you head on over to Théâtre Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas and enjoy a wonderful show. 

Yannick Jamey 

I’m very happy to say I’m playing in upstage for a third year. This time, I’ll perform as a minor role: Judge Hathorne, a very unfair and sadistic Salem judge, which sets quite a contrast in character for me, compared to my previous roles as a thug and wanted criminal. Hathorne is very intense, as is the actual play, which is somewhat much less of a comedy than what upstage usually produces. I think “the Crucible” is magnificent and wholly remarkable, and with an impressively big crew to bring it to Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas, I look forward to a thrilling performance. I would like to thank Mr. Simpson and other upstage members for exceptionally having given me the pleasure and opportunity to perform once again with the big family… 

Astrid Lund 

This is my first year at Upstage, but I still felt welcomed from the start, and as time goes on my confidence on stage has grown. There is a real feeling of belonging to a group, and it’s great seeing the play coming together, thanks to a wonderful cast and crew. 

I play Abigail Williams. She is 17 years old during the trials. She is manipulative and dramatic, as well as darkly charismatic, with constant shifts of mood and behaviour. At first she seems to be modest and proper, but soon it is obvious that she is far from that… 

Colleen Massé 

Upstage. Since the moment I saw the play last year, I just knew I wanted to be part of it. And I’m not disappointed. It is better than anything I had expected!!!! I’m Tituba, Parris’ crazy servant on my good days, and Mercy Lewis – as Arthur Miller said “A sly merciless girl of 18″ – on my bad days … These two small parts seem just perfect for me to get used to acting, and to how Upstage works … Why now, what more could I say? Apart from buy your tickets, and expect a night you won’t forget! Because there shall be no trickin’ with no Devil as long as Tituba’s around, and no terrible secrets with Mercy Lewis. Of course not…! 

Mairwen Perenon 

I wanted to act in Upstage since seeing The Ladykillers. I am very happy to have been included in the Upstage team this year. My characters are very challenging for me as I have never acted before. I hope I will satisfy the audience with my work on them. Ann Putnam is an old woman who is deeply affected by the loss of seven children in childbirth, whereas Francis Nurse is a landholding farmer whose wife is accused of killing Ann Putnam’s babies! 

Fred Shahani 

Hi, Fred here. This is my first year at Upstage, I arrived a little late but I felt welcomed from my first day. I am part of the production team and I mostly do the odd jobs such as fetching Mr Simpson and Julie’s coffee, scrubbing the floors and filling in for the actors who couldn’t be bothered to come… The main reason I wanted to come to Upstage is for the cheap coffee and free food but I’m also interested in how a play evolves and what happens behind the scenes. The Crucible is a great play to start off with as it has a lot of themes that are still valid today. The play is rapidly improving and I look forward to the future. 

Lewis Smith 

Hi, I’m Lewis. This year will be my second in Upstage, working with the magnificent Production team! I’m mainly responsible for any sound effects or music you hear in the theatre, as well as the Upstage website. Why did I join Upstage you might ask? Because I love working backstage in theatre productions and contributing to them, having tons of fun, and of course watching lowly actors rehearse for hours on end! (Cue evil laugh) Upstage really is great fun, whether you be an actor or techie, whether the play be a comedy or not; there will always be great people, great music, and of course free food. 

On top of all that, on top of the teamwork and stress management skills you develop, the feeling of accomplishment and success after the final production is wonderful, and is definitely worth the effort! 

As Nietzsche once said, “What is good? – Whatever augments the feeling of happiness.” Upstage is thereby the highest form of good. 

Nicholas Smith 

Hi, I’m Nick and this year I decided to join Upstage, the Europole theatre troop. So far I’m not regretting my decision at all! Since the beginning of the year I’ve been having bucket loads of fun at rehearsals. The atmosphere amongst the cast and crew is great, everyone gets on really well, and when you’ve had a stressful week and are rundown with exhaustion, Upstage is a real pick-me-up. It helps to swallow the proverbial medicine that is the French lycée system. 

I play John Proctor, an honest and faithful farmer, pillar of the community and model to all … kind of … 

Camille Tabary 

Aye love! 

I am Cheever, the prison guard. 

I am a minor character in our play The Crucible who likes to get tipsy, or even drunk … My real name is Camille Tabary and I am a terminale. A small part was perfect for me this year because it really enabled me to participate in the upstage experience and have fun, but also continue working at school. Upstage is a lot of hard work but also great fun because we all have the same goal: perform the best Crucible possible. It will be an amazing play that you won’t forget, because we put our heart into it. So come and see us. Maybe I will share with you some of my cider. 

Teo Taylor 

Lights On! 

Hi. My name’s Teo Taylor, and I play the role of, well, Teo Taylor. I have to admit, it’s a role I particularly enjoy, because it is that of a psychorigid, boring, terribly bad looking “computer genius” (that’s what a history teacher once said, so for all you know it might just be that I know how to turn on the printer.) In short, I’m the closest you’ll get to the Upstage geek – shirt in trousers, glasses, terrible taste for shoes, and never eats at midday. 

As you might have expected, I’m one of the four techies. More specifically, I’m the one who does the stuff like the poster or the lights. So, if you like the poster, knowing I’m responsible for it, I hope you’ll trust me when I say that what the actors are producing is way worth seeing, to come and see for yourself in March (I’ll be sad if you don’t…) 

See poster below for ticket and performance information 

The Crucible poster

Robin Hood - a pantomime. A detail from this year's poster.

As the Junior High students at Cité Scolaire Internationale start rehearsals for the annual pantomime, Grenoble Life catches up with some of the cast.

Siobhan Coakley is playing ‘King Richard’, Jessica Vacheresse is playing ‘Lady Eleanor’, and is also Choir Director, and Matthew Lloyd is playing ‘Bobby, the Castle Guard’.

Grenoble Life: How old are you and what year are you in at the Cité Scolaire Internationale? 

Siobhan: I’m fourteen and I’m in troisième. 

Jessica: I’m fourteen and currently in troisième.

Matthew: I’m twelve and I am in cinqième. 

GL: Why did you decide to get involved with the school panto? 

Siobhan: I’ve seen previous pantomimes from the school when I first came to France. I love singing, dancing, acting and the idea of the audience taking part in the show so it was definitely something I wanted to be a part of. It’s also very different to the other types of theatre in France so it was also the excitement to be a part of something original to this country. 

Jessica: I decided to get involved in the school panto because I used to go and see it every year, and I always really enjoyed it. I also wanted to discover acting and making the public laugh. I’ve been acting in the panto for three years now. 

Matthew: I got involved in the panto because I thought it would be fun to take part.

GL: Have you ever performed on stage before? How do you feel about it – nervous, excited?  

Siobhan: Yes, when I lived in Ireland I was a part of a lot of dance, musical theatre and speech and drama clubs, so I had performed on stage before, I just wasn’t quite aware of all the people watching me at the time because I was a lot younger. However now I realize the “responsibility” of giving a good performance. Before going on stage I always feel anxious, excited and extremely nervous but once I get on stage (like many people performing in the pantomime) I don’t want to get off! 

Jessica: I’d performed on stage a couple of times before, in small singing concerts with the music school I went to. I think the memory of the fun I had on stage back then gave me confidence to walk on stage at panto. The feeling before the panto show is always tense, yet we can’t wait to start. It’s during the last couple of weeks before the show that the cast really gets close together and by the time we start the BIG week we feel like a giant family. 

Matthew: I’ve never performed on stage and I’m actually really looking forward to it.

GL: So you’ll be acting, singing and dancing? Which are you best at and which are the most difficult for you? Why? 

Siobhan: I’d say I’m probably best at dancing and acting, because they’re what I’m most experienced at. Although I’d say acting is harder because you really need to find a way to stay in character , especially during the embarrassing or intense parts. What embarrasses you usually doesn’t embarrass your character. 

Jessica: I, like most of the cast, act, dance and sing. To me singing and acting are the easiest. When I act I feel like myself (which is quite ironic as I’m not being myself!) I also love singing. Dancing isn’t my strongest point; some people feel like they’re flying when they dance. Personally I find it really difficult to coordinate my movements.

Matthew: I think I’m best at acting because I like it, whereas singing or dancing I don’t really like. 

GL: Did you all know about pantomimes before you got involved in this one? 

Siobhan: Yes, it was always a tradition when I lived in Ireland to go see a pantomime around Christmas time. So doing the pantomime at school brings back a lot of memories. 

Jessica: I don’t think many people in the cast knew much about pantomimes before watching our school panto or participating in it. One of the adults involved has sent us videos of pantomimes in the UK but most of us had never been to see one ‘live’, apart from our school panto!! 

Matthew: I’ve already been to a pantomime in England called ‘Peter Pan’. 

What interests you about the story of Robin Hood? 

Siobhan: What interests me about the story of Robin Hood is that it has never been done before as a pantomime. So the scriptwriters were able to create a completely new pantomime which we would be the first to put into production! 

Jessica: What I like about Robin Hood is that it’s not like the usual fairytales. It really might have happened! The prince has been replaced by an outlaw who wants to help, the princess has been replaced by a maid, and the “bad guy” rules the country! The roles have been exchanged and that’s what makes Robin Hood great. It also makes it an AMAZING panto! I can’t wait to see what people think about it when seeing it.

Matthew: The thing that interests me about the story of ‘Robin Hood’ is that he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. 

GL: When did you start rehearsing, and how many rehearsals do you have each week? 

Siobhan: We started rehearsing in the start of September and we have two hour rehearsals each Tuesday and Thursday, as well as occasional song and dance rehearsals at lunch time and on Saturday mornings. 

Jessica: We tried out for this year’s panto in May, just before the summer holidays. That’s when we were given our roles. But the actual rehearsals started at the beginning of our school year, in September. We have two permanent rehearsals: they take place every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 5 pm to 7 pm, at the Cité Scolaire Internationale. (Thanks to our direction team who do a great job of helping us!) We also occasionally have singing and dancing rehearsals on Tuesdays and Fridays from 12pm to 2pm. (Thanks to song director and dance director who are there every time to encouraging us!) Some of the cast also participates in the panto choir. Their rehearsals take place at the same time as general rehearsals. All of these hours make our timetable heavier but we are prepared to take that on board to participate in this year’s Pantomime, Robin Hood.

Can’t wait to see you at the show!! 

Matthew: We started rehearsing the panto in early September and we have two rehearsals per week (if you not dancing or singing in it). 

Shows will happen at the Cité Scolaire Internationale (Terminus Tram B), 4 place de Sfax, in Grenoble, on Wednesday January 26th (2.30pm), Thursday January 27th (7.30pm), Friday January 28th (7.30pm), Saturday January 29th (10am), and Saturday January 29th (7.30pm). 

We highly recommend that you reserve tickets (over 18: 6 euros, 4-18: 3 euros, under 4: free).   

Send name, address, email address, date and time, and number of tickets (adult/child/under 4s) required to gregg.west@ac-grenoble.fr.  

A check, payable to Umbrella Association, is to be sent within a week to Gregg West, c/o Cité Scolaire Internationale, BP 1570, 4 place de Sfax, 38012 Grenoble Cedex 01.  Tickets will be held at the door for you. You will be asked for an ID. 

Lastly, you may see our sparkling poster up (see below) in some English speaking place, or in an English speaking website. Look for it! 

Robin Hood Poster

Graines de Polyglottes

Grenoble Life editor James Dalrymple chatted to Elisabeth Malandrino, Directrice at Graines de Polyglottes, a new language centre for children in the city.

