A lawyer from Delhi, he became an English assistant at St. Digier

Portrait. Bhavana Quatra, a lawyer in Delhi, India, completely changed her life as an English assistant. Since October 2021, he has been working at three Fragard schools. An incredible path that inspires her passionately and impeccably French.

If Bhavana Quatra is a motto, it means “always smiling”. The translation of “always smile”, as a young stranger told her when she was 10 years old. One sentence is still etched in his memory 18 years later. But this time, his life has changed dramatically. A brilliant lawyer in Delhi, the old district of the capital of India, he has always lived At Anne-Frank High School in Saint-DCWe will meet her. One of the three schools – Jean-de-la-Fontaine School and Saint-Exupéry High School – where he works as an English assistant, is the second national language after Hindi.

180 C twist

So at 5^And The year of her law studies, the young woman chose French as her second foreign language. “It was a bit clich, but I dreamed of finding the Eiffel Tower,” he explains in flawless French. He took his first steps with the Alliance franchise de Delhi. First readings, first pronunciations and first original exercises. One of them specifically mentioned him: “I had to go to the Khan Market where there are tourists. I went to see them to practice in French. And I was talking to them. ⁇

With her growing knowledge of the language, Bhavana decides to make her dream come true, a lifetime journey: to go to France for a month. “I went there alone, but it did not scare me. Of course, if the young woman found the Eiffel Tower, she would take advantage of the opportunity to improve her French language:” Going abroad is the best thing to do. Nonetheless, it is hard to see: “I was amazed at what I was doing here,” he says, a real turning point in his life.

From bar to blackboard

Bhavana then decides to change course. Objective: To be an English teacher in France. Tough decision: “A lot of people have asked me why I do this. But my brother in Delhi was always supportive of me. The beginning of what Indians describe as “second life”. The young woman, who holds an internationally recognized English diploma, IELTS, continues to study French. She graduates with a Diploma in French Language Studies (DELF): “I’m C1, I’m fifth of 6.” And she came a little closer to the dream.

In the fall of 2019, “the most beautiful city in the world, the weather will always be good”, he landed like this for four months. “Then there was Govind, so I returned to India for a year. But that is only an adjournment. In 2021, he will apply again in France. Bingo! We have been seeing Bhavana in Pragati since last autumn (this is a change from Delhi).

His adventure ends at the end of April. “I am going back to India in May. I would like to find a permanent post after that. I do not know what my future holds. But even if it was in India, I would not be disappointed. Wherever you are, the smile will always be there.

Louis Vantornout

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St. Diggier vs. Delhi

“Saint-Digier is much smaller than Delhi, but it’s a beautiful city. The real difference is the noise and the people. Here, you can hear nothing, you can not see anyone on the streets at 10 pm.

Another difference is the horns. In Delhi, you always hear them. Except for the turn signal, they are used to warn us that we are going back. That’s what I did when I was driving in Reims, and people were surprised. Because here we sound only to moan or greet. As once, a woman I was teaching passed me on the street and blew the horn towards me. But as I’m used to, I do not look up when I hear that noise, so I do not see it (laughs). In India, too, you put the steering wheel on the right and drive on the left, but you get used to it quickly.

The culture is also very different. Young people are interested and they ask me a lot of questions about Indian culture. It inspired me to create a dance club like Bollywood. And activities when there are Indian festivals, like Rangoli. ⁇

Lifelong learning

Bhavana has been practicing French for seven years now. But his learning is permanent. “I use to read a lot of books in the high school library. At the moment, I am studying Guilmom Musso. In writing, but verbally, in addition to discussions with local people: “I went to Mico Cinema (cine-kuai) twice. And I teach French lessons to Indians, which is a great way to practice. Not forgetting the expressions of some young people: “Girl, blow your belly, guard, money …” This also creates the charm of our language.