Your Tutor, Fidelma Nugent
I have studied French and visited France frequently since 1993. I am a graduate of N.U.I. Maynooth and I have a Certificat en Théologie from the Institut Catholique de Paris. I have a particular interest in French history and culture, in particular the Nugent connection with Normandy (the first Nugent to come to Ireland was Gilbert de Nogent. He arrived with Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, in 1172).
I am also interested in French music, accordion in particular (which I play) and French classical music from various eras. In 1998, I presented a research paper on ‘Jean Sulivan et la musique’ at the Colloque d’Irlande sur l’Oeuvre de Jean Sulivan (published in Rencontres avec Jean Sulivan Nr. 11).
Before becoming a primary teacher, I worked for nine years in French translation for three different companies.
I am very excited to have discovered the La Jolie Ronde method of teaching French. It is child centred, child-friendly and a dynamic and enjoyable way of teaching French to children. As a primary teacher, I am very impressed by its methods and approach. It has everything I would look for as a French tutor.
La Jolie Ronde has been in operation since 1983. It was founded by Colette Leclercq-Hallam – Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Colette is a French native and began by devising and developing fun activities to teach her children French (she lived in England and the language spoken at home was English). Very happily for a current number of approximately 20,500 children in Ireland and the UK, La Jolie Ronde is a culmination of that early teaching.
It is an award-winning programme which not just teaches the language through fun songs, games and stories – it also introduces children to French culture. The programme is available for 0-12 year olds. Classes are based on everyday topics and develop speaking, listening, reading and writing skills
appropriate to the age of the child. An app is also available to children to help them to practise between lessons.