Faculty Feature. French Instruction

Please meet ​​Madame Marie-Louise Saina, our French language teacher at Holy Cross. Madame Saina moved to Canada from France, Haute-Savoie when she was a young teen. In Edmonton, she attended Catholic schools and when she was in grade 10 it was her French teacher who encouraged and inspired her to become a French language teacher.

She graduated from both College St.Jean and University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education for secondary level French Immersion, Literature and English. Most of her professional life as a teacher took place in Alberta. She taught in High schools in Calgary, Cochrane and Didsbury.

Madame Saina’s love for the French language is the reason that her French lessons at Holy Cross are immersion based. This means that the language taught must be authentic and in as much as a natural way as possible. In class, the students truly experience different aspects of the language and culture. Through guided work, the students are encouraged to speak French to one another. She believes that if the language feels real and personal to the students then they will flourish and they will feel at ease speaking the language.

Her journey at Holy Cross is one filled with gratitude and joy. The students, staff and the sanctity of faith all give her great satisfaction. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, tennis, boating, fishing and cooking special dinners for her family.