Hi! My name is Mathilde.
I was born and raised in Athens, Greece. I've always been fascinated by languages, and other cultures since I was a child.
I moved to France for my studies when I was 18 years old, and in 2004, my husband and I decided to relocate to the French part of Switzerland, known as the "Suisse romande", where we have lived ever since.
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I am the mother of two teenagers, and we communicate in Greek, French and English at home.
My story
My experience as a French language teacher for adults spans many years, and I can still remember how concerned I was even at the beginning of my career about my students' feelings during the learning process. Providing a safe environment by asking them to make connections with their mother tongue was always a priority for me. We frequently discussed how they felt about starting a new life in a new country where they had to learn a new language without a job (especially mothers). There were often language barriers in accessing the culture, and a lack of confidence made it difficult to set new goals in this new country.
During the pandemic, I decided to become a life coach to empower my expat clients to thrive both personally, and professionally. I also wanted to help them move forward with clarity in a new country.
As my students inspire me every day, I decided to do additional training in Neurolanguage Coaching® so that I could help expats and newcomers to Switzerland overcome the language barrier, and speak French with confidence.
I love teaching but my true passion is coaching.
My coachees/clients/students inspire me every day to DO more, BE more, and GIVE more!
My blog
8 coaching ideas about learning French
1. Set realistic goals
The problem is that many of us have very bad memories of language learning. Remove the educational aspect of the situation and set realistic communication goals. Otherwise, the risk is that you will feel disappointed.
✨My advice is to proceed in stages! First, survival communication, then language as an integration vector, then ... etc.
2. Overcome your fears
You no longer have your high school teacher in front of you, but rather a vegetable vendor who will not judge you. The only goal here is to understand and communicate, not to write a literary novel. It is necessary to learn to let go your internal perfectionist.
✨My advice is to take the place of the person who is listening to you... He/she doesn't want to correct you, much less judge you; he/she just wants you to move forward.
3. "Nourish" your mind
Pass as much time as possible in the original version: films, books, magazines, and radio. This small effort will put your mind on the road to learning...
✨My advice is to start with simple content. If you have children, take a children's book. Short and simple phrases, words for everyday life!
4. Laugh at your mistakes
Actually, everyone makes mistakes! Memorize the sentence : « je suis en train d’apprendre le français, excusez-moi si je fais des erreurs ».
✨My advice is to take everything lightly, and above all with humour -:)
5. Be proud of your accomplishments
"A foreign accent is a sign of bravery!" says one adage. Speaking, taking risks, and stepping outside your comfort zone are all signs of bravery.
✨My advice is at the end of each day, rather than opening a vocabulary book from which you will remember almost nothing, make a note of what worked for you in this new language. Congratulate yourself!!!
6. Do not overestimate the level of other people
Many expatriates attest to the fact that the French level in expatriate communities is not as high as one might think. Everyone arrives with their imperfections in a group of expatriates.
✨My advice is that groups of expats who do not speak your mother tongue are an excellent environment for learning French.
7. Take a humble posture
Speaking, speaking, listening a little, and speaking with a lot of humility but with a lot of confidence.
✨My advice is that WhatsApp has a lot of benefits! We communicate quickly in a spoken language that we write!
8. Enjoy!
Learning a language means understanding a country's culture, its rituals, and its complexities. What a pleasure! And what a pride to get there!
✨My advice is to interact as much as possible with the locals without thinking about your accent or your sentence structure. If the message is understood, keep going!!!