French Teachers

On a flight recently I met a lady called Mrs. Sudha Rangaswamy. She is a Tamilian who teaches French at an International School in Mumbai. Sudha is a South Indian and her accent reveals so. Furtheremore, she teaches French, and when she holds a conversation in French, I can assure you it is difficult to follow. The French roll their 'r' s and so do Tamilians. The combination is deadly to say the least.

Mother Claude taught us French. An Irish nun. The Irish too have a peculiar way with their 'r's. "Jassus, child. For all love in Irrrreland, can ye not swally a cup o'tay without spilling? Arrrrgh, you tyke, go wash yourrrrrself". This still rings in my ears. After 40 years. Notwithstanding the Irish 'r's plus the French 'r's all rrrrolled into one, we all learned French verrrry well. And we all loved Mother Claude the best.

There was Mother Padua who taught Music. Paddy was all Irrrish and knew no French. THANKFULLY. Paddy sang all the Irish and the Celtic songs. Her "When Irrrish Eyes Are Smiling" was carried over to the next generation. Sajani sang it. Paddy was a darling. ( I'll put up another post later on Sajani singing 'Irish Eyes' )

There is Nivedita Bhattacharya, who thankfully speaks normal French, normal English and normal Bengali.

Merci a Dieu. Je ne sais pas tout autre enseignant Francais !!!!!!