Grenoble Life: What do you do at Graines de Polyglottes?

Elisabeth Malandrino: Graines de Polyglottes is a language center that welcomes children from 3 to 11 years for them to learn foreign languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian.

In small groups of 5 up to 8 children organized by age and level, children come one hour per week. 

GL: How, when and why did get involved?

Elisabeth: Graines de Polyglottes was born naturally - coming myself from a multicultural family, the idea of speaking several languages has emerged very early.

My mother was born in Spain, my father was born in Italy, one of my sisters lives in the United States, I have a American nephew and a German one.

At my daughter’s birth, I thought that other parents would also like their own children to learn other languages.  Graines de Polyglottes was then born!

It’s a project which required several years of preparation and we welcomed our first students in September 2010.

GL: What is the Graines de Polyglottes philosophy and method?

Elisabeth: Our philosophy rests on the pleasure of learning through play.

In a child-friendly environment, children are happy to come and share these moments with their teachers and other children.

They learn without effort, having fun and, of course, they repeat words.

For this we use an active, structured and playful method.

We aim at awakening auditory, visual and gestural language for the youngest (3-6 years) by mobilizing all the sensory abilities of children. We use puppets, rhymes, songs, drawings …

For older children (7-11 years), we develop the understanding and expression, both oral and written skills by role playing, the media …

GL: What is the typical profile of the parents of children at Graines de Polyglottes?

Elisabeth: We have many different cases:

- French families, who understand the importance of foreign languages and want to give their child this advantage.

- Mixed families who speak one or more languages at home and want to improve achievement.

- Families coming back from abroad to France who want their children to continue speaking and writing their new language.

GL: What is the typical profile of a teacher at Graines de Polyglottes?

Elisabeth: The teaching team consists of language teachers with a proven track of several years of teaching experience with young children.

Their knowledge of the French educational system and the one of their countries of origin is a valuable asset in developing programs.

Our teachers bring their professionalism and enthusiasm in the centre.

GL: What is the ideal age for children to start learning a second language?

Elisabeth: The sooner the better, babies are able to distinguish the sounds of all languages.

A baby’s mother and entourage will make him or her familiar with the phonemes of the language spoken within the family and little by little, he will keep only the sounds that are part of that language.

That’s why the more a young child hears different languages, the more he/she retains more language skills, both for listening and speaking.

At Graines de Polyglottes, we welcome children from kindergarten age for practical reasons.

GL:  Why have you set up a Graines de Polyglottes particulary in Grenoble?

Elisabeth: First, for personal reasons because Grenoble is my hometown.

Then, for reasons peculiar to the city, Grenoble became multicultural and cosmopolitan. Many families around the world come to live for a year or more for professional reasons.

Increasingly, we hear other languages in the street.

I think Graines de Polyglottes responds to the requests of many parents.

GL: Will you have any recruitment opportunitues? What are the advantages of working at Graines de Polyglottes?

Elisabeth: We recruit motivated graduate teachers with experience of teaching young children.

We work in an atmosphere where everyone works together and exchange between cultures takes place naturally.

GL: How can people contact you?

Elisabeth: You can contact us by phone 04.76.87.37.01 or by email:  contact@grainesdepolyglottes.fr.

For more information, see the website www.grainesdepolyglottes.fr

Montessori school shelves with toys. Photo: 3neus

In a three-part blog Camille Bromley describes a day in the life of a teacher at the Montessori International School of Grenoble. Read part I.

7:38 am

Bus stop, Place Verdun.  As the number 31 bus to Meylan: Maupertius approaches I’m hastily devouring the remaining third of my Big Chocolate, freshly purchased for 1 euro from Sandwich House located behind the Maison de Tourisme tram stop, outgoing side. Ordinarily the Big Chocolates from this Sandwich House are not especially good pain au chocolat, but they’re easily the size of two regular pain au chocolat, a good bargain at 1 euro (the American in me is always a sucker for bargains), and in the morning when they’re warm they’re still pretty darn tasty.

The Big Chocolate is the ritual first step in my once-weekly workday as an English teacher at Montessori International Primary School in Meylan, as this is the only day in the week I exit the house early enough to catch one while still warm. The other days of the week I work as an English assistant in public primary schools.

Teaching at Montessori International School is not like teaching in French public school.  It’s vastly different, in fact.  If you’re not familiar with what’s called the Montessori Method, I’ll briefly explain: The Montessori Method of children’s education was originally developed in the early 20th century by an Italian educator named Maria Montessori. It’s an alternative approach to schooling, encouraging a child’s individual self-directed learning using the support of materials and teacher observation. 

From what I understand, while many schools worldwide function under the heading of Montessori School there are no defined guidelines for the specific practical application of this education system. However, the general idea is that children learn best when they follow their natural instincts and interests. In other words, it’s self-study for kids; less academically-put, the kids do what they feel like.

This “do-what-you-feel-like” philosophy is most decidedly not the norm in French public schools, from what I’ve seen in my year’s experience there, the essential part of a teacher’s oral utterances consisting of phrases such as, non, tu n’as pas le droit!; vous levez la doigt pour avoir la parole!; TAISEZ-VOUS! [yelled shockingly loud]; vous êtes insupportables aujourd’hui! [tone of resignation and accompanying sigh]; and finally the much-loved Bravo!, with exaggerated sarcasm. Thus, Montessori International reputedly offers an alternative to parents who prefer their kids to receive more positive encouragement than negative during the first 6–9 years of their educational development.

However, I haven’t given an entirely clear picture of the Montessori International School in Meylan. This school is foremost an international school, with instruction provided in French and English. I am the English-instruction teacher (on Mondays anyways), and a woman with a confounding last name, Martine Grzelak, functions as school director and French-instruction teacher. 

We take care of the primary-age children, age 6–12. The children in this group, about 25 of them, are mostly Francophone, with a solid group of Anglophones and couple French-English bilingual kids. There is another, separate class of students at the school, the pre-school age group (ages 3–6), also Francophone or Anglophone or both, headed by Emilie Ballivy. The pre-schoolers are called Les petits castors, which gives an accurate impression of their work ethic and focused accomplishment under the guidance of Ms. Ballivy.

The school makes use of an impressive collection of Montessori materials and supplies, and the curriculum is organized around the French National Education program, so that children are expected to cover a similar material to public school students. More on the Montessori Method as the day progresses.

Part II

Part III

Part III

12:00 pm

Lunchtime. The microwave cart is wheeled in, desks are cleared, chairs fetched. The students eat in the classroom. The children are expected to be settled quietly in their chairs, ask to go wash their hands, and then ask to get their lunchboxes before they are allowed to eat. Meanwhile, the child in charge of setting the table this week goes to get the silverware and dishes.   

12:30 pm

Everyone is finally sitting and has more or less the complete tableware set in front of them: plate, fork, knife, little yogurt spoon, and plastic cup (Martine’s cabinet has slowly but surely been rid of all the glassware glasses, not intentionally).

The table setting procedure always takes much longer than is logically necessary, probably because the child assigned to set the table is for some reason 90% of the time the same small boy, who due to his diminutive size and severely ADD nature seems the absolute worst person in the room to give the task of distributing various separate pieces of cutlery to students sitting in disorganized clumps around the big room, not to mention that when you see him trying to lug the heavy glass water pitchers around to each table you get the sinking sense of futility of watching someone trying very hard to complete a Sisyphean task. Half the pitcher will have been emptied on the floor by the time he gets to the table, and he’ll be sent to get more in five minutes.

I send the children in groups of two or three to the cloakroom to get their lunchboxes. I imagine that you can tell a lot about the home life of individual children from their lunchboxes. A lot of the older children seem to have the freedom to creatively fashion their own concept of a meal; there’s a group of three girls (who aggressively defy the assertion that social cliques don’t exist in small schools) that bring their lunches in family-style portions to share with each other: a bag of Lay’s potato chips, a Tupperware box of pasta and sauce, an entire sleeve of Speculoos cookies.

The Anglophone children belong to a different breed of household, one that clearly holds in contempt the irresponsible consumption of low nutrient-to-calorie ratio foods and environmentally unfriendly packaging. S—, a six-year-old with extraordinary feminine style (how a child of that age is able to exude such class is beyond me), declares matter-of-factly that she hates ice cream and cake. Her treat of choice is the green pressed seaweed paper that sushi rolls come wrapped in — in French it’s translated as algae, which expresses better, I think, the total bizarreness of a six-year-old reveling in the taste of a seaweed wrap (imagine an apple cheeked little girl saying with a charming missing-front-tooth smile, “My favorite food is algae”).  

1:15 pm

The kids are fairly hopping to get outside after a full morning of being together in one room. They go into the cloakroom to remove their slippers and put on their outside shoes, most of which resemble work boots or what English people call “wellies” rather than the slick bright white Pumas or the metallically shiny girl-sized heels (!) public school children wear. This is because the playground provided for amusement and the venting of various child frustrations during the lunch recess is not actually a playground, it’s an empty field behind the Montessori school building accessible only by a quick jump across a ditch (a wide step for you or me, a brief air-bound thrill for the 11-year-olds, and an unbreachable chasm for the 3-year-olds, who nevertheless enjoy the jump immensely so long as you’re holding their hand.

Supervising, I can’t help thinking that innovative playground developers, with their tangle of curved colored bars and knotted rope systems, are entirely missing the point — the kids have more fun rolling around in the grass and throwing rocks at trees than with any preconstructed equipment education authorities can buy. I’m reminded how innocent and sweet children are at heart when I hear G— and S— playing a sort of tag-zombie game which seems to consist of yelling “I’m going to suck your brain!” and attempting to grab the skull of another player.

2:00 pm

Emilie and I file the children back into school, past the company workers in button up shirts and pencil skirts taking their smoke break. Monday afternoon is devoted to art class and Spanish class, and the children are sent in small groups to participate in those activities. Otherwise, the students can continue the projects of the morning. The students complete impressive individual projects throughout the year that don’t sacrifice depth or quality for the lack of collaborators.

S— is working on a postcard project; she’s contacting friends and acquaintances across the U.S., asking them to send her postcards at the Montessori school address, teaching her about their town or state. She’s gathered a large number of postcards and will organize them into a visual presentation. O— has completed a project about the state of Israel, its history, people, and culture, and the poster is hanging on the classroom wall.

One of the goals of the Montessori school is to effectively link all subjects together in the child’s mind; to create a truly interdisciplinary understanding of the world. This objective makes for very creative project ideas, and the results are evident in the variety of student-made artwork and presentations on display around the school.

3:30 pm

The school day is over, but many students will stay for the next one to two hours, playing the gymnasium or participating in an activity Martine or Emilie has organized. I, however, say my rounds of “See you next week” and am out the door.

The next day I’ll be at one of the public primary schools in Grenoble. Not being an education expert, I’m not going to offer my judgment of the effectiveness of the education system in public schools compared to the Montessori approach. The purposes and needs of the two school systems are vastly different and require different methods of teaching and classroom management. Montessori schools may give more individual attention, but they also provide a lot less guidance and structure. This may or may not work well, depending on the character of each individual child. One thing I do know, however, is that I’ll be doing a lot more yelling in my public school.

Part I

Part II

For more information:
http://www.montessori-grenoble.com/UK/school-montessori-grenoble.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori

Part II

8:12 am

Terminus on the number 31 bus line. The bus halts in front of a grouping of new, enterprise-y looking buildings with big reflective glass windows framed in a shade of blue that suggests innovation and forward-thinking. The school is rather unexpectedly housed in one of these buildings, towards the back of the complex, sharing quarters with some kind of company that requires men and women in business attire to enter and exit through the same doors as the free-spirited, frequently-in-high-speed-motion Montessori kids.

