Hello ! My name is Matthieu. I am a Native French speaker, born and raised in Brittany, France.
After completing my Master’s Degrees from University, I started my career working in Library sciences in France as a coordinator of a media department. Part of my work there apart from the operational aspects of a library was to create and animate music and cinema programs for children at the library or at the local schools introducing them to these different art forms and genres.
Since moving to the US, I have experienced great joy in teaching French to children at the Alliance Française in Manhattan (FIAF) and at La Librairie des Enfants. Over the years I have built an early childhood program to teach French using children literature, games and live music. Through the hundreds of lessons I taught to different age groups, I learnt that when a proper connection is made with the children, they reveal themselves as the most amazing beings, and as their skills progress, they become engaged into a pleasure of learning which builds the basis of life-long education. As I have been dedicating a lot of time to write, record and perform music these past 20 years, I naturally use that music practice with the children and it turns out that the learning process is made easier and more fun through songs. The rich repertoire of French children songs and the quality of the connection with the children it creates, prove that music is a great way to engage children into a new language.
I believe in the virtues of bilingualism and I think that it expands the mind. Growing up at an early age in a multicultural environment opens doors and prospects.
I also believe that early childhood is a key time to shape the personalities of the future adults children will become, and a wonderful time to enjoy life and set up the basics: living with the community, sharing, respect, decision making, politeness, curiosity, attention, memory.