Certified French Teacher (Université Grenoble Alpes, with Honours) | 6+ Years’ Full-Time Experience

Find out more about Katia

• Do you speak this language fluently because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn?

  Before being a language teacher, I was a language learner. I learned French when I was a little girl and languages always remained my passion. I currently speak French, Russian, English, a good Spanish, and am actively learning German.
  
  Now my 6 years old daughter has become my greatest teacher. She speaks 4 languages fluently and inspires me to learn more every day. Also to be curious and open-minded!

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  I am thinking of Charles de Gaulle, leader of "France libre" (Free France) during the Second World War. Or to Napoleon, who is a very controversial character, but who marked the history and culture of France. For example, modern law and architecture in France are very influenced by this period.
  
  Speaking of less illustrious figures, I am also thinking of women like Coco Chanel, the symbol of « élégance à la française" » (French elegance"). She offered more freedom to women.
  
  My favourite personality is Gad Elmaleh. He is a French actor and humorist who for me is a symbol of multicultural and creative France. I invite you to listen to his sketch "The cigarette"!

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or behaviour in the language that you particularly like?

  I love the French tradition of eating cheese at the end of each meal. I do not like sweets so much, so I always have the option to choose a selection of cheeses instead of a dessert at the restaurant.
  
  This way, « je suis aux anges »! (« être aux anges » =to be over the moon, happy)

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  I've always loved French for its music and all the culture that it allows me to discover: watch movies, read books, talk with people, and understand and laugh at French jokes;) I adore the French sense of humour.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  French has a reputation as a complicated language to learn. The number of grammatical tenses can seem very impressive and too difficult. Still, you can always break your goal down into smaller, more realistic steps.
  
  For example, a person who needs French for his business does not necessarily need to learn a lot of grammatical tenses. However, we can get by with 3 basic tenses: the past tense (« le passé composé »), the present (« le présent ») and the near future (« le futur proche »).
  
  Try to put your passions at the service of learning French! For example, did you finish a cool series on Netflix? Do not hesitate to review this same series in French: many series are available in several foreign languages. Since you already know the story and the characters, it will be easier to understand.
  
  Another example: do you regularly read the news? Do not hesitate to download a mobile news application in French. An app like "le Monde" allows you to browse event titles every day. Again, they will be easier to understand when you already know the news in your mother language.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  The German language was the most difficult for me to learn, however, now it is the one I use the most in my teaching experience. So finally I'm happy to speak it when I need to talk to my German-speaking students. However, I know I need to fine-tune it!

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  When I decided to learn German, I lived in Strasbourg, a city located in France directly on the German border. I then enrolled in a language school in Kehl, Germany, just in front of Strasbourg.
  
  In the beginning, it was very difficult to follow this immersive class, because the teacher spoke only German from the very first minute. I permanently needed to be 100% concentrated to understand anything. It was also important to go out of my comfort zone so as to dare to speak.
  
  However, in a couple of weeks I started to understand better and better, pick up a lot of vocabulary, and more surprisingly took pleasure from this learning process. Finally, I got my « A1 » level within 3 months. This was a very remarkable experience!

• What makes you a Superprof in language?

  My students are happy with my work and the results I help them to get. Please, don't hesitate to read my testimonials.
  
  In my opinion, teaching is all about being open-minded and patient. We need to be able to listen and understand other people's needs. We need to understand WHAT students do not understand and WHY, so as to be able to find the right way to explain and motivate them.
  
  The creativity of the teacher can also be a key to offering new approaches to teaching and adjusting to different personalities, instead of copying the same frame for every person.
  
  And finally, a sense of humour can sometimes be very helpful so as to make difficult topics a little more easy to digest!