The school is essentially three large rooms, the primary schoolroom, the pre-school room, and the gym, which is carpeted and doubles as an art studio and Spanish nook. There is also Martine’s office, a nap room for the preschoolers, a storage room, and a cloakroom where the children hang their coats, bags, and change their shoes into indoor shoes. They are only allowed to wear slippers inside the school, as it is carpeted. This reminds me of Japanese schools, except that here the children are allowed to bring their own slippers. In Japan the slippers are part of the uniforms and must be regulation color and design.

8:45 am

The kids wander in the room one by one and are by this time more or less all present. After some general comments and reminders, Martine starts the weekly routine of designating “responsibilities” onto each child. This is performed by use of a chart listing cleaning tasks to be completed each day and a small canvas sack containing the names of each child on Velcro tabs.

It took me a few months to figure out that the responsibility entitled Muffin referred to the class hamster. Insisting that the responsibilities be assigned by a random pull from the bag, Martine cheats openly on her own rule by fishing for names that she believes merit a particular nasty chore this week. The kids either suffer tremendously from the injustice of this favoritism or get a kick out of it, depending on how you choose to interpret the situation.

The responsibilities I find to be an ingenious system for ensuring an attitude of collective care and respect from all the students towards the cleaning and upkeep of the school room and materials. By being allowed to choose, in a fashion, what chore they do each week the child is given some autonomy and feels like she’s making a voluntary decision to contribute. This is probably a distinctive Montessori touch. Japanese schoolchildren also clean the school as part of their daily duties, although there they are responsible for the bathrooms as well, which I remain convinced is a mistake (imagine how what kind of clean job a second-grader might do on a bathroom — then repeat that every day for the whole year).

8:52 am

Work time. The children are either broken up into groups or sent to a desk to work individually. All the primary school kids, from 6 to 12, work in the same room, some in groups and some independently, and they pursue different activities. Martine keeps an eye on all of them and remains aware of how they’re doing and what progress they’re making, a remarkable feat for about 15 different students and different levels.

There are no set subject periods or age groups. The children have more or less the choice to work on one activity the entire morning or change subjects freely. There’s no morning recess, although there is a snack, which the children are expected to provide, following a rotation schedule. If the children tire of one activity and want to do some less-strenuous but still constructive activity such as reading, it is permitted within reason.

I take the group of English speakers. There are two first grade girls, a third grader, a fifth grader, and sometimes a first grade boy. We either do a language-arts activity all together, harder versions adapted for the third and fifth graders, or I split them up to work in pairs or alone. It’s my choice based on what we’re doing that day and how well the children are working together. When the English speakers take breaks to work on another subject, I choose a group of French children to do an English language lesson.

11:00 am

With Martine in the room, the classroom functions smoothly. With some notable exceptions, the children work quietly, although their rate of productivity is subject to debate. Clearly, some children are more ideal Montessori students than others. A group of three boys writes a bilingual dialogue together concerning an inept motorist and a driving instructor for their upcoming play. Another boy does French grammar exercises on the computer. A girl visualizes multiplication with wooden beads and a counting board.

Meanwhile, little G— sulks at his desk, complaining that his work is “too hard” and he doesn’t “understand nuffing,” and I— doodles on the margins of his essay and gazes out the window. I remind I— to get back to his work and Martine appears over G—‘s shoulder to investigate the veracity of his claim.

Part I

Part III

Helen McEwan (left) with children joining in on English Talk Radio

The May 21 English Talk Radio show features Helen McEwan of ABC Anglais, and took place at Les Petits Bilingues, Grenoble.

Listen to the show: here

English Talk Radio is a talk show in English on 90.8 Radio Campus Grenoble. We talk about film, theatre, finance, restaurants, travel, and have a variety of topical guests. There are four presenters: Kristine Minski talks about finance, Christina Menez talks about China, Mary Zaccai talks about student issues, and Vivian Draper – animatrice/rédactrice – hosts the show. Every Sunday at 12.30pm, and every Wednesday at 7pm on 90.8, Radio Campus Grenoble and live on www.campusgrenoble.org – and also here on Grenoble Life.

A filled blackboard. Photo: Rainer Ebert

In response to criticism of the education system on Grenoble Life and from the Anglophone community in France, Iain Smears mounts a passionate defence of French schooling.

Many people in the Anglophone community in Grenoble will come into contact with the French education system either through their studies or those of their family members. There are aspects about it which seem to draw criticism from a considerable proportion of the English-speaking community.

In this article, I would like to depict how my own experience of doing maternelle, primaire, collège and lycée in Grenoble, then of going to university in the UK, has shown me the many benefits of the education on offer here. In fact, it is precisely some of those aspects of the system which are often criticised which I would argue have been of value to me in my university studies. I will focus on secondary education, or more specifically the Bac Général, as I have only glimpses and second hand experience of French higher education and cannot claim to know much about the other paths in secondary education.

A major concern for some is the long hours of schooling throughout collège and lycée. I did the Bac Scientifique with the OIB (L’option internationale du baccalauréat), and I’m the first to admit that it was demanding. On a few occasions, I’ve been asked by parents with children about to embark on this path if it’s true that I did 50 hours of work a week. Their frowns of anguish are of little surprise to me when I place a finger on my lip, recollect, then declare that it was probably a dozen or so hours more than that.

I do see the sense in many of the objections to long school days and I will readily concede that perhaps the content of lessons from 5-6 pm isn’t what I remember the best – however, little is said of the end result of French schooling: how does it influence one’s experiences in higher education and after that?

I chose to study mathematics in the UK. Bit by bit, I noticed how my fellow students were finding the course more trying than I was – some would find it hard to do their work on time, others found it hard to get out of bed, some needed vast amounts of caffeine or chocolate to feel ready to take on their work. Someone put my thoughts into words by calling it a “great big hangover for having partied for the previous 18 years.”

For my part, I continued at my usual rhythm inherited from Terminale by learning my lectures as well as I could and doing my homework sooner rather than later. I think that strong discipline not only leads to successfully acquiring the material, but also helps to explore the subject to its fullest, satisfy one’s curiosity and therefore enjoy one’s studies.

The extensive testing and harsh grading schemes in French education also attract criticism. Yet I believe that it is instead very beneficial to get substantial practice of long examinations. Being able to focus and to stay sharp under pressure is an important part of exam technique and I am glad I was able to get practice in this before end-of-year exams at university.

As for the unforgiving grading, it made those good grades well deserved – something in which I found satisfaction. I found that for me and other pupils at school, it encouraged a determined attitude towards trying one’s upmost. Compare this to the comments I have heard of several students in the UK about how they were “spoon-fed just to pass exams” and “weren’t proving [their] own ability, but that of [their] teacher”, which has not helped them find self-confidence and belief in their ability. I think that learning that someone can indeed rise up to a challenge is important for him to value and appreciate his work and also helps in face of future challenges.

It is true that some people can find the difficult grading scheme discouraging. But even though grades matter for later progression, it should be remembered that what is learnt matters most. Whether someone gets a B or C on an A-level or roughly equivalently [i] a 10 on the Bac, what they have gained from school will likely be the same. When that person goes onto university, it is what that person has acquired that will be key. I know of some who struggled in a subject throughout lycée, then needed that knowledge to some extent in their later studies, and have told me since that they felt they were at an advantage against others in their group.

However if there is a clear-cut problem with the grading system, it is that it puts at a disadvantage French students who wish to study abroad, e.g. the UK. This is because admissions tutors might not be aware of the discrepancies between the systems and take estimated grades for the Baccalaureate at face value – i.e. they would assume, say, that an A is worth 16 on the Bac. Things are made worse by the fact that high numbers of UK students get the top mark: according to wikipedia [ii], 43.7% of students taking an A-level in Mathematics got an A in 2007. And unlike A-levels, Baccalaureate students cannot retake exams to improve their grades. This can result in disproportionately demanding offers for Baccalaureate pupils.

A final advantage of the French education system, which is not immediately apparent to those still undertaking it, is that it offers flexibility in later choices. Of those who did the Bac Scientifique in my class, some have gone into media relations, politics, languages, nursing… Some feel that the schooling did not suit them, but what they have done enables them to embark on a wide range of paths afterwards.

In conclusion, even though the French secondary education system has its faults, I hope it will not be forgotten that the overall result of the extensive schooling is threefold. First, it is an opening to numerous topics – it showcases vast bodies of knowledge and works to stimulate the pupil’s mind in all forms. Second, it helps to equip its pupils with the attitude, determination, self-confidence and ethos which are important in all walks of life. Third, it aims to keep as many doors open as possible all the way until the end of the Baccalaureate. Combined, I think these three aspects allow the education system to offer what one generally wants: the freedom to choose one’s way through an opening to the world.

Upstage 2010

Grenoble Life’s Camille Bromley was in the audience at Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas for this year’s Upstage theatre production: Joe Orton’s Loot and Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language. Here’s what she has to say.  

Grenoble is home to a plethora of theaters running shows every night of the week, but not many of those are performed in English.  Luckily we have Upstage productions to step up to the task; every year Upstage puts on a six-day running of English language theater, performed by high school students at the Cité Internationale.  This year producer and director David Simpson presented a double-bill, Joe Orton’s Loot and Harold Pinter’s Mountain Language.  

Those expecting “High School Musical” should look elsewhere.  Although the team of actors is made up of high school students, the plays chosen confronted difficult and provocative issues. The group emphasizes that its shows are professional productions aimed for all mature audiences, and challenging plays are chosen to reflect this.  

First on the bill was the short but intense Mountain Language, a serious political play about the imprisonment and torture of an ethnic minority group and their loss of culture and identity as a result of the forced suppression of their language.  The play was written after writer Harold Pinter became aware of the treatment of Kurds in Turkey, but the play’s setting is non-specific.  Heavy subject matter and a demanding script, which the actors handled with deliberate subtlety, making the events on stage resonate even more.  

Loot, a subversive black comedy recounting a funeral, a bank robbery on the same day, and the consequent mayhem, is full of lively, sharp characters and witty one-liners.  The actor playing Nurse Fay got the character’s prim voice and maligning saunter down pat, while Inspector Truscot and Hal got through their bits with perfect comic delivery, including a Clouseau-ish French detective impression that won the house over.  

In both plays gender roles were not strictly kept to, with girls playing male roles to balance out the distribution.  To make the small number of roles available to more actors, two actors playing each role alternated nights.   

The play ran from Monday to Saturday the week before last.  Thursday night opened to a full house in the Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas, a small theatre with plenty of ambience just off of the place Notre Dame.  Many Anglophones were audible in the audience, but a good mix of Francophones was present as well.  

An impressive show, by an impressive group of bilingual students.  I look forward to next year’s.  

Upstage 2010 poster

Just landed in Grenoble? Don't worry, there's a club for you. Photo: Guillaume Brialon

Just landed in Grenoble? Grenoble Life editor James Dalrymple gives his rough guide to Grenoble’s expat clubs and Anglophone businesses and services.

I have been asked by the French Entrée website to write a post with general advice for expats in Grenoble and the surrounding area, including relevant clubs and associations to join. Where to begin? Maybe you have already heard claims that Grenoble has one of the biggest Anglophone communities of any French city. I’m not sure of the real stats, and I will resist the temptation to invent some here, but suffice to say you stand a good chance of meeting other English-speakers whether you wish to or not.

