I am Indian by birth and French by choice. I have been living in the South of France for the past 19 years, when I followed my husband’s career change. He is a Master Mariner and I traveled with him on board cargo ships, for 7 years, off and on. These years were spent broadening my horizons, both physically and culturally. Visiting exotic destinations and interacting with the locals for a few days, each time! 

 

Professionally I trained to teach English Literature at University completing my first Master’s degree  in English Literature and alongside, I  taught at a primary school. Three years later I moved to Mumbai to do another Master’s degree in Linguistics and taught at a High School.  That’s when I discovered my love for teaching young adults and so moved on to teach at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, in Mumbai, India, before I moved to France, in 2005. 

 

Of course, I had to learn French to live here, and linguistically, it wasn’t difficult to learn French, since I already spoke 4 other languages, but the most difficult part was unlearning English which is and has been my first language forever!  I learnt the French language, culture and adapted to an entirely new way of life, at the ripe old age of 40! My motto has always been -  ‘Nothing is impossible!’

 

As I mentioned above, I spoke 4 languages before I started learning French, but that wasn’t an achievement of any kind, except for the fact that India is multilingual on all fronts! It is natural to all Indians, since the country is so big and the education system is geared towards it. All students learn at least 2/3 languages in school and start at an early age to learn the second language, around 6 years old. They have to be at least bilingual by the time they finish Year 10/ ‘O’ Levels.