Teachers

Khalid is a native French speaker who has been teaching French since 1995 in Morocco, Mexico, and the USA. He holds degrees in teaching the French language at linguistic, cultural and literary levels, including a B.A in Lettres Modernes, a DUFLE and a master’s degree in French Literature from the Université de Bourgogne, France; a master’s degree and an Ed.D with concentration in Foreign Language Pedagogy from ITESM and CESUVER, Mexico; and the Quality Matters, Maryland, for an Online Teaching Certification. 

Marion is originally from the Paris region and studied English literature and civilisation in Toulouse, Université du Mirail, followed by a Master 1 in FLE with the Université de Grenoble by correspondence, and translation studies in Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a DELF/DALF examiner and corrector, as well as a teacher trainer in the Alliance network in Ecuador. She has taught French in Copenhagen, Acapulco, Cusco,and in France and Ecuador and Canada. She adapts her teaching style to each individual to enable them to achieve their goals, whether professional or personal. Marion loves her three dogs, hiking, listening to podcasts and baking.

Rachele holds a B.A. in French and a Master of Arts in Teaching French as a Foreign Language from Portland State University, and has taught in Oregon universities and public schools. Before her teaching career, Rachele spent fourteen years in France, where she raised her two children and worked for a baker’s yeast company in Marcq en Baroeul near the Belgian border.

Aurélia is originally from the south of France and studied law and communications before moving into social work and education, fields that never cease to fascinate her. Aurélia has been teaching French as a foreign language for several years. Since graduating in France (DAEFLE), she has taught in Colombia at the Alliance Française in Bogota and Medellin,and at the Lycée francais in Medellin. She is passionate about her job, and enjoys teaching both adults and children. Aurélia is also a TCF and DELF examiner and currently lives in Colombia.

Lucie has two Master's degrees (English and FLE - teaching French as a Second Language) as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. Originally from Dordogne, Lucie has taught French to adults and teenagers in high schools, conversation centers and cultural centers in Japan (both Kyoto and Tokyo) and in England. She has also taught French at Portland Community College. Lucie has been teaching at the Alliance since 2005.

Solène comes from Alsace and has lived in many regions in France before arriving in Portland in June 2022. She has a doctorate in Mechanics from l’Université de Rennes 1 and was most recently a nuclear reactor Research Project Manager in France. She has traveled extensively in Europe and now enjoys exploring the northwest with her family. She has diverse interests — from cooking, gardening, and travel, to literature and civilization. Solène currently offers conversation sessions in person and on zoom.

Adeline is originally from Lyon, France. She studied and obtained a Master's Degree in Teaching French as a Foreign Language in Paris, in 2011. She is a DELF/DALF examiner and corrector, as well as a teacher trainer in the Alliance network in Ecuador. She has taught French for more than 10 years in France, Ecuador and Canada. Her teaching style is interactive as well as dynamic. She always puts the students at the centre of learning, trying to share her passion for her mother language and culture. Adeline is fond of travelling, hiking, taking photos and baking.

Audrey hails from Saint-Malo, Bretagne, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Social and Educational uses of New Technologies from Université Rennes 2. She taught basic computer skills to elders and assisted in individual classes of FLE in France. Audrey later worked as an aupair in both London and San Francisco for French-American families who insisted on the importance of the French language and culture in the education of their children. Audrey moved to Washington State in 2019 and joined the Alliance in 2022, after earning her FLE certificate.

Marisa holds a Bachelor’s in French from Whitman College and a Master of Arts in Teaching French from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has a decade of experience teaching French to learners of all ages and levels. She also taught English for a year in Bordeaux, her favorite French city. Marisa credits her passion for French language and culture, as well as her ideas about the importance of immersion and play in language learning, to her many summers spent at Canoe Island French Camp as a camper and counselor. She is thrilled to return to her hometown of Portland to work at the Alliance Française and the Catlin Gabel School.

