We recently checked in with alumna and current part-time lecturer Sarah-Kate Moore about her experience in our French MA program. Sarah-Kate Moore earned her MA in French in 2024. Previously, she earned a MFA in Poetry and a PhD in English from the University of Washington.
While an undergraduate at Rollins College, Sarah-Kate took her first French class during her Sophomore year and fell in love with the language. She found the language fascinating on a logical level and developed an interest in French culture. Sarah-Kate decided to go to Paris to study abroad during her undergraduate years, calling the trip "the experience of a lifetime." However, if she could go back and redo her study abroad trip, Sarah-Kate would've chosen a smaller city than Paris because of the heavy amount of English speakers in Paris.
Once she graduated, Sarah-Kate tried to continue her French language study on her own but found it difficult. During her early 30s, Sarah-Kate dedicated herself once more to studying French, falling in love with the language again. After she earned her PhD in English, Sarah-Kate took up French mainly as a hobby but also started working with a French tutor. When asked what one thing helped her improve her French, Sarah-Kate recounted that reading independently in French for fun, not for studying, really helped her level up her French skills.
During her graduate program, Sarah-Kate discovered a passion for teaching. After completing her PhD, she found herself missing teaching. While teaching French came to mind during this time, Sarah-Kate was concerned her French was not good enough to accurately teach the language. However, after encouragement by her tutor and now friend, Sarah-Kate applied and was accepted to our French MA program. One reason that impacted her decision to apply to the French MA program here was her familiarity with our program; she had previously been a FLAS recipient during her graduate program and took classes with Teaching Professor of French Hedwige Meyer.
When asked about the highlights of her time in the French MA program, Sarah-Kate said the highlights of her time were working with Hedwige Meyer on Indigenous Canadian literature and with Assistant Professor of French Richard Watts on translation work. She also described teaching French while in the MA program as "incredibly rewarding," particularly when she worked with students who came to second language learning later in life.
As for the challenges, Sarah-Kate said that the emotional challenge of teaching a language that is not her native tongue was particularly difficult. She knew she would make mistakes with French but positioning herself as an instructor of French was humbling as she would catch her own mistakes. When asked how she confronted this challenge, Sarah-Kate noted that she prioritized self-compassion and being gentle with herself. She also said that recognizing her strengths as a non-native French speaker was key in developing her French teaching skills.
Sarah-Kate Moore presented her MA thesis, a project that translated the first ten poems of Le tendon et l'os [Tendon and Bone, 2019] by by Québécoise author Anne-Marie Desmeules. To tackle this project, Dr. Moore translated each poem three times, employing first a free, then a tightly constrained, then a hybrid approach. When asked about her project, Dr. Moore said she "prioritized a translation ethics of adhering closely to the source text, as well as an embodied approach to translation practice rooted in curiosity, openness, and ongoingness that acknowledges the affective and responsive experience of the translator."
After graduation, Sarah-Kate was awarded a scholarship from the Centre de la francophoonie des Amériques to attend the Advanced Training for Teahcers of French as a Foreign Language program at Laval University in Québec City this past July. The two-week program combined pedagogical training with sociocultural education and engagement to train teachers of FLE (French as a foreign language). During her time in the French MA program, Sarah-Kate studied Quebecois literature with Hedwige Meyer and was extremely intrigued by the topic, leading her to attend this training.
The program, dedicated to teaching current French instructors language pedagogy and Quebecois culture, was attended by a cohort of teachers from across the world, ranging from francophone countries like France and Haiti to other countries like Mexico and Romania. While this was Sarah-Kate's first time in Quebec, she developed a passion for Quebecois culture and loved learning how to incorporate Quebecois culture into French language education as the nearest Francophone region to American learners.
Currently, Sarah-Kate Moore is a part-time lecturer with the Department of French & Italian Studies. She is teaching French 102 and French 103 in Autumn quarter. In the future, Sarah-Kate plans to continue teaching French to adults to continue pursuing her passion of teaching to second-language learners who are older or followed an untraditional learning path.
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