Bonjour et bienvenue à la classe de francais. My name is Yana Seminara, I am teaching French to grades 7-12. I have been teaching in Midland Park since 2013. A few words about my background: I am of a Russian descend, raised in a multilingual family. I have a Masters degree in Applied Linguistics with emphasis in teaching French and English as second languages, which allowed me to travel to a few countries in Europe and Middle East where I have lived, taught and worked as a corporate interpreter. As you can see I have a deep passion for languages and cultures and my goal is to teach the language as well as global mentality and empathy. Students learn from each other as well as from the teacher, authentic sources and penpals. It is important from day one to feel that it is ok to experiment with a language and make mistakes as well as support others in their attempts to express themselves. Our curriculum is built around thematic units (you can see a detailed curriculum on the District Website). In our classes we have a daily focus on all four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. We incorporate music, arts, cooking into each unit.