Immersion anglaise | Ecole Montessori de Pau

A bilingual French and English school

One of the teachers at our school is a native English speaker, and she presents all materials in English. Her role is to introduce the children to the English language and North American culture. She also creates language materials for English-speaking children, so children can learn to read and write in both English and French. We have many materials, including books, reading cards, and self-readers in English. We also have a good number of English speaking-children in the classroom which really helps create a bilingual atmosphere. All the children play together, regardless of language barriers, and they acquire language skills in the other language through play and daily interactions. We look forward to having more international students in our class, so that we can learn about different cultures from around the world. It is really important for us to teach about cultural awareness and diversity, and we have dedicated one of our school terms to learn about all the different continents and explore some of the countries around the world. We usually choose countries that our students come from, such as Nigeria, Venezuela, Colombia, Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, and Qatar. Apart from Antartica, we come from every continent! We would like to assure parents of international children that your child will feel very comfortable at our school. At the beginning of the school year, he or she will be reassured that there are other English speakers with whom she or he can play and learn. And within a few months, your child will become fluent in French as well.

Maria SEROURIAN: english-speaking educator 3-6 years old AMI

Coming from California, Maria is a true globetrotter. She has taught many years in Japan, South Korea, Russia, and France as an English teacher which has taught her that the best way to teach a foreign language is to emerge the children in a new cultural and linguistic environment. Through her teaching experience, she quickly understood that the main goal of education should be to nurture the child’s love for learning and help him or her cultivate self-reliance and self confidence. This was the reason Maria chose to complete the AMI training to become a qualified Montessori teacher. The Montessori method which measures a child’s success not only through math and writing skills, but also through their level of independence and self-fulfilment really resonates with her teaching philosophy.

(*) AMI: Association Montessori Internationale. Association created by Maria Montessori and which today aims to transmit and publicize the Montessori work.

Charlotte LAW : english-speaking educator 5-11 years old

Hello, my name’s Charlotte Law and I’m a qualified English teacher. Originally from Yorkshire, I moved to France at the age of 9 and was soon fully bilingual. Ever since, I’ve believed that, for any child, Immersion is the best approach to learning a foreign language.

At University, I specialised in Arts and Museum Education which taught me how all children enjoy critical and exploratory thinking through creativity.

Last year, I started teaching English at a language school in Bordeaux and ran Montessori workshops for young learners, aged 6 to 11 years. The Montessori method was new to me and yet I was instantly convinced by the way it enables children to cultivate positive values and attitudes and construct knowledge at their own pace.

After spending Summer 2022 teaching English through Drama at a primary school in Vietnam, I’ll be returning to France to join Caroline in teaching the 6-12 years. I’m eager to start and intend to train with AMI simultaneously. I look forward to meeting you all very soon!