Maya: Secondary School French Teacher in Australia

Meet Maya—a Melbourne French educator who previously taught Business Management.

What first inspired you to become an educator? What motivates you today?

I have always been interested in French. I learned French in high school and absolutely loved it. Although I didn’t pursue French in my undergraduate degree, I always knew that I would ‘return’ to it. Auspiciously, when I got married in 2011, my husband and I went to France on our honeymoon. It was there in France that my passion and interest in the language was cemented.

Upon returning to Australia, I changed my profession (I was working in the corporate sector at the time) and became a French teacher. I have many friends in the teaching profession and through their guidance and support, I have been able to transition into a teaching career.

What motivates me about teaching today is also instilling the love and passion of languages to my students. When I teach French in the classroom, it reminds me of taking French as a secondary school student myself.

What is your greatest strength as an educator, and in what ways do you use it on a regular basis?

I consider myself to be adaptive and flexible. I believe these are two important skills, as teaching continues to evolve. This is especially true in the area of technology, where teachers are provided with a cornucopia of information and resources that we can use to enhance our language teaching.

I regularly reflect upon my teaching practices. I also communicate frequently with my colleagues to assess what has worked well in our classrooms, and what may need to be modified. In doing so, we are meeting the needs of our students, who require the key skills of communication, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving in the 21st century.

What role have languages played in your life outside the classroom?

Languages are an integral part of who I am. I grew up speaking Japanese and Serbian, the languages of my mother and father, respectively. I was born in Japan and lived there until I was 5 years old, when we moved to Serbia. There, I learned how to speak Serbian. My family and I moved to Australia when I was 8 years old, and I learned English for the first time then. English is the hardest language I have ever learned. Some aspects of English are so arbitrary, and I still struggle with the prepositions at times. It took me at least a decade or so to become proficient at it.

At secondary school in Australia, I learned French and Indonesian, the two subjects I absolutely loved. Although I didn’t continue with Indonesian when I changed schools, I pursued French all the way to my final year.

Nowadays, I continue speaking French with my colleagues and friends in both Melbourne and in France. I also speak in Japanese with my family and friends in Japan.

What advice or encouragement would you like to share with aspiring or early-career language educators? What advice would you like to give your younger self?

Immerse yourself in the target language as much as possible.

Find conversation groups, whether it be online or in real life. I attended a few French-speaking events in Melbourne through an online meetup site. I also joined an online group called ‘Conversation Exchange,’ which pairs you up with a person who wishes to converse in your language (and vice versa). Through this, I met a lovely French girl, and we would take turns speaking in French and English. She has since become one of my good friends.

Before becoming a language teacher, I would strongly recommend you tutor students in your target language. I registered on tutorfinder.com.au. Through this site, I received requests to tutor students of all ages from preschool to adult. The experience was invaluable and prepared me for teaching. I was also able to gain a glimpse into the curriculum, which helped when I became a teacher.

Could you share an interesting, moving, or humorous anecdote featuring your language skills?

I attended Grade 1 at a Japanese school in Belgrade, Serbia. My math teacher didn’t think highly of me because I wasn’t very good at math—that fact used to irk the teacher greatly. In one instance, he kicked the chair that I was sitting on, as I couldn’t answer a math question.

Several months later, all the students and the teachers from our school headed to a local mall in downtown Belgrade. A few Serbian locals approached us and asked us who we were. I immediately replied that we were from the local Japanese school and made other small talk with them. Before I knew it, all my classmates and that Grade 1 math teacher surrounded me. I didn’t know that no one else at the school (who were all Japanese, except for me, who was biracial) could speak Serbian.

From that day onward, I was nominated by the math teacher to be the ‘go to’ person for all things Serbian-related. Although I wasn’t good at math, I thrived when learning languages! I learned the importance of ‘owning’ our strengths, especially when we may feel misunderstood or undervalued.

What is your favorite word or expression in another language and what does it mean?

"Le vouloir, c’est pouvoir"– Where there’s a will, there’s a way (in French.)

Complete the thought: "My #LanguageDream for the future is..."

...to continue promoting the value and importance of languages, especially in the digital era of AI.