About Alliance Francaise Rockhampton

The Alliance Française was founded in Paris in 1883. It is a world wide non-profit cultural organisation, supported by the
French government. It has three goals: to offer courses in French language, to promote French culture, and to encourage
cultural diversity. There are over 1,000 branches in 137 countries, with more than 460,000 students per year, which makes it the
largest language teaching association in the world. The first Alliance Française in Australia was set up in Melbourne in 1890.
There are now 31 Australian branches, six in the capital cities and 25 in the smaller towns and regional areas. The
Rockhampton branch was established in 2001 and celebrated five years of existence in December 2006.

At Rockhampton, classes are taught by well qualified, fluent French speakers and the atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The
program covers the four basic skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing in French with an emphasis on oral
communication.

Our new teacher, Fil Olsen has been
working with the beginners.

Fil is from Glenmore High School. She
studied French throughout High School and
has a French major as part of her teaching
degree. She has had considerable
experience in teaching and speaking the
language.

Fil is of Italian background and has
travelled extensively in Europe.

Pascale was born and grew up in France,
in Dourdan, a lively little town just south of
Paris. Her family originates from the
Brittany and Alsace regions and she still
has many relatives living there. Four years
before migrating to Australia, her family
moved to Montpellier in the Provence
region, where she completed High School
and a History/History of Art Degree from
the Paul Valery University in Montpellier.
Pascale arrived in Australia in 1987 after
marrying an Australian.
In Australia, she completed a Bachelor of
Education at CQU (Rockhampton) and went
on to teach LOTE (Languages other than
English) in Rockhampton. At present, she is
based at Glenmore High School where she
teaches French to grade 12, and also
teaches in three primary schools (grades 5
to 7). Pascale has been teaching with the
Alliance Française since 2001, taking the
advanced level. Pascale's lessons are
conducted entirely in French, with the
emphasis placed on listening and
speaking skills, using a variety of media
and interactive on-line resources.
Grammar is usually the focus in the second
half of each lesson, with more reading and
written work being completed at that
stage.
Pascale goes back to France on a regular
basis to visit her family and keep her
French up to date. If you are planning to
visit Paris, Pascale can help you with your
itinerary; she usually starts her time in
France by spending a few days in Paris
exploring the city on foot and has gained
some interesting insights into 'the city of
lights'.

Susan first began to speak French at the age
of five under the tutelage of
French-speaking nuns. When she was seven,
her parents moved to Beirut, where she
learnt French and Arabic. By the time she
was eight she was already trilingual!

Susan then went to college in Virginia
where she completed double honours in
History and Literature. Her interest in
language prevailed and Susan returned to
the UK to study French, German and
Spanish at Cambridge.
Susan's first appointment was at Columbia
University teaching French Literature to
undergraduates. In 1981-82 Susan taught at
Columbia's Paris Campus.
1989 saw a move to Wollongong University
to teach French. In 1992 Susan published
Maid and Mistress - Feminine Solidarity and
Class Difference in Five Nineteenth Century
French Texts in 1991, based on her PhD
thesis.
By 2000 Susan had married and she moved
with her husband, Peter, and daughter,
Sophie, to take up a new life in
Rockhampton.