I am a French-native speaker and hold dual citizenship French-British. I was born in the French Alps and have been passionate about foreign languages since my early childhood. Languages have played an important role in my life. I was able to visit and live in various European countries. I met people from other cultures and learnt from them. Sharing my knowledge is my contribution to changing people’s lives. 

I have studied several languages including English, German, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish and Italian.

In the early 90’s I passed my Baccalauréat in Foreign Languages (English-German-Russian), French Literature and Philosophy and Mathematics. I then studied English, German and business at the University of Grenoble (France) and Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge (now Anglia Ruskin University). I graduated with a BA equivalent in English and German applied to international Trade and Business in 1998. I studied Swedish at the University of Stockholm (Sweden). During this period I had work placements in Munich and Hildesheim (Germany).

I returned to France in the Spring of 1998. I had various jobs, some related to languages, some not. In 2001 I relocated to the UK (Oxford) where I worked as an international customer services co-ordinator.

In 2004 I moved to Southampton (UK) and took a new career path to become a language teacher in secondary schools in England – Post Graduate Certificate in Education course (Secondary Modern Foreign Languages) at the University of Southampton. I taught French and German in Secondary schools in Hampshire. I eventually left to set up my own tuition business – nzLanguages; N and Z being my initials at the time. I started with French and German lessons to private individuals and rapidly offered classes in schools and companies. I extended my language services to proofreading/copy-editing, typing, transcription, writing and non-certified translation. 

In 2008-2009 I wrote the French AS-Level and A2-Level student course notes for Nelson Thornes Distance Learning (now part of Oxford University Press).

In 2010 I obtained a Certificate of Competence in Proofreading and Copy-editing in English from Chapterhouse Publishing and later worked with Cambridge University Press.

In 2013 I became a class volunteer in my local primary school and supported children with learning to read and write in English and maths.

In 2015 whilst still running my language services business I partly worked as a midday-supervisor with an autistic child.

In 2017 my husband, 2 children and I relocated to France, in the Western suburb of Paris where we still are. I added English to the languages I teach.

In the first part of 2020, like so many parents, I home-schooled my children and temporarily shifted all my lessons to online.

Over the years I have taught students from all age groups and walks of life – adults re-locating to France/Germany, people with regular business international contacts, British homeowners in France, schooled and non-schooled children, adults who want to learn a language as a hobby or have extra tuition to improve their current knowledge, bi-lingual children needing help with their written French/German, students preparing for GCSE, A-level, Common Entrance, Test d’Evaluation de Français (TEF) Certificate in Business Language Competence (CBLC), Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF), French citizenship, etc. Each of them with their own story, each of them teaching me something new. 

Each day is different. Each student is different. Each lesson is different. Each student learns and I get to learn from each of them.

This is pretty much everything about my journey in the world of languages and education. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at nzlanguages@gmail.com.