Teresa Engebretsen has been teaching French to middle school students at Durham Academy in Durham, NC, for over 30 years. Often she takes her students on field trips to France. Her blog The Sabbatical Chef began when she took a sabbatical from teaching in 2008, lived in Arles, and worked with a French chef. It’s still going strong and a great way for anyone to experience France vicariously and learn delectable French recipes. Teresa loved OPPOSITES ATTACK: A Novel with Recipes Provencal and the mishaps of its heroine Alyce. Soon you’ll find out why.
Jo: Why is it so much easier for a younger person to learn a new language? Is there a scientific, neurological explanation? Or does the hard drive just get too full on outdated hardware and software as we age.
Teresa: We just watched a documentary film at school called Speaking in Tongues about immersion schools and the importance of teaching children a second language as early as possible. When I was in college studying language learning and methodology for teaching a second language, we were told that after the age of 13, beginning a second language becomes difficult. The jaw becomes set and English grammar and syntax is so engrained in us that we start to ask “Why?” Younger kids don’t ask, they just do. And students are less self-conscious when they are younger. They don’t worry about making mistakes.
Jo: Have you ever had an “Alyce” in your class? One who seemed to have no facility for French and then gradually — or all of a sudden — got it.
Oh yes, there are lots of Alyces out there! Students who I was sure would drop French at the high school level and try Spanish instead. But the next thing I know, they are in AP (Advanced Placement) French. I have a boy in my 8th grade class who was studying French and Latin last year. He seemed perfectly miserable in my class and I practically begged him to just study Latin. This year, he dropped Latin, stuck with French, went to France with the class and just a couple of weeks ago told me that he is “homesick” for France and can’t wait to go back to Avignon. My exchange program is a real challenge for some kids — but they gain so much self-confidence during the two weeks we are in France that they come back as different kids. It is wonderful to watch. I love it when we are using something they struggled with in my class — say, object pronouns — and it just rolls off their tongues! How cool that they now get it when they were sure they would never be able to understand the concept.
Jo: How and why did you learn French?
Teresa: My high school French teacher was French and I fell totally in love with the language, the culture, the food, the countryside, the history, the weather. It is just plain beautiful. France is such a varied country geographically — mountains, beaches, farms. There are Roman ruins, Gothic cathedrals, castles on every hill. We don’t have that in the U.S. and I think it fascinates us.
I continued my studies in college at Appalachian State University, decided to move to France for a few months, and took classes at Collège International de Cannes. (It wasn’t that fancy when I was there.) My college roommate was with me so it was an adventure for two small town North Carolina girls. It’s immersion that forces you to learn it — the old sink or swim. I will never forget the word facteur because one day the doorbell rang in the apartment I was living in and I had to run and find my dictionary so I could know whether or not to open the door. A man kept saying “Facteur!” It was the mailman.
Jo: What advice would you give someone who is terrified to tackle “the language of love”?
Don’t be afraid to jump in and try. Perfectionists have a tough time because they want everything to be just right. I’ve learned to get over that. Practice. Enjoy French music, French movies, French video clips. With the internet, there are so many sites to find authentic material.
Jo: You’ve been teaching French long enough to see the children of your students become your students. Are the students today different from the past?
I love teaching my former students’ children. When I first started teaching at DA, all middle school kids had to take French. Now they have the option of Spanish, Latin, or Mandarin Chinese. There is much more emphasis on speaking French now and on areas other than France where French is spoken. Our families and kids travel a lot. They’re very lucky. That is the best education a parent can give a child.
Jo: Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, other companies that teach foreign languages through CDs or online – do you think they live up to the hype? Or is Alliance Francaise, or an immersion school like it, still the gold standard?
Alliance Française in places like New York and DC are amazing. Immersion schools and face-to-face classes are the best, hands down. Rosetta Stone is certainly a good tool for very motivated learners. I’ve looked at it. I’ve also had friends who have brushed up on their French with Pimsleur.
Jo: Tell us about your blog.
I use the Sabbatical Chef blog to recount some of my adventures, mostly in eating and mostly about France or my French friends. I love to cook and it has become my cookbook. I always photograph my food and I love asking people for their recipes. I write about what I love. Life is too short to write about what I don’t like.
Jo: If you could wave a magic wand and live anywhere you wanted and do anything you wanted, what would you choose?
Ah, the magic wand. I would retire (sorry, kiddos), spend half of my day in my comfy pajamas writing the book that is in my head (about my sabbatical experiences), and the other half experimenting with new recipes. I would have my house here in Durham and also one in Arles, France. Arles has a train station and therefore access to all of France. It is a wonderful town. My French friend Fanny and I want to write a book together, too. Recipes and stories about the recipes — where they come from, why they are special. La Brune et La Blonde are what we call ourselves. She is a fabulous cook. The chef I worked for, Chef Érick, gave me all of his recipes before I left in 2008. I would love to turn them into a cook book and story of his corner of Provence. I would have an amazing camera and take lots of photos of France, too! I probably won’t retire for a while, though. I have no wealthy relatives who are going to leave me a pile of money and I rarely buy lottery tickets. The Ex-Ex* wants to visit Normandy and Provence. He finally came to Paris in 2008 but has no desire to see France with a bunch of 8th graders in tow. One of these days…when we get Son #2 out of college and off parental welfare, it will happen.
Jo: What French food would you serve at your ideal feast?
I would have champagne, foie gras (I visited a place in southwest France to hear all about the process of force-feeding the geese and ducks, but I love it anyway), ratatouille with the freshest vegetables and herbs possible, a baguette, cheeses (I love Brie and chèvre the most), and a fondant au chocolat that is warm and oozes out when you cut into it. Caramel ones are really good, too. A red wine from the southern Rhône or Pic Saint Loup would be nice. But more than the food you eat, it’s who you eat it with. I can usually remember the smells, the colors, the laughter. That’s really what makes food special. And using the very best in-season ingredients you can find.
* Ex-Ex is her husband that she also took a sabbatical from once — another book I look forward to reading!