Gigi is the ultimate global citizen, teacher by training, and lover of the French language and culture. She was born in Saigon, raised in Paris, studied in Montreal, and worked in London. Gigi is trilingual, with French as her mother tongue, and holds three passports.  
Gigi carved out a distinguished career in Chicago as a French teacher for children, teenagers and adults,  from beginner to advanced. In 2015, the Chicago chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF) awarded Gigi its "Prix d'Excellence" for outstanding contributions to the teaching of French language and culture in the state of Illinois. 
Gigi is thrilled to join the team at Alliance Française de Portland!

Emmanuel hails from Rochefort, Charente Maritime, on the west coast of France. He holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris, and a B.A. in History and English language from the University of Poitiers. He lectured at the University of Créteil and Paris 8 before moving to Oregon where he has taught all levels of French.
Not accepting new students.

Karim holds a Master's degree in French as a Foreign Language from l’Université des Antilles and has been teaching French as a foreign language since 2007. He holds a diploma as a DELF-DALF examiner and trainer. Karim is a native French speaker who grew up in an Arab-French environment. As a pedagogical coordinator and teacher at an Alliance Française in Brazil, he was trained at the University of Montreal and l’Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3. 

Maria has twenty-five years of experience teaching foreign languages in the USA and internationally. At present, she is pursuing graduate studies in ESL & Bilingual Education at the Northern Arizona University and the Licence en Lettres at the University of Rennes 2, France. In France, Maria lived and worked in Nice, Angers, and Rennes for almost eight years where she worked in professional development for teachers of FLE. Maria speaks French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Chinese, and started Arabic last year.

Lyla has been teaching French for over 25 years in Japan, Thailand, France, New York and San Francisco. She holds a B.A. in French and Russian from New York University and studied voice for 10 years under Dr. Helen Dilworth in San Francisco. She is also a music coach, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, and is currently a member of the Portland Revels Community Chorus and the blues band True Bluesers.

Anna is an FLE and FOS French teacher and artist (author, photographer and playwright.) She is certified in FLE/FOS/ Français des Affaires by CCI Paris, the Institut Français, and Cavilam and is currently adding a Master of Didactique and Management du Français at the Université des Antilles. She has a Master's in Law from UCL and degrees from Sotheby's Institute of Art and Raindance. Anna has taught French at the Alliance Française of Miami Metro and the Alliance Française of Philadelphia and writing classes for the Lycée Français of NYC. She is the author of three novels, Le peignoir aux alouettes, Irma et les autres (Finaliste Prix Plume du Jury des plumes francophones 2020) and Les palmiers de décompression, and a writing guide available in French and English, The Narrative Journey.

Originally from Seattle, Chloe holds a Bachelor's of French Language and Literature as well as English Literature from Whitman College. She recently returned from a year in Nantes, France, where she taught English to primary school students and preschoolers, and tutored middle school students. Passionate about adapting curriculum to meet individual students' needs, as well as incorporating music and a sense of play into education, she is excited to teach at the Alliance Française and the Étoile Immersion School. Chloe loves reading, art, music, and spending time outdoors being active – passions she loves to incorporate in her lessons.

Monique, born to a French mother and Polish father, grew up in the U.S. as a first generation American.  Her foreign language background includes a Bachelor of Arts in French with a focus on ESL and second language learning and study abroad in Albi, France. Monique also earned a B.A. in Child Development which prepared her to create individualized, student-centered curriculum. For the last 35 years, Monique has been teaching various subjects to children and adults in non-traditional settings through one-on-one tutoring and small-group lessons.

Julie received her Bachelor’s degree in French from the University of Oregon and her Master’s in French with a strong focus on second language acquisition and pedagogy from Portland State University. She previously studied FLE and French literature at the Université of Poitiers in France, then spent three years teaching English in Spain. Julie has extensive experience teaching French, Spanish, and ESOL in a variety of contexts to language learners of all ages. She is currently teaching French at PSU and the Alliance Française de Portland.