It can be a bone of contention. Some people get defensive about the expat thing, saying something along the lines of, “I didn’t come to France to meet other [insert relevant English-speaking nationality here], I came to meet French people etc.” I don’t really subscribe to this view. When I lived in the UK, I always gravitated towards people who were very international in their outlook, and counted many cultures among those I called my friends. Just because I came to live in France, doesn’t mean that I should only spend time with French people just to feel good about myself. Among the expat groups and associations listed below, one may find many Anglo-French couples, so-called ‘third culture kids’, and all manner of general pan-European activity that belies the widely held view of what expat communities are.

Most new English-speaking Grenoble residents, particularly those with families, are likely to encounter Open House, the city’s long-established and possibly largest expat association. Among the activities Open House organizes are children’s parties, excursions, wine tastings, lunches, outdoor activities, book groups, coffee meetings and French-English language exchange.

The more student-orientated Happy People 38 organizes intercultural social events and language exchanges. Meanwhile, Celtic Connection promotes Irish and Scottish culture and sport in Grenoble and hosts Hallowe’en and St Patrick’s parties, a Burns’ supper, and summer picnics. Scottish expats and a host of other nationals can also be found at a weekly Knitting Bee at Café Leyritz, Place Vaucanson, every Tuesday afternoon at 2pm.

Although not Anglophone I feel duty-bound to make you aware of the lovely people at Le Club Danemark – Rhône Alpes, who are known to organise Glögg parties, Danish lessons and excursions, including cross country skiing. For more info contact: danemark-rhonealpes@live.com

English Talk Radio, presented by Vivian Draper, is a bi-monthly show on 90.8 Radio Campus Grenoble.  The show talks about film, theatre, finance, restaurants and travel, and has a variety of topical local guests; every Sunday at 12.30pm, and every Wednesday at 7pm on 90.8, Radio Campus Grenoble.

For those expats who want their young children to have plenty of contact with the English language, there are some associations which can help with this, including Communication Café and ABC Anglais. Alternatively, French language classes for adults can be obtained from a variety of institutions and associations outlined in depth here.

If you are looking for American or British style cakes there is The Cake Shop and Bookworm Café. The latter also hosts book and poetry groups, language classes, local artists’ exhibitions and occasional musical performances. They also buy and sell second-hand English books, and have English newspapers and magazines to peruse. Furthermore, if you meet French friends yet to be convinced of the potential merits of American cuisine, Pumpkins might be wise place to convert them.

If you can’t find the book you are looking for at Bookworm Café there are two Anglophone libraries, La Bibliotèque Anglophone de Meylan and the English Library at Babel, which also runs book groups for teenagers and adults. Many municipal libraries also have English-language selections, particularly the International Public Library.

Given the dubious French proclivity for dubbing foreign language films into la langue maternelle, you may want to exercise caution when going to the cinema. Le Club (rue du Phalanstère) and La Nef (boulevard Edouard-Rey) are two theatres with dependably interesting programmes, all in version originale. For more info on the city’s movie theatres and film festivals, check out this comprehensive guide.

For church-goers, members from about 10 different denominations and 15 nationalities are welcome to attend The English Speaking Church of Grenoble, which also has a programme of social activities including dances, crafts nights, family evenings, visits to local attractions and walks.

In terms of professional development, the most dynamic and active association is the Working Women’s Network of Grenoble, which organizes networking lunches, workshops and seminars, and is run by a very helpful and efficient body of women. For opportunities to do volunteer work there is VSArt, an association that brings cultural opportunities to disadvantaged and elderly people. The Grenoble chapter was set up and is run by American Meredith Charreyron.

Grenoble also has a number of amateur English-speaking theatre groups. Students of different ages from Cité Internationale Scolaire de Grenoble participate in an annual pantomime and Upstage, respectively. The latter puts on very high quality plays every year at Ste-Marie-d’en-Bas, a 166-seat theatre off Place Notre Dame. Likewise, students of the English department at Stendhal University put on productions on campus every year. English-speakers are also invited to join a new Grenoble English Theatre Group, run by Nathalie Joshua. Novices welcome. For more information contact her at nathaliejoshua@hotmail.com

For health and well-being, Anglo-style therapeutic massage and aromatherapy can be obtained from Amy Cannata (waterfallwellness@me.com) and Shiatsu massage from Rebecca Skillman.

Finally, of course, I mustn’t forget to mention your very own Grenoble Life, which has articles and practical info for English speaking residents past, present and future. It also includes photo sharing, free classified ads and interviews with prominent members of the Anglophone community.

If I have forgotten any essential clubs or organizations, please use the comments box below to add to the list.

SFM Traduction online

Sara Maltaverne, founder of SFM Traduction, a Grenoble-based translations and copywriting company. She shares with Grenoble Life her knowledge and advice about the translation business in the area.

Grenoble, where going international just comes naturally

The greater Grenoble area is home to some 450 foreign-owned businesses and is one of the French economy’s leading exporters. So, for many local businesses, enlisting the services of a translator—a potentially risky undertaking—is simply a fact of doing business across borders. But how do you know if the translations you’ve purchased do your product justice when you don’t understand the language? Worse, can you be sure that the translations won’t cause serious damage to your image or result in the costly duplication of work?

Whether you need the latest foreign market research to launch your product overseas or compelling marketing collateral to grab the attention of potential customers, a professional translator or interpreter is an invaluable ally. Remember: translators work with written documents (brochures, reports, correspondence), while interpreters communicate orally.

Here are a few things you can do to increase your chances of getting a successful translation—and your business’ chances of making it in today’s global marketplace.

Penny wise, pound foolish: bilingual does not equal translator

A Grenoble-based building management services provider needed an English version of its brochure for an upcoming trade fair. To save money, the company decided to assign the translation to its in-house staff. One of the gems produced: as an introduction to an excerpt of the company’s lengthy and prestigious client list (“quelques références” in French) the erstwhile translator—no doubt with the help of a French-English dictionary—came up with the translation “few references,” which is the exact opposite of what the brochure was trying to convey. Thanks to their savvy bilingual secretary, who sensed something just wasn’t right, this and other embarrassing bloopers were avoided when she called in a professional translator to check the brochure before going to print. However, in addition to the lost work time the company’s employees spent slogging through the translation, the firm had to pay a rush fee to have the brochure reviewed by a professional in time to get it to the printer.

How can you avoid falling into the same trap? By calling in a professional translator from the planning stages of your project and drawing up clear specifications.

The following three steps will help you get your translation project off to a good start

   1. Decide what needs to be done, when, and who is responsible for each stage. Everyone involved in the production process (from document authors to DTP) should be aware of the timeline and specifications. Put it all down in writing.

   2. Once you have determined your workflow and deadlines, you will need to choose a service provider. As a general rule, professional translators work into their native language only. Referrals from colleagues in your industry are a good place to begin your search, as are professional translators associations. In France, you can try the Société française des traducteurs online directory at www.sft.fr. The ideal translator has a track record both in your industry and with the type of document you need translated and can prove it by showing you examples of previous work.

   3. Once you have selected a service provider, check again to be sure the purpose of your translation is clear. Are you translating incoming texts that your business needs for information purposes only or outgoing material that will have an impact on how your company is perceived by customers? The quality you need—and the cost—will vary accordingly. Discuss this with your service provider and get all commitments in writing. You and your service provider should know and agree on who is responsible for each step in the translation process.

Still not sure you’re ready to cross the language barrier?

You can better prepare your business to go international by learning as much as you can about working with translators and interpreters before the pressure is on. Start with Translation: Getting it right, and Translation: Buying a non-commodity, free downloadable brochures endorsed by language industry professionals. Professional groups like the American Translators Association are also an invaluable source of information. Once you have the tools you need to take your business overseas, the sky’s the limit.

About SFM Traduction

Grenoble-based SFM Traduction was founded by Sara Maltaverne as a freelance translation business in January 2003. SFM Traduction is today a premium professional translation company specializing in creative, marketing, and financial translations and copywriting for high-profile corporate communications. You can learn more about the company and its services at www.sfmtraduction.com or blog with us at www.sfmtraduction.com/blog

Sara Maltaverne

Euros. Photo: Zempt

Kate Daligault is a financial advisor at Banque Rhône-Alpes in Grenoble. She talks to Grenoble Life about the banking culture in France, getting financial advice in English, and what new residents need in order to open an account.

Grenoble Life: What is your role at Banque Rhône-Alpes?

Kate: I work with international clients, guiding them through the pitfalls of the French banking system and hopefully making their lives in France easier. I can also help with tax returns and financial planning – even the French find these difficult!

GL: Banque Rhône-Alpes has produced a lot of practical advice about its services in English, why?

Kate: Most of our clients do not speak French or simply feel more comfortable talking about their personal finances in English – the French banks use a lot of technical jargon which can be daunting. We also have part of our website in English, a corporate brochure on Banque Rhône-Alpes, means of payment and different types of accounts in France, and several product brochures as well.

GL: Tell us a little about your background and where you come from.

Kate: My passport is British, but I think I’m what you call one of these third culture people. I was born in the States, and travelled mainly in Europe during my childhood years, due to my father’s career, learning to speak French in Switzerland. I first went to England when I was 12 years old and completed my secondary school and university studies there, and then went to work in The City, London, for Natwest Bank. For my first permanent position, they sent me to France, and I’ve been here ever since.

GL: Why did you come to Grenoble originally?

Kate: Like everyone else – because of my husband’s job! We used to live in the Southwest of France and he was transferred to his company Head Office in Grenoble in 2004, following a promotion.

GL: When did you start working at Banque Rhône-Alpes and what kind of training did you need for the job?

Kate: I’ve been with Banque-Rhône-Alpes for just over a year now, and although I’m a qualified UK Financial Advisor, have a degree in Banking & International Finance, and have been advising expats in France for over 12 years now, I still had to go through the in-house Private Account Officer training! This consisted of four separate weeks of training, spread over three months at the Head Office in Paris. It was difficult to go back to full-day lessons, but very worthwhile.

GL: How can new residents to Grenoble get face to face financial advice in English?

Kate: The best way is to contact me on 04 38 02 38 81 or kate.daligault (at) banque-rhone-alpes.fr and arrange for an appointment. Our branch is right next to Chavant cinema, in the centre of town.

GL: How has the banking culture in France changed since you arrived in the country?

Kate: The main difference has been the introduction of online banking and call centres. Although these provide greater ease of access for clients, they tend to dehumanise banks and make clients feel anonymous. I feel that one of Banque Rhône-Alpes’ great strengths is to move away from this commercial banking model and retain personal contact with clients – I know all my clients by name and see them at least once a year.

GL: How does the banking culture differ from that in your native country?

Kate: Ever wonder why you have debit interest to pay, but your account was never overdrawn? This is due to the French value-dating system, which means that for a cheque for 1,000 € deposited on day one, the funds are not available until day three. Therefore if you write a cheque before that date, you may be overdrawn in value terms.

The other big difference is the legal status of cheques in France. Writing a cheque without having sufficient funds or a pre-arranged overdraft is a misdemeanour, as is bouncing a cheque. This results in being blacklisted by the Banque de France for five years and will affect your credit rating. You will not be able to obtain credit until you have cleared your previous liabilities.

GL: What advice would you give new residents looking to set up an account in France?

