Interview with Christian Tamiello – Head of the French Department at Prolingua

Originally from Liege (Belgium), Christian has been with us for 16 years. One afternoon we sat down for a quick interview touching on different topics, from tips for language learners to the music of George Brassens.

Tell us few words about your work at Prolingua

As the head of the department, my main duties are to organise workshops and tutorials for teachers and to assist them in solving problems they encounter in the teaching process. We have 20 teachers, so it is quite a dynamic department. Apart from these duties, I still teach a couple of French courses. I equally enjoy teaching as well as the management aspects of my work.

How and why did you decide to become a language teacher ?

I was very pragmatic choosing my career. I wanted to get a job quickly without spending too much time and money on studies. Well, if you want to become a doctor it would require years of study and practice before entering the job market. With a teacher`s career path I was able to get a job quickly. I started as the French and History teacher at a high school in Belgium which was followed by Prolingua. I think it was a good decision and I have no regrets.

What are the current trends in language teaching ?

Nowadays students are getting younger and younger or maybe I am getting older (smiles), they expect teachers to use Youtube videos, tablets and other gadgets in classroom. At Prolingua we introduce technology step by step and we are very careful applying it in practice. For example, when you need to make students talk in the classroom technology can`t help much. The goal should not be using technology per se, rather than applying it at the right moment.

What would be your recommendation to language learners ?

There are different methods language enthusiasts can use to improve their skills. For listening, I recommend them to listen to a radio podcast related to a topic they are interested in. For reading comprehension, I suggest L’essentiel newspaper, it has relatively simple and short content, plus it is free and available everywhere in Luxembourg (smiles). Also listening to French music on Youtube or elsewhere could be a great help for pronunciation.  For those who are more serious about learning French, I recommend focusing on sentence construction which at the end is all about grammar and requires more serious study. 

Can you tell us about your hobbies or things you do during your free time ?

On weekends, when I have free time, I love reading French literature. I have different favourite authors: Marcel Proust, Guy de Maupassant, Molière and many others. Also I enjoy listening to French music from George Brassens to current day musicians or bands. If I have to choose one, I would say Françoise Hardy is my favourite.