Originally from La Bretagne in France, Anne Julie has traveled extensively the past 20 years and has enjoyed learning new languages and cultures and currently lives in Ecuador. She has taught French for the past 15 years, including for the  Alliances Francaises of Toronto and of Loja, Ecuador, and also teaches Spanish as a foreign language. She adapts her methodology to each student, always trying to make the student comfortable and confident and likes to share anecdotes to make learning easier. Anne Julie is passionate about animals and recently received her diploma as an assistant veternarian.

A bona fide Francophile, Melody lives in Paris and has been in love with the French language and cultures since childhood. She studied French at Wellesley College, holds an MA in French literature from Middlebury College, and an MA in Teaching Foreign Language at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey. She has been teaching adolescents and adults for over five years and most recently taught at Stevenson School, where she rebuilt the entire French curriculum from scratch. A true polyglot, she speaks Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, and Italian, in addition to French and English. Prior to teaching, she worked in fundraising and arts administration. 

Christian comes from Colombia and was interested in languages from a very young age. Since receiving a degree in languages in Bogotá, he has worked as a French and Spanish teacher. He lived 3 years in Paris and completed a master's degree in French linguistics. He has worked for the Alliance Française in Bogotá, and, in addition to being a French and Spanish teacher, he is also a DELF and TCF evaluator. Christian lives on the Caribbean coast of Colombia in Santa Marta, a city with colors, music, social problems, cultural diversity, breezes, and sun all 12 months of the year.

A Paris native, Elisabeth lives in the French capital. Previously, she lived in Atlanta, GA, from 2006 to 2022. She is certified in teaching French as a second language (FLE) by the National Center for Distance Education (CNED, France). Since 2018 Elisabeth has taught for the Alliance Française Atlanta and, now, for the Alliance Française Portland. She’s also a certified yoga therapist since 2012, teaching yoga therapy in her private practice and in health institutions. She was previously a corporate/ marketing writer for Fortune Global 500 companies for over 25 years. She’s passionate about helping her students be connectors between their native culture and the French culture.

Lisa holds a BA in French and Spanish, and MA in French and Second Language Acquisition & Teaching, as well as a PhD in French and Francophone Studies. She is specialized in sociolinguistics and has done research in the revitalization of minority languages all over the French-speaking world. Her mother's family are native French speakers from Louisiana. She has taught French, Spanish and English as a second language to students of all ages since 1994. She and her husband, a French national from Dijon, have raised their three children in both the US and France to be bilingual and bi-cultural.

Caren, a Portland native, received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in French and Art History from Portland State University. She also holds a Certificat de Langues from l’Université de Poitiers where she studied medieval Art History and literature while an undergraduate student. Caren relocated to Amiens, France, to teach English for a year before beginning her graduate studies. After her graduate degree, she moved to Brussels for two years where she taught language courses at a private language school. After nearly 17 years living in the Washington DC area teaching French at Marymount University and at the Foreign Service Institute/Department of State, she is now happily living in Portland with her husband of 15 years. 

Marie-Pierre is originally from Lyon and was one of the founders of the French Elementary School program of the Eugene 4-J public school district. She served as a school principal in France before returning to the US where she was an adjunct professor at the University of Washington in Vancouver. Marie-Pierre has been with the Alliance since 2008.

Sophie was born and raised in the French part of Switzerland near Basel. An early passion for art, history and literature led her to studies in Medieval French, Philosophy and Dialectology (Licence ès Lettres, Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland). After doing research in medieval philology (Universités de Neuchâtel et Genève), she became a Lecturer in French at the University of Zurich. She honed her knowledge of pedagogical methodology through coursework at Cavilam - Alliance Française de Vichy. When she is not teaching, Sophie is also a visual artist, poet and storyteller in both English and French. 

Elene graduated from the École du Louvre with a Master of Arts in Museum Education and Cultural Studies. Originally from the Republic of Georgia, she was exposed to French starting from elementary school. She enjoyed teaching children and adults in various Parisian museums and researching for her doctorate at the University of Paris VIII before moving to Portland in 2014, where she is raising trilingual children in a multicultural household. She has been trained and certified in teaching FLE since she started with the Alliance in 2017.