Kate: The main difficulty when you first arrive in France is that you cannot open a bank account because you don’t have a fixed address yet, but estate agents will not let you sign a rental agreement if you cannot provide details of a French bank account … it’s Catch 22. At Banque Rhone-Alpes, we have over 20 years’ experience in dealing with new arrivals, and all you need to provide is:

• a valid passport or national identity card if you are from within the EU
• proof of employment / studies in France
• a valid address

Parents and their Toddler Talkers enjoying a story. Helen McEwan is second from left

abc anglais is a brand new English speaking playgroup in Grenoble for the youngest of children and their parents no matter where you are from. Mums, dads, toddlers and babies are totally immersed in an English-speaking environment during the session, joining in the nursery rhymes and songs, listening to favourite stories, playing age-appropriate games as well as taking part in art and craft activities all conducted in English. It’s run by me, Helen McEwan, a UK qualified Speech and Language Therapist and experienced English language teacher.

Every session is structured around a subject, which forms part of a five week theme, for example, ‘On the Farm’. We always have at least one story, one song, one nursery rhyme per subject, e.g., ‘cows’, and plenty of games and craft activities to keep the children actively interested. There is also a story and a couple of songs on the general theme which we come back to every time to reinforce the learning of the theme and to allow the children (and parents) to familiarise themselves with the English songs and stories.

There are currently three levels – “Baby Babblers” for babies up to 12 months old, “Toddler Talkers” for one to two year olds, and “Chatterbox Children” for two to three year olds.

My idea of exposing very young children to a language they do not normally speak at home is based on the theories of language development in general. There are still many mysteries surrounding language acquisition (and even more so around the thorny issue of bilingualism), but it is believed that a child learns the fundamentals of his/her own language by age three. So, in order to maximise the chances of a child learning an additional language as naturally and easily as possible, it is best to start early.

In addition, there is clear evidence that learning the sounds of language is done in the first year of life, much research quoting just the first six months as the time limit on acquiring the speech sounds specific to your language. So, if you noticed your baby being able to trill or click and make sounds more akin to more ‘exotic’ languages in its early months, this is because your baby was born with the ability to make all speech sounds, but quickly hones into the sounds s/he hears in her environment and continues to practise only those in the babble phase, around six–nine months. Therefore, if you want to pronounce another language well – especially if it sounds very different to your own, (French vs. English!), ideally you need to be exposed to the sounds of that language in the first six months of life, or certainly no later than the first year in order to reproduce them accurately later on!

Making spider bracelets with Chatterbox Children at Halloween

For this reason, I choose stories which use repetition, rhyme, have a strong rhythm, are not very ‘wordy’, but have captivating story lines as well as bold, striking artwork to capture the child’s imagination, even if s/he doesn’t know any English yet. For any form of learning, familiarisation of the subject matter is essential. Repetition is therefore a valuable learning tool, and so we come back to the stories and songs and rhymes during one session, during a theme, and also during the course of the year, but from different angles. ‘Noah’s Ark’ can be used in a session on rain, as well as animals, boats, or counting for example.  In any case, children love returning to their favourite books, toys, programmes over and over again.

The same principle applies to the songs we sing. They are carefully chosen for their ease of learning, and because they are fun, and tuneful and worth singing. Learning through song is almost primeval. Often it is easier to learn a phrase with music or with a strong rhythm – do you remember doing this when revising for an exam, or learning a new language? – as you are allowing your brain more chances of storing the data and hence more opportunities of retrieving it via various routes – the linguistic and the musical. Singing is an almost instinctive response to childcare. Many cultures use music for child rearing, and children respond instinctively to the human voice, particularly their mother’s. In this way singing constitutes a fundamental form of early interaction between parent and child.

I set up abc anglais because of my own experience of coming to Grenoble six months pregnant with my first child. Although I have worked with children, including newborns and premature babies, I had no idea what to expect with my own baby, particularly in a very new and foreign environment. And I was very disappointed to discover that actually there is very little available for parents and babies in particular. It was a very isolating and disorientating experience. Thank goodness for Open House and the Baby and Toddler Groups there, which I quickly became involved with (and I encourage all similar families to). Running the groups there and doing prototype abc sessions at my daughter’s garderie gave me the idea to combine my professional skills with offering something that I feel is lacking in Grenoble – a service for our youngest of citizens. In the UK, I worked in nurseries and clinics for the under fives, and ran parent-child interaction groups which encourage positive communication. I draw on this experience and other principles of my profession in designing and running the abc sessions.

Helen McEwan

So, abc anglais is as much an opportunity for parents to have some quality play time with their young children, as it is an opportunity for the children to become exposed to English at the optimum time for language learning. It is also an opportunity for parents to practise their English, and enjoy being in an English-speaking environment. abc anglais is as much for parents as for children, and this is a fundamental basic principle. And it’s open to everyone, not just Anglophones. Families from USA, Asia, as well as many different European countries, and French families are currently attending.

Sessions are held in two locations in Grenoble – at Les Petits Bilingues, place de Metz, on Mondays and Tuesdays, and at the new English café – Bookworm, rue St. Laurent, on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The new block starts the week of 9 November. It will run for five weeks, with a special Christmas session in the week of 14 December. Come and join us, it’s lots of fun!

(Check out the Bookworm Café blog and the fantastic Mômes à Grenoble blog for further information on forthcoming events, or contact me: abc.anglais (at) free.fr)

Elizabeth Stone Matho

Elizabeth Stone Matho is an American psychotherapist and art therapist, psychoanalytically trained, with a private practice in Grenoble. She has written on the use of art and creativity as therapy for children and sufferers of medical illness and trauma. Grenoble Life wanted to learn more …

Grenoble Life: You have had a private practice in Grenoble since 2003. Was it difficult to establish yourself professionally in France having started your career in the US?

Elizabeth Stone Matho: Yes, what was difficult for me was that I was unknown professionally here, since my psychotherapy training was in the US, so I began my practice without a professional réseau. That is, I began without knowing a network of colleagues to provide referrals to my practice. Fortunately, the Working Women’s Networking Group (WWNG) was born at the same time as I opened my practice. Meetings were held in my office, so women got to know me and began to call upon me for professional help, or help for their children, when they needed it.

I was also known in Open House, a Grenoble-based association dedicated to the needs and interests of the English speaking community, primarily expatriates. At the same time, a French association, AGARO (Association Grenobloise d’Aide à la Recherche en Oncologie), was looking to hire an art therapist for several hours a week to work with adult cancer patients at the CHU Grenoble. All this helped me to start my practice in psychotherapy and in art therapy. Then it grew gradually by word of mouth.

GL: Can you tell me what sort of population you would work with?

ESM: I work with both adults and children, in individual psychotherapy or couples’ therapy for a wide range of difficulties. Most adults I see come for psychotherapy, but some do seek art therapy. Children are usually seen in art therapy or play therapy and adolescents are seen in either psychotherapy or art therapy, depending upon their preference.

The kinds of difficulties that people come to see me for include: anxiety and depression, life crises including divorce, illness and loss, self-destructive patterns, stress, trauma, career decisions, adaptation to life in a new country, parenting consultation, creative blocks, eating disorders, parenting issues, chronic feelings of emptiness or loneliness and life-disrupting symptoms associated with physical or sexual abuse.

GL: Are there any differences concerning public and medical attitudes towards psychotherapy and psychoanalysis between France and the US?

ESM: Yes, I think that the need to seek psychotherapy has gradually become a normal part of the self-discovery process in the US and other countries, whereas in France, many people still attach a certain stigma to the idea of being in therapy. With greater acceptance of life’s difficulties as part of the normal process of living comes the understanding that, with the proper help, improvement can be envisioned.

According to my understanding, psychotherapy practiced by non-medical professionals is not well accepted by the French medical establishment. While this was also the case in the US some years back, the field of practicing non-medical psychotherapists has grown enormously and I think that now we are far beyond that perspective. To give you an example, formerly psychoanalytic institutes restricted candidates exclusively to psychiatrists (medically trained), and then they let in some PhD psychologists. That has since changed, permitting other qualified clinicians to obtain excellent training and further their competencies.

GL: Is your practice bilingual?

ESM: Yes, I do have a bilingual practice. I might add that it’s always an honor for me when French people choose to come to therapy with me, as so often people seek treatment with someone of their own native language and culture. And of course, it’s so important for English-speaking people to be able to express their deepest concerns in their own language to feel understood both from the standpoint of their own culture, and in terms of the expatriate cultural context of their present lives.

GL: You are a specialist in art therapy too, what media do your patients work in and how do you facilitate this?

ESM: I offer a variety of media that permit a wide range of expression, which can be just a few scratches on a paper to imagery that is far more elaborate. Materials include: gouache, clay, pastels, oil crayons, to name some of the basics. No previous art background is necessary, nor is particular talent. I believe that everybody has a story to tell and often that story can be told through imagery or through shapes and lines formed by the sensuous color and textures of the art media. Art materials used therapeutically elicit experimentation and the process of play. When working with children, I also have available other traditional materials such as puppets, blocks, etc.

Even those children who don’t “like” to draw find other ways in engaging in a creative process that becomes therapeutic in art therapy. Children tend to communicate naturally through imagery and play, so art therapy is particularly suitable and is a less stressful form of therapy for them than verbal psychotherapy. Nevertheless, they tend to become comfortable sharing their feelings through metaphor, symbolism and even direct conversation. Adults who have difficulty verbalizing feelings or experiences, such as in the case of trauma or bereavement, benefit from the sensory contact with the media, which often permits them to express themselves in a way that they might not otherwise have been able to do. The creative/therapeutic process involved helps people get in touch with their needs, even for people who would not ordinarily think of themselves as “creative.”

I have done quite a lot of work in the past with adult psychiatric patients who feel more comfortable in an atmosphere where they aren’t pressured to “talk” about themselves. In other words, using art media helps many people engage in therapy at their own rhythm. I think that my background as an art therapist has also informed my approach to psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in paying particular attention to the therapeutic rhythm necessary for each person, whether that person is verbally at ease or less so.

GL: When and how did you come to work in this field?

ESM: I’ve worked in this field for about 30 years, first in New York, where I grew up, studied and also practiced. My undergraduate work was in art, art history and philosophy but I was always drawn to psychology. I heard of art therapy while I was getting a masters’ in a hybrid field called Interrelation of the Arts, in the 70s, at New York University. Fortunately, my graduate program allowed me to craft my own course of studies to a great extent, and I already had experience working with children of all ages. I had been particularly interested in child development, and the development of children’s creativity, how drawing and the expression of fantasy life comes about through art and through dramatic play. Since art therapy was a new field at the time, it was difficult to find enough courses, so I began to take courses and attend workshops and conferences wherever I could find them, all over New York and elsewhere. Of course, I took psychology courses as well.

Then, a pioneering art therapist named Edith Kramer came to teach at NYU, where I was already enrolled as a masters’ degree candidate. She asked me to work with her at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, in child psychiatry. We worked together for several years and when she retired, she resigned her position to me. I had already been working with pre-schoolers and was fascinated with child development, creativity and what can interfere with it psychologically, so having the two populations back to back was a highly enriching way to learn further.

I did my thesis on body image in children’s art and body movement, where I turned to psychoanalytic writings to help me understand what I was observing. I later worked in a community mental health center in Jersey City, New Jersey, which permitted me to work with children and adults of all ages and all sorts of difficulties, individually and in groups, and where I gained a great wealth of experience. I was assigned all the patients who had any difficulty or reticence about communicating. To further my training as a psychotherapist I then enrolled in The New York School for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, a renowned psychoanalytic training institute from which I graduated.

