The Shock Of The Graduates

I have had the best French teaching and education money can buy. I grew up in London and was sent to the French Lycee there and spent fifteen years in an all-French environment - not a word of English was spoken. On my first day at the Lycee,(I was four and started at kindergarten), my heart sank when all I heard was French - no "hello or goodbye", only "bonjour", "au revoir" and "suivez moi!". At four years old, that can be disconcerting - to say the least. The pay off was that I learnt French literally overnight. It was like being in France - not a single English person was around. Not only did I learn to speak French, but I also learnt how to sound French. These days, if I ever go to France, the French think I am French. I think it is important to be able to not only speak a foreign language, but to sound convincing while you speak it. There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had when you are able to reproduce an authentic language sound. It also gives you a superior feel for the rhythm and texture of the language. This is a real advantage for when you come to study the literature of that particular language later on. I urge anyone looking for a French tutor to pay close attention, not to what tutor qualifications you see written down on this site, but to what the tutor offers in terms of experience. I am a published author, (English), and was horrified when studying journalism with English graduates. Whenever we had to write anything, they would always come to me and ask if I would proof what they had written - they had hardly any knowledge of grammar or punctuation. I have found the same with French: very few French graduates I have come across have a solid grasp of French grammar, syntax, or punctuation. A tutor is only ever as good as what he, or she, can deliver - in practice. To all those looking for a French tutor, please do not be fooled by the qualifications. Just because a graduate can get through `Les Miserables` doesn`t mean that they can spell it.