Professeur d'anglais certifié CELTA. Préparation académique pour certifications internationales B2 FIRST, C1 ADVANCED, C2 PROFICIENCY de Cambridge, et IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC

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• 1) Are you fluent in this language because of your origins or because a teacher inspired you to learn it?

  I started my English studies at the age of 14 because my mother, a monolingual person, seeked to improve my chances at getting a better future by diversifying my linguistic skills. During those formative years I was able to master the language, I became fluent very quickly and more importantly, I came to love all things English: songs, TV shows, movies and literature in particular. Furthermore, learning English shaped my future as years later I got my Bachelor's degree in Applied Linguistics for Language Teaching

• 2) Name the living, historical or fictional character who you think is the emblematic representative of the culture in question!

  I cannot think of someone more worthy of the adjective 'emblematic' than William Shakespeakere himself as he invented an estimate of 1700 words by playing with grammatical categories in his works.

• 3) Is there a typical word, expression, tradition or behavior in this culture that particularly amuses you?

  I find it lovely how English can be such a productive language. One can turn any noun into a verb easily. A few examples that come to mind are: 'I googled this word.' (use the Google search engine) or 'Latte with us.' (Have a caffe latte)

• 4) Why is it important to know how to speak this language, whether it is for academic, professional or personal reasons?

  To list all of the reasons to study English would take a while so I'll keep it short by stating that English is the lingua franca of the world. Native speakers of vastly different languages are more likely to be able to communicate in English. Additionally, English is the language of science, technology, cinema, and so on.

• 5) What is the main difficulty of this language and what can help you learn it?

  The criteria of 'difficulty' is subjective as many intrinsic and extrinsic factors in each learner could play a role in that. However, as SuperProf caters to a French speaking audience, I believe that if we compare French and English grammar from a purely linguistic standpoint, undoubtedly the first one is more complex. Just to name a few key aspects, French as other Romance languages has grammatical gender, subjunctive tense and the conjugation forms vary a lot. Besides, based on experience with French students, pronunciation can be quite challenging if the amount of input of the target language is minimal.
  
  I provide my students with as many resources and tools as possible depending on each of their specific challenges, but something that is of the utmost importance for me is to try to increase the levels of intrinsic motivation by getting them interested in music, movies, or series aligned with their likes and preferences. I'd like them to see English as a source of joy and understanding of the world that surrounds them.

• 6) Do you have an anecdote to tell us about your job or your education?

  Being a teacher was not something that came naturally for me. I'm an introverted person and I've actually always hated the spotlight. When it came time in my linguistic studies to choose an area to apply linguistics my options were translation and teaching. It made much more sense for me and my personality and affinities to become a translator. Nonetheless, I was not comfortable with accepting my limitations. I did not want stage panic to be my limit, to define me. I took the hardest path and truthfully at the beginning it was scary, difficult and painful to do something so different from who I was. Despite all odds, I persevered and with many opportunities and years of practice, not only I am no longer scared, but I've also created inside me a powerful person that emerges from within the confines of my psyche each time I am in my teacher mode. I do not feel anxious or nervous at all. I just feel confident and happy to have the chance to be someone's experience with English learning. It's like a stronger version of myself, a limitless version takes over and fills me with pride and joy.

• 7) Help us get to know you a little better by telling us about your various trips.

  I've been lucky enough to live in the USA for a while where I was able to experience its wonderful culture. I was mesmerized at the sight of the skyscrapers in Chicago. I've also had a great time at ChinaTown and at the beautiful Navy Pier. I've tried the best spicy pizza in Minneapolis and I had a great time at Universal Horror Nights in the iconic Orlando, Florida. It still is on my bucket list a three-month road trip to visit as many US states as possible. I'd love to visit New Orleans, Seattle, New York and many other wonderful cities.

• 8) What makes you a Superprofessor, besides your ability to express yourself in several languages?

  I'll let my students decide the way they want to label me as a teacher, but I can promise any potential students that I'll do my very best to help them accomplish their language learning goals. I've got 14+ years of formal academic education in and about English. I am not just another native speaker trying to make a quick buck. On the contrary, I am a linguist, a language expert with years of education and training including university degrees and Cambridge certifications both for proficiency and teaching.