I have since become a licensed psychoanalyst and licensed creative arts therapist in the State of New York. These licenses permit some patients in my practice to obtain insurance reimbursement.

GL: You use art therapy with patients with very different circumstances – from sufferers of trauma to cancer patients – what are the benefits?

ESM: As in psychotherapy, each patient uses art therapy differently, according to his or her needs, sometimes to handle anxiety, sometimes to deal with “unfinished business” and conflicts that have prevented them from fully becoming the person they hoped to be. Sometimes, patients use art therapy to explore identity or their femininity (in the case of women). This is particularly important in the case of medical illness, such as cancer. The benefits of art therapy include: increased self-understanding, increased self-esteem, a capacity to better handle life’s circumstances, a sense of greater flexibility, sometimes, a better capacity to be nurturing to their children and spouses.

There can be also a rebuilding of the self that takes place with certain people, especially after serious trauma, as experienced in medical illness, even divorce or separation and all sorts of loss and other difficulties. I could go on, but again, there are no guarantees for what will be the specific therapeutic outcomes, as therapeutic benefits always vary. I should add that no substantial change ever happens over night. It is important to add that we can’t predict exactly how long therapy will take; each person is unique with unique needs.

GL: Is this kind of therapy broadly accepted by your peers or are there skeptics?

ESM: Many people today think that a psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy or to art therapy is outdated. Yet they may be unfamiliar with recent developments in psychoanalytic thinking, from the time of infant observational studies of mothers and children which have yielded a wealth of information on what is needed in terms of building the structure of the psyche in a young child, as well as understanding the corresponding parenting experience. Understanding the different psychological phases of mother-child interaction, and then father-child interaction as well, has greatly informed researchers and psychoanalysts about treatment.

I think that many people view the psychoanalyst as a caricature of the “silent analyst.” Yet, today, at least in a contemporary psychoanalytic American (and usually British) approach, the therapist is much more active, the therapist doesn’t simply pronounce his or her “interpretations,” but the work and relationship is much more collaborative, more as two partners, yet with different roles, each coming to the therapeutic situation with his or her own special competencies to explore and understand the life of that particular patient. Often the psychoanalytic psychotherapist (or psychoanalytically oriented art therapist) will help to rebuild the self, not simply make what was “unconscious conscious,” as was so in classical analysis.

In France, art therapy is as yet an unregulated profession without strict standards for training. The same is true for psychotherapy. Therefore, skeptics can be justifiably concerned as to the competence and credentials of many therapists.

Of course, art therapy is far less well known than psychotherapy, and is practiced in many different ways, often very different from my own approach. I think that when choosing a therapist, it is very important to be careful about whom to choose, especially those promising all sorts of personal transformations and quick results.

GL: You also teach “Psychology in English” at Ecole des Psychologues Praticiens, The Catholic University in Lyon – what are the core themes of this course and who is it for?

ESM: I have taught second year psychology students and now will also teach the third year. The course has two specific aims, one that the students perfect their English and, second, in doing so, they learn an American or British approach to psychology. Since I am not an English teacher per se, I teach the writings in psychology of authors and psychoanalysts whom students probably wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise, or would study in less depth in their other courses.

I also emphasize learning about observational studies involving mothers and children, often through film. I’ve always enjoyed teaching and had taught pre-schoolers in the distant past and graduate students in art therapy for many years at New York University and elsewhere. I’ve supervised the practical work of art therapists and psychotherapists since the 70s, both at New York University and after moving to France. Since 1984, I’ve supervised art therapy interns in Italy (Turin) and Switzerland (Lausanne) and have taught in Paris and Berlin as well. I am passionate about the importance of training of new therapists and enjoy immensely participating in their learning.

GL: Why did you come to Grenoble originally?

ESM: I moved to Grenoble when I married my husband, who was already living here.

GL: You are an artist yourself. Tell us about your work!

ESM: I’ve always returned to my own art as a source of renewal and pleasure, though in recent years, I’ve had far less time to concentrate on my own work. My focus was always on painting and stone sculpture.

GL: Give us some contact information for your practice.

ESM: To make an appointment for a consultation, my phone number is: 04 76 54 03 12. My practice is located at: 1 rue Beyle-Stendhal, Grenoble. Tramway stop: Place de Verdun, Line A.

Maria Montessori

Martine Grzelack runs The Montessori International School of Grenoble, opening September 2009. Grenoble Life wanted to know more about the new centre, the background of the staff and the famous Montessori method.

Grenoble Life: When does the Montessori International School of Grenoble open and what is your role?

Martine Grzelack: In September 2009, we’ll be lucky to find a bilingual Montessori School in the suburbs of Grenoble. It will be situated in Meylan. This school will enable children to study and work while developing their personality. My mission will be to look after the children and to run this school so that everything works out well to the benefit of everyone.

GL: What is the Montessori method?

MG: The Montessori International School of Grenoble is a private school, ruled by a not-for-profit association (association loi 1901).

The school curriculum follows the French national education programmes for early childhood and primary schools.

Committed to the highest education standards, the school proposes a bilingual curriculum in French and in English.

The MIG team will provide an individual learning experience for each child, which promotes physical, social, emotional and intellectual development to help them achieve their maximum potential.

Following the Montessori requirements, the children are dispatched into two age groups: 3 to 6 years old (early childhood) and 6 to 12 years old (elementary).

GL: What is your experience with using this method?

MG: I have been working for six years according to the Montessori pedagogy. First, I attended a teaching practice course at the Centre de recherche d’études de formation et de liaison des activités Montessori (CRELAM) in Rennes – a French institute which doesn’t grant an Association Montessori Internationale diploma. Then, I went to Switzerland to obtain an AMI diploma for children from 6 to 12. This method enables the children to open out in their development while being in the pleasure of learning and discovering. Children gain an autonomy and maturity which enables them to make choices.

GL: Why did you originally train to teach the Montessori method?

MG: I discovered this pedagogy while thinking about the educational system in France. Coming from a very different horizon – I graduated as a geologist – I wanted to work with children after having worked with engineers-to-be (I was in charge of professional training in my firm).

After preparing the examinations to be a school teacher, I realized that the “group pedagogy” wasn’t satisfying for me. I looked for something different. Some friends had their son in a Montessori school and that’s how this wonderful adventure started.

GL: What age groups do you teach at the Montessori International School of Grenoble?

MG: The International Montessori School is open to children from 3 to 12 years old. They are dispatched in groups of three or six years according to Maria Montessori’s method. It is important not to keep a child exclusively in his or her age group.

GL: How does the methodology differ from that used in the French state schools for these age groups?

What is different from the French school is mainly the learning approach through the senses, with the help of the adequate and attractive equipment created by Maria Montessori herself. Moreover, the work in classes with mixed ages enables each child to learn with pleasure because there are no barriers between the different learning activities.

Montessori International School of Grenoble

GL: Do you have classes in French and English? Will these classes be taught separately?

MG: In each class, there is a French teacher and an English speaking assistant who participates throughout the school day. The teachers offer help to the children that ask for it in their mother tongue, in order to encourage interest in languages. There will also be Spanish classes organized.

GL: Why has it been decided to open a school here in Grenoble?

MG: I wanted to work in a school where the pedagogy is adapted to each child and gives them what they need academically for their future studies. I want to be able to share with these families a teaching method which deeply respects the child as an individual and as a learner.

GL: What is the profile of the parents who have registered their children to come to the school?

MG: The parents who send their children to a Montessori school come from different backgrounds: managerial staff in large firms, teachers at “public” schools, professional workers, employees, people working in tertiary industries … they have varied profiles but they have the same aim: their children’s well-being.

GL: Tell us about the teaching team.

MG: The teaching team is composed of two educators with an international Montessori diploma and an English or French speaking assistant according to the class. It is a dynamic team, very motivated to help the children improve, respectful of the Montessori pedagogy.

GL: Will you have recruitment opportunities in the future? What are the advantages of working at Montessori International School of Grenoble?

MG: Yes, we hope that we’ll have to recruit next year, or in two years to open new class. Why not offer children the opportunity to learn another language like German for example … but we don’t want the school to lose its soul by recruiting too many pupils or staff. We thank you for these questions.

GL: You’re welcome, thank you!

The Montessori International School of Grenoble
Boulevard des Alpes, 38240 Meylan
+33 6 72 66 76 32
ecole@montessori-grenoble.com

Ben interpreting for Anand Gokani (great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi)

Benjamin Penin swapped sunny Manchester for downtown Grenoble in 2002 to pursue his dreams of living in the Alps and becoming a freelance translator.  Grenoble Life wanted to find out more …

Grenoble Life: You have an interesting bi-cultural background, tell us about it.

Benjamin Penin: I was born in London to an English mother and a French father. Intent on creating bilingual offspring they spoke to my sister and me in their respective mother tongues, while our schooling took place in the capital’s French schools. It was the family’s move to Manchester that thrust us into a more traditional British education, just in time for my GCSEs. A massive culture shock I’m still struggling to deal with! I was French, then I was English, and now I’m not so sure…

GL: You are a translator and an interpreter. Do you need specific qualifications to do this in France?

BP: Specific qualifications in translation certainly aren’t essential to finding work (except if you wish to work as a “sworn translator”, for legal documents, court work, etc.).

My university degree included specialist training in translation, but to be honest, “on-the-job” experience is far more useful than any diploma … this may be news to some in France [laughs].

Customers are primarily interested in the quality of your work, so once you have proven your worth and built yourself a strong reputation, work tends to come in through contacts and word of mouth.

GL: What kinds of clients do you generally have for your translating work?

BP: My translation clients are firms and other organisations that need to communicate to an English-speaking public or with their subsidiaries abroad.

A huge variety of sectors benefit from the services of people like me, from high-tech industry, to banks, cultural associations, conference organisers and ski resorts!

You have to be versatile and knowledgeable because of the variety of the work out there. I might translate detailed promotional material on a region’s winemaking industry one week and guidelines for energy-efficient building construction the next!

GL: What kinds of clients do you have for your interpreting work?

BP: They might be companies or associations who hold conferences for an international audience, training courses for foreign employees or meetings between individuals who don’t speak the same language, or even regional authorities receiving foreign visitors.

GL: Are your clients mostly based in the local area?

BP: For translation, not really. The rise of the internet means that customers can be acquired from anywhere, although local organisations tend to look for suppliers in their vicinity, and translation is no exception.

Interpreting work tends to revolve around the Rhône-Alpes region for obvious reasons of travel costs, although I have had assignments in Utah, Tunis and Amsterdam.

GL: Do you translate from English into French and French into English? Is there a difference in the way to approach such work? Is one more challenging than the other?

BP: People consider me to be completely bilingual, but I find the subtleties of French slightly more challenging (and time consuming!) so it makes sense for me to translate only into English. I’m sure some people work in both directions, but I have doubts over the quality of the results.

GL: Tell us about some interesting jobs you’ve done as an interpreter.

BP: The end of last year took the biscuit in terms of unusual jobs.

September kicked off with an assignment interpreting for the French Minister of Finance during her tour of local multinationals, and ended with a day accompanying Mahatma Gandhi’s great grandson (above) to press conferences, radio interviews and lunch with the Deputy Mayors.

Not long after, I spent a month in a laboratory near Nîmes with a young Russian chemist who was being trained up on the various ways of testing dog-food quality!

I could tell you about my four weeks in the countryside with a group of Indian civil engineers, but it’s a long story involving hydroelectric dams, frogs’ legs and rather too much time spent in coaches.

