Hello

My name is Francois and as my name suggests I am French by birth, but also Australian by choice. I have been living in Australia all my adult life, except five years in China. Also, I worked for twenty-six years as a Qantas Airways Flight Steward and then as a Customer Service Manager. When I retired at 52, I went back to University to upgrade my skills and pursue my passion for teaching. At present, I have one more subject of my Master's degree in applied linguistics TESOL to pass before graduating in June 2016.
I am flexible and can design lessons on request on any of the following subjects. Ask me and I will deliver.

For the past three years, I have been lecturing Business Studies, including Business Communication in the North of China at Qingdao University. I have, in the past,  taught ESL/EFL English classes at the same university, also, at Chinese vocational colleges, and Chinese high schools, and in Perth (Western Australia) as a volunteer, including:

•    IELTS test tutoring (listening and speaking – receptive skills –  writing and reading – productive skills)

•     Verbal GMAT preparation

•    Oral English (Communicative Language Teaching)

•    Speech-making

In July 2015, my wife and I returned to our hometown in Queensland on the beautiful Gold Coast of Australia.

 This photo has been taken from my window. I am sure you agree with me that it is a very pleasant place to live. You can search on google for more information or it could become the topic of a conversation.

Now let me explain how I teach and learn from my students:

Ø     One of the properties of human understanding is how we process all types of information in the brain. While the left side of the brain deals with our reasoning abilities, the right side deals with creativity and sensation. Therefore, it is important to utilise both sets of skills in our learning and teaching strategies:

The top-down/bottom-up strategy for listening and communicating.

The idea shown in these two pictures is, perhaps, better understood by the metaphor of a bird flying high above a land and a man observing from close a flower.
It is difficult to have an overall view by studying the details of each individual part of the land. However, because of the distance, a bird's view of the same land is equally difficult as some of the details are missing.
The top-down is based on general knowledge, life experience and situational routines while bottom-up is based on linguistic knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, and sounds.

The following exercises should help you to connect with what I am explaining to you:

My role as a teacher of English is to assist you in developing your communication skills by using the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. While listening and speaking are receptive skills, reading and writing are productive skills. Most linguists suggest that receptive and productive skills should be used in unison instead as independent units of learning.

The advantage of such teaching strategy is the vast range of learning/teaching possibilities using pedagogies adapted to individual needs at each level of language transition between language one ( L1, native) and target language two ( L2 or three and four).

There is no such a thing as being a deficient learner of a language; we all have the same innate abilities to speak a language.

Note that I understand very well your situation because I have been through the same learning process as you before teaching languages. 

Remember that learning a language is not meant to be boring but, instead, a fulfilling experience.

 Check my schedule, and I will be able to assist you most evening from 5.00 PM to 9.00 PM. See you soon!