Hi my name is Hayley Boisvert and my first language is English. But ever since I was little, my father would sing to me in French and teach me a few words here and there. My first school experience with French was not until I was in grade three and it was at that moment that my admiration for the French Language started. My father used to teach me French children’s songs, which I would take to school and teach my fellow classmates. My French teacher loved learning a new song every Friday. My desire to learn more French continued to grow until I reached grade seven, at which point I had the opportunity to enter a French immersion program. Since all my father’s family spoke French I decided to learn French so I could speak with them while on vacations.

I was in French immersion until grade ten when course offerings made me return to the English program. However, I continued to take my Immersion French language classes. After high school I went on to obtain a diploma in Early Childhood Education and subsequently worked in a daycare and after-school program. It was during this time that I met a little girl who had just started kindergarten French immersion. She would tell me the new words that she had learned everyday after school. Her enthusiasm for the language made me reminisce about my own and I could see myself in her eagerness. I then started my Bachelor of Education at Memorial University, with my rekindled desire to teach the French language to eager young minds. Before finishing my degree I studied for three months on the French Islands of St. Pierre-et-Miquelon at the Francoforum, and spent an amazing year honing my language skills and meeting amazing people at l’Université de Quebec à Montreal, where I completed my Immersion Education as part of my program at Memorial's Faculty of Education.

My ability and my confidence in French and my ability to cultivate it in others grew by leaps and bounds during this time. However, it was not until my semester-long internship in a French Immersion grade 1 class, another opportunity presented by the Faculty of Education at Memorial, that I could comprehend what I had learned and how I had developed, as well as being an amazing learning experience in itself.

Upon receiving my B.Ed I moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta. In Fort McMurray I substituted briefly in order to determine the grade level and discipline with which I was most comfortable. I then accepted my current position as the French Immersion Kindergarten teacher at École St. Paul. My students make me laugh everyday; they are so eager to learn. It’s amazing how fast their minds absorb the language. It is so much fun! I love being a French immersion teacher and learning more about the French culture!