GL: What are some of the challenges / drawbacks of being self-employed in France?

BP: France certainly isn’t known as being an entrepreneur’s dream, but once you’ve got your head around the accounting rules and paperwork (pension, tax, insurance, etc.) I don’t think it’s any worse than other countries.

However, those exercising “professions libérales” pay a huge whack in social contributions and taxes (40-50% of their income) and of course they don’t have all the advantages of French employees.

GL: What are some of the advantages to being self-employed in France?

BP: You can take the day off at a moment’s notice and be on the slopes in less than an hour!

GL: What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of working at home?

You avoid office politics and traffic jams, but you need serious self-discipline to get your work done without it overflowing into your free time.

GL: Why did you come to live in Grenoble?

BP: I like Britain, but the weather would have driven me over the edge eventually, plus it lacked both a lifestyle conducive to a long life and sufficiently extreme geology – the Alps definitely exerted a gravitational pull on me.

GL: Is Grenoble a good town in which to do your kind of work?

BP: It is insofar as the local organisations involved in the leisure sector, high-tech industry, culture and tourism usually seek to work with local suppliers. But the web-based nature of my work makes my location almost irrelevant. There is a good little network of translators and interpreters here, though, and word of mouth works well.

Benjamin Penin – French-English Translator & Interpreter
Tel: 06 65 16 27 14
website

Lolly the taxi, Les Petits Bilingues mascot!

Shaké Manoukian is manager of Les Petits Bilingues in Grenoble, an English language  learning centre for children. Grenoble Life wanted to find out more about her background, the school, the methodology and their new centre opening in September.

Grenoble Life: What is your involvement at Les Petits Bilingues?

Shaké Manoukian: I’m the manager of Les Petits Bilingues – Grenoble. We are part of a national network. Les Petits Bilingues was founded in 1992 in Lille as a family oriented playgroup, and now is a big network with 30 centres in all of France (even in La Réunion!). We all profit from a strong pedagogical staff, with a deep knowledge of English teaching to children.

Personally I’m Italian and I learnt French and English in my childhood with no effort. I wanted to give the same opportunity to my children and that is the reason why we came to Grenoble four years ago. For the same reason last year I decided to set up les Petits Bilingues in town. I wanted to offer French children the chance to improve their English. I was tired of my French friends saying, “Ah nous les Français nous sommes nulls avec les langues….”. Learning other languages as children is much easier and more efficient.

Les Petits Bilingues is a periscolaire learning centre – we provide English lessons to children aged 3 to 11. We work mainly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but also late afternoons after school. During the week our lessons are one hour long, on Saturday they are 1h30 and we share a snack with the children.

GL: Les Petits Bilingues is a franchise. Who brought the franchise to this region and why?

SM: In summer 2008, I brought Les Petits Bilingues to Grenoble, and their mascot Lolly, a real Black Cab from London. I was looking for some experience in English for my daughter and I realized that what was on offer in Grenoble was weak and unstructured. I discovered the national network and built it up in our region.

GL: What is the methodology at Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: At LPB we want to have fun. Children and teachers come here to share a fun experience in English. In French there is the word ludique which is a mix of pleasure and education, and that is exactly what we do.

Our approach is by immersion, we never use translation, we talk non-stop, we repeat continuously and we indicate with pictures, actions, and gestures.

We have a yearly program, with a specific theme each week and a defined phonetic subject we practice with children. Our tools are games, songs, rhymes, arts and craft…

We really try to make the children speak spontaneously in English.

GL: What is the typical profile of the parents of children at Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: I would say that 70% of our families are French. They want that their children to become comfortable with foreign languages from the very young age. They are aware of the advantages that represents.

The other 30% are either  “mixed families” with two or more languages spoken at home, or families who have lived abroad, where children already have good English and wish to keep it fluent.

GL: What is the typical profile of a teacher at Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: All my teachers are required to be  native speakers, and this is part of our pedagogical project. Our kids are in direct contact with a person coming from an other culture, they can discover traditions, tricks, and accents. Our teachers spent their childhood in an English environment and therefore are the only ones who can transfer this atmosphere to our students.

They are all child-teaching professionals with at least two years of full time experience.

GL: Why do you think parents want their children to come to Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: There are different reasons related to the age of children. For the very young ones, under six, parents with a bilingual project for their children don’t have in Grenoble the choice of a bilingual  école maternelle, they are then very happy to find a place where their children can approach English with a specific program for this age group.

For the children at this age it is very important to identify language with a place, when they come to LPB it is as if they were doing a trip to an “English speaking country”. Our classes are always decorated with posters and pictures related to English Countries and that helps them understand why they learn English.

For the primary school parents, reasons are similar: they want a professional approach and even if most of schools have some English lessons it is never enough, and it is rarely taught by native speakers.

GL: What is the ideal age for children to start learning English as a second language?

SM: It is never too early, before the age of six children are developing their phonetic system. Even babies can tell the difference between mother tongue and a second language;  they can tell the difference and parents shouldn’t be concerned over confusion. Learning a second language very early makes it very easy to learn other languages in the future because the brain is already organized to learn them.

We accept children from three years old for practical reasons, we offer group activities and without parents.  We are evaluating a new project “mums, dads and babies” groups, starting next year to answer the need for under-threes.

GL: Why do you think learning English has become so important in France?

SM: It is not just in France: despite the efforts of a few English has become the international language, and it is not only in the business world, it is also necessary for travelling (and French people love to travel around the world!). If you want to check something on internet, watch a movie, listen a song, English has become a fundamental need. As I said before, English can be the first language learnt but children will often add more foreign languages, and if you start as a child it is so much easier!

GL: Have you faced any resistance from parents to the methodology used at Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: I guess that our main problem was to “educate” parents, since often in France people want concrete results. In the process of learning languages everybody needs time, and everybody has their own rhythm. If you think that a toddler needs at least two years to speak fluently in his or her mother tongue, you can’t expect with one hour per week to have a bilingual child after one year. Some children love to repeat everything, others prefer to be really sure about their knowledge and they may surprise you with a full sentence from one day to another.

GL: I understand that you are opening a new centre soon – tell us about that.

SM: From September 2009 we will have a second centre in the Grésivaudan area, in Montbonnot, on the Route Nationale. We know that in this area there are a lot of international families planning to relocate to English speaking countries, and we want to offer them a centre closer to their homes.

GL: What recruitment opportunities do you have? What are the advantages of working at Les Petits Bilingues?

SM: We search for native English speaking teachers with a lot of energy and consistent professional experience working with children. We are a group and we work a lot together, sharing ideas and teaching approach. We work in a specific atmosphere where we enjoy our work; we can be very creative but at the same time we are very vigilant of our pedagogy.

GL: What kind of feedback have you had from parents of students at the school?

SM: They are all very happy, we provide also extra activities such as a puppet show with an English company, a LPB Day, a visit to Natural History Museum, and for next year we have many other projects … parents also like to join us in these activities and practice their English too!

GL: Give us some contact info

SM: Starting September we will have two centres in Grenoble : one in town (9 place de Metz) and one in Grésivaudan (508 rue Général de Gaulle in Montbonnot). For further details please contact us at 04 38 92 01 01 or grenoble@lespetitsbilingues.com or visit our websites for 3 to 12 years and 12 to 18 years.

Alison Dupré at work!

Originally from the UK, Alison Dupré has lived in France for over 10 years. She moved to Grenoble 18 months ago and now works at the Crédit Agricole Sud Rhone Alpes bank in Grenoble where she has set up the new “Bilingual Service”. James Dalrymple has a few questions.

Grenoble Life: Why has Crédit Agricole introduced a service offering financial advice in English?

Alison Dupré: There’s a large population of English-speaking customers in the region: in the Ardèche and Drome mainly Brits with holidays homes and in Isère expats who are employed in local companies or students. Although many clients have a good level in everyday French, when it comes down to discussing housing insurance or mortgage repayments that’s when things get a bit complicated!

GL: What services do you offer English speakers ?

AD: I’m based at the online branch at the head office where we have set up the free Bilingual Service. We can help Anglophones to open an account, provide them with means of payment and offer other services and products that they are entitled to have according to if they are residents or non-residents. The most important aspect of the Bilingual Service is that we give advice in English concerning all banking and insurance matters – I have a direct line where clients can call me if they are in France or abroad, we can communicate by e-mail or they can come to see me at the head office in Grenoble.

GL: Is this an increasingly common service now in French banks?

AD: Some banks advertise “English-speaking services” or have part of their web site in English, however as I mentioned in my article not all staff speak fluent English or understand cultural differences. A couple of months ago a lady phoned me to test if I was a “real” Anglophone. She  had contacted other banks which offered an “English-speaking service” but the staff were unable to understand her questions.

GL: How were you recruited for the job and what kind of training/qualifications did you need to get your job?

AD: I simply sent my CV to the bank when I first arrived in Grenoble and luckily my profile corresponded to a new position they were contemplating on creating.

As a student in the UK I had several holiday jobs in banks and during my Modern Languages degree I worked in the international department of a bank in France and in Madrid for an international finance company. I then obtained a Postgraduate diploma in Business Management in the UK and a similar French qualification.

After several years of teaching business English for Michelin in Clermont-Ferrand and for the Chamber of Commerce in Le Puy-en-Velay my husband was offered a new job in Grenoble.

When I arrived at the bank they had drawn up a training programme for me over six months. I also had to take several exams and carried out placements in different branches to gain the necessary experience.

GL: You said in your article for Grenoble Life that many people, including the French themselves, struggle with bureaucracy in France – have you mastered it now [laughs]?

AD: It helps having a French husband. I must admit that I deal with banking and insurance but my husband deals with the rest!

GL: As a long-time ex-patriot who has mastered the language and works in a French company, do you feel completely integrated into French life or do you still sometimes feel étrangère ?

AD: After 10 years I now feel completely integrated and strangely enough it’s when I go back to the UK that I feel étrangère. Although I speak fluent French I still have my “Jane Birkin” accent, but this doesn’t bother anyone and my work colleagues are proud to introduce me to others as “notre petite anglaise”.

Alison DUPRE
Bilingual Financial Advisor & Account Manager
Tel. 04 76 86 74 40
From abroad: 00 33 476 86 74 40

English is increasingly common in Grenoble, not least in graffiti !

I used to wonder why, very often, when I tried to speak French in a restaurant, shop, post office or market, for example, the reply would come back to me in English. Given that I am at least semi-competent in French, I couldn’t help feel offended at being treated as a tourist in the country I called home. I don’t think it would be presumptuous to say that I am not alone in this experience. When I first arrived in Grenoble I made a school-boyish but pardonable error in asking: Est-ce que vous avez du bière? at a café, having not quite nailed down the gender of that favourite English beverage. The waitress looked at me as if I was from out of space, before replying “Not bière”.

However, what has become increasingly apparent to me is that my linguistic skills are not being spontaneously judged and deemed unfit but rather that the French are grabbing an opportunity to practice their English. The look of the woman in the café was probably not one of complete incomprehension but one masking certain grammatical computations, for what it was worth. It is probably a look I wear myself quite often as my brain lags doggedly behind my tongue during an experiment with, say, the French Subjonctif.

On the bus yesterday I was very amused to hear a group of nine or ten primary school children singing in unison, “I like English! I like English!” before a musical rendition of the alphabet that faultered every time they negotiated the obstacle course that is “L-M-N-O-P”. “Yes, it is! No, it isn’t!”, I left them chanting ecstatically, presumably in recollection of their English classes, quietly wishing to myself that I had adult students with such unbridled enthusiasm about their training.

