Me, my French and I - A personal view of second language learning in Australia

Catherine Berry

By Catherine Berry
Community contribution / August 9, 2017

My children’s language education started in Year 7 at school–not theirs, mine. Mine was a Catholic college in Adelaide, run by the Dominican nuns.

“Ca va?”

“Ca va. Ca va?”

“Ca va.”

Not at all ‘nunnish’; however, was my French teacher ...

Teacher Science - St Paul's College, Kempsey

Diocese of Lismore Lismore

Full time, temporary position

Teaching - Secondary / Nov 02, 2024

English Teacher

Teaching - Secondary / Nov 02, 2024

Unqualified Supply Staff (100-130 Per day)

Veritas Rossendale

Teaching - Secondary / Nov 02, 2024

By Catherine Berry

Community

Catherine Berry is a passionate language learner and educator. After the birth of her third child, her teaching was costing her more in childcare and schooling for her children than her salary warranted. Despite her love of the classroom, she turned instead to at-home tutoring, where a chance request from a student led her, a non-native French speaker, to attempt to speak only French with her son. This in turn led to a project for the family to live in France for a year. Three and a half years later, Catherine’s family returned to Australia. Finding it difficult to ‘turn the page’ on their French life, Catherine instead turned to writing. ‘But you are in France, Madame’ was the result (search by title (Kindle and paper editions)). Catherine can be contacted on cb222@me.com

Similar news

School news / Support for second language learning Bill growing, says Kaye Community / Pourquoi pas?: A travel agent helped to deepen my French students' learning Community / My class explored fast fashion with a French native speaker and designer

Latest comments

Holy moly, Education HQ! This is a huge backward step for you. Imagine platforming such pernicious untruths. It’s a s...

— Lyn Stone on Vast Numbers Of Kids Are Wrongly Branded With A Learning Disability: Expert

Top events

Professional Development / August 23, 2024 / 2025 Filmmaking Summer School

School news / Prac placements for aspiring teachers set to improve with new guidelines

AITSL has today released new national guidelines that seek to improve the practicum experience for preservice teachers while also handing recognition to mentor teachers and paid prac options.

School news / Principals recruitment drive begins for Victoria’s new schools opening in 2026

The Victorian Government has begun scouring the nation in search of outstanding educators to lead the state’s 19 brand-new schools.

School news / More than a quarter of a billion children still out of school worldwide: UNESCO study

Despite decades of educational progress and international commitments, 251 million children and youth remain out of school worldwide, UN education agency UNESCO’s latest Global Education Monitoring Report revealed on Thursday.

Careers / ‘Fun, but with rigour’: PM’s prize-winner Leung talks science teaching

In the 16 years that award-winning science teacher Alice Leung has spent in high school classrooms, one particularly impactful moment from her career stands out from all the rest.

School news / Why 16? Youth advocates poke holes in teen social media curbs

Youth safety advocates question why political parties propose the age of 16 for a social media ban, and told an inquiry the plan’s lack of detail causes teens anxiety.

School news / Millions in funding to upskill school support staff through new teaching program

Charles Sturt University has received more than $4.3 million to help fund the upskilling of teaching support staff through the new Aspire to Teach program.

School news / Vast numbers of kids are wrongly branded with a learning disability: expert

The overwhelming majority of US children now slapped with a learning disability label have nothing wrong with their brains and are in fact victims of ineffective instruction with ‘sloppy learning histories’ in schools, a behaviour scientist has su...

School news / Tasmania signs on for federal funding, union slams Govt’s special deals approach

All Tasmanian public schools will be fully funded in 2026 following a historic bilateral agreement signed today by the Albanese and Rockliff Governments that has been described by the AEU as “fast-tracked”.

School news / Sacrificing their futures: caring young Aussies are paying an educational price

Many young Australians are caring for people with long-term health conditions and could be hurting their educational prospects as a result.

School news / New digital resources to keep children and teens with disability safer online

While 62 per cent of Australian teenagers are, on average, exposed to potentially harmful online content, that percentage jumps to 75 for teens who are living with disability.

Comments