This morning I was delighted to be greeted at the boulangerie by a welcome new face. As I have mentioned in a previous post about Grenoble’s service culture, trips to my local shops have sometimes been fraught with peur et tremblement. Today, however, I was greeted by something extraordinary, a new face whose defining characteristic was a smile from ear to ear. Surveying the empty shelves I asked, “Vous n’avez plus de croissants?“, to which the smiling face replied, amiably and in no poor accent, “Not any more!”. In such situations I prefer to persevere in French while remaining friendly enough to show that I don’t mind a conversation in two languages. As he handed me my change with the kind of extraordinary deference reserved for a foreign dignitary (a half bow, and a “thank you, goodbye”), I didn’t even care that I had no viennoiseries to bring back to my wife on Mother’s Day.

Such exchanges are not always as pleasant, I had an interesting experience at the market in Aiguinards a few weeks back. I was at the fromagerie when a man struck up conversation with me, at first curious about my five week old daughter in a baby carrier: generally a guaranteed way to attract attention in France, for better or worse. Realising I was British, he then used the occasion to practise his English, even though I persevered in French. He told me he had spent time studying in the UK, before complaining about the “Shitty weather”. He went on to add that the “food was really Shitty in England, absolutely disgusting! The food was so Shitty it was the first time in my life that I lost weight. There’s probably more cheese here [gesturing at admittedly fantastic selection on the market stall] than in the whole of Britain”. “I don’t mean to offend you”, he added. Charming!

So, despite the best efforts of the Académie française, English seems to be permeating French culture. At my school the other day I had to evaluate the level in English of a number of employees sent by their company. For many of these, it was their first job and they had just recently completed their studies. Furthermore many had taken the opportunity to live and work in the UK to learn English. The impression I am getting is that while the French are proactively and pragmatically studying English, the Brits have become lazy and complacent about studying languages since English became so internationalised.

Tant pis!, the Brits might say (if they knew how to), except that, as reported in the Guardian, companies in the UK are increasingly turning to foreign nationals for jobs that require more than one language. The article shows how second language study has declined in Britain since the Labour government stopped making it obligatory at GCSE, a serious error in the view of many, myself included. I remember one frustrated colleague when I worked in London reacting to a telephone conversation in stilted English with a counterpart from a French museum with the angry exclamation, “I hate it when people can’t speak English!”. Perhaps the wind of change has already come.

Communication Café kids painting

Reia Farrall – Bilingual Education in Grenoble

The battle has been won for the moment … with my husband constantly speaking to our daughters in French and I in English (and having an amazing English nounou one day a week), and with regular visits from respective grandparents: our children appear to be bilingual and quite happy in either French or English. Now, we are just about to embark on making that all-important ‘next’ decision that seems to affect English-speaking families in Grenoble – which primary school will our children go to? Do we leave them in their local school? Do we put them in La Houille Blanche: where English is taught for one hour for a day, but has a competitive entrance; and would require a lot of organisation for getting ourselves together to get there? I really enjoy the fact that my girls can go to their local school, so that they can still be with the friends from their local area. And given the lack of resources, the teachers and school where our girls go do amazing things with 30+ in their nursery school classes.

However, being a teacher, and having specific ideas on the ways in which I would like our girls to learn, I do sometimes feel a little battered by the French school experience where the girls are consistently assessed according to the ‘norm’ of what French students should know at certain ages. I know that us English-speaking people are often criticised for our ‘positive reinforcement‘ – but I feel that it is lacking a little in my daughters’ education.

Education for me is not just about learning facts. Knowledge is important but education is also about showing our children the different paths that they can follow in life, and how to think for themselves. A school education should help our children to become dignified human beings, respectful of others, conscious that we live in an interconnected world where our decisions affect not just ourselves. The question as a teacher becomes how to encourage ‘learning’ and to help students discover the individual intrinsic worth of each person and themselves.

So rather than worry about the fact that I feel the French system is not doing this and put our girls into another French school, my friend Zoë Atkinson – a speech therapist – and I have taken the plunge and set up an association called Communication Café to help our children learn English. We want our children to embrace their dual cultures, to learn English in a way that we both feel helps our children’s confidence in themselves, and with positive reinforcement. We want to above all encourage our children’s English language development, to help our children feel good about themselves, and to meet other children like them. So it looks like it is not the French system at La Houille Blanche for now…

Results!

Zoë Atkinson – Speaking English in Grenoble: a speech therapist’s view

As far as French cities go, I feel lucky being in Grenoble as an English-speaker, the town being cosmopolitan and open-minded beyond its size. Being an English-speaker has not caused me many problems, apart from the occasional blank when faced with needing to talk about something beyond my French experience. So knowing that my child was going to be French, and not English like myself, didn’t pose as much of a problem for me as it did for their grandparents! Most people react positively when they know that my three year old can speak French and English almost fluently (even if a little mixed up!). I, however, have a few reservations.

Being Mum to a bilingual child, I wanted my daughter to have the chance to mix with other kids in English, to be comfortable with the English part of her identity, and to learn to read and write in English. To summarise, I wanted her to be able to make the most of her opportunity to be bilingual and for it to not be an embarrassment to her. If ever we need to go back to an English-speaking country, I would like her to be able to re-integrate without difficulty.

Being a speech therapist, I was aware that bilingual children integrated into French schools and, learning English at home only, may miss out on academic vocabulary that they would learn in French in school (concepts relating to specific subjects, such as maths, science, technology, religious study or art). I also felt that their use of English is often restricted, and that kids may find it difficult to speak to other kids in English. The French sound system is also different to the English, which affects the ability of bilingual kids to learn how to read and write in English.

Communication Café

Communication Café

We created the Communication Café association to provide another solution to our English-speaking frustrations in Grenoble. We currently run groups in English for children who have at least one English-speaking parent. We start young with Baby-Signing for 0-2 year olds and offer classes for ‘Maternelle’ and Primary ages. We have small groups, with fun theme-based sessions. For the ‘Maternelle-aged’ kids, we have adapted communication objectives taken from speech therapy, plus the foundation objectives from the British National-Curriculum. For the Primary ages, we have adapted objectives from the British National Curriculum, primarily English, but we also dip into other subject objectives with themes that suit those subjects.

Here is a quote from one of our mothers:

I can’t put in words properly the joy we share, watching Oscar spotting English words and wanting to read them and seeing the flash of satisfaction and brightness across his face when he “gets it”. I cant pin point exactly why or how, but it seems you have given him a quiet, assured confidence to try and have fun with words and seeing that confidence develop within him is very rewarding – so thank you very much to you both. Oscar has always been a very curious person but sometimes can lack true confidence to give things a try. So, seeing this natural confidence with words evolve in Oscar is a parental pleasure money can’t buy, if you know what I mean.

Reia Farrall is an Australian-qualified teacher. She has lived in Grenoble for six years, is married to a Frenchman and has two daughters. She currently teaches at Grenoble University at the Institut d’études Politiques. Zoë Atkinson is a UK qualified Speech and Language Therapist. She moved to Grenoble in 2000 with her French partner, and has a daughter. For more information visit our website or contact us via info@communication-cafe.com. Additionally, the Babel association offers English classes for children from English-speaking families: association.babel@laposte.net

Reia Farrall at work

What's French for 'ga ga' again?

Looking down on the improbably cherubic face of my week-old daughter I already find myself pondering her future. As a Brit who’s been living in Grenoble for nearly two and a half years, and married to a genuinely bilingual wife, there are some important decisions to be made soon concerning the language of our child. I’m making slow but steady progress in French although my wife and I normally converse in English. We met at University in the UK and we spent most of our first six years together in England. There was no effort – language-wise – on her part: she grew up near Grenoble in a bicultural household with a French father and an English mother. Despite having grown up in France my wife has strong roots in the UK, particularly Greater Manchester, where her mother comes from and where she spent all of her summers and Christmases since birth.

However, now that we live in France it is difficult to make the transition to speaking French together. We do sometimes, but it never progresses far beyond the pedagogic and often lapses into English if we want to refer to the numerous cultural shared references and jokes that resist translation. The other major excuse factor counting against my accelerated progress is the fact that I teach English for a living, and whereas I come into regular contact with French, in principle I am not allowed to use my students’ native language as it is contrary to the methods employed by the school at which I work (and indeed most theories of language learning). Thus, of all the knowledge I am likely to impart to my daughter, naturally pronounced (or even, for the moment, fluent) French is not one of them. Nor should it be of course. My daughter will grow up in France and no doubt have no difficulties assimilating the language.

One of the overlooked factors of language is its synonymousness with culture. My daughter will be three quarters British by blood and naturally I expect her to be bilingual but also bicultural, to embrace the British side of her identity as much as the French, more or less in the same way that my wife was able to do. My wife’s family had specific rules about language in the household that remain today: she speaks to her parents in their respective mother tongues, to one of her two brothers in English and the other in French. These bonds are hard to break or to invert: language is after all emotional too – which might be a good reason she and I found it difficult to make a meaningful switch to French.

Grenoble being very international, there are a number of organisations sprouting for Children to learn English. These range from associations which aim to support the needs of parents of mixed nationality, for example The Communication Café (more from them soon!), to those – such as the franchise Les Petits Bilingues – which offer predominantly French children a head start on the school system. The latter camp owe their existence less to Grenoble’s Anglophone base as to the increasing importance of English as a core requirement in the diplôme-centric French job market. Whereas such organisations do no harm, the word bilingual or bilingue is often misused as a selling point to French parents who want to give their children the best possible start in life. Bilingual is clearly not the right word. In my (unscientific) opinion it is practically impossible to be genuinely bilingual without growing up in a bicultural environment. Semantics aside, the traditionally globalisation-resistant French are getting pragmatic about the world’s international language.

Initially we discussed the idea of speaking to our daughter in different tongues: English individually with me, French for my wife, and English as a family. However, the early signs are that my wife feels more comfortable speaking English to our daughter, as that is what seems most natural in the context of our relationship. This may change but it will certainly not be to the detriment of our child. Where it leaves me is another question. I’m not overly worried about my abilities in French, it will come with time, but I may not get the kind of exposure to the language that I had envisaged before my arrival in the country.

It has been said to me on several occasions that I will never feel French, significantly by long-term ex-patriots fluent in the language. I agree: fluency in a language doesn’t necessarily amount to complete cultural integration. Having grown up in multicultural London, it has taken me time to adapt to the notion of my own otherness: I was surprised by what a curious specimen I seem to be to the Grenoblois. Being French wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows in the UK, I imagine. There are times when I feel like the French are from a completely different planet, though I’m sure the feeling is mutual (at least where I live). However, it is with a small modicum of sadness that my daughter will feel French, perhaps (but not necessarily) more than she feels English, and that will make me a little exception to the rule in my little bilingual household.

What is certain is that my wife and I can give my daughter a rich future accented by the best of France and Britain (perhaps meaning a British sense of humour and taste in music, with French taste buds and Gallic good looks!). We must be disciplined, but we shouldn’t be overly anxious. Unlike many couples of mixed nationality my wife and I have the advantage of both being native English speakers. I just hope that by starting a family in France, I will feel less and less étranger and increasingly at home.

There is a fair amount of literature on the web concerning bilingualism, from personal experiences to practical help, none of it particularly conclusive. However, there seems to be a general consensus that there are two principal methods to bringing up your child bilingually: 1) one parent, one language; 2) speak the minority language at home. Your opinions on the most effective are most welcome.