<B>”She inspired me with confidence!”</B>

“At each step of our educational development from pre-primary to tertiary, there are teachers and lecturers who make an impact on our lives in one way or another. Those people remain unforgettable to us. When we look back, we realise that they brought an added dimension to our personal development. Consequently, a lot of names come to mind and it would be wonderful if one could pay tribute to them all. However, since I have to make a choice, it will be those teachers who taught me languages.

Despite having pursued higher studies in economics and mathematics, I have always considered languages as the basis for all other subjects. Languages enable students to communicate, understand and be understood. This is why the two teachers I will mention are language teachers – Paulette Wong, born Kwan, and Paul Bancilhon. They taught me French and English - both language and literature. In fact, Paulette Kwan taught me French and Latin.

I did both my primary and secondary education at Loreto Convent Port-Louis. We had Irish nuns as teachers because, then, most Loreto nuns were foreigners. They had an immense impact on us regarding language as we had no other choice than to communicate with them in English. Moreover, those nuns spoke proper English and not our Mauritian “franglais”. As I recall those days, the nuns that come to mind are Sister Patricia and Sister Una.

But Paulette Kwan made quite an impression on us teenage girls, in her French and Latin classes from Forms III to V. She was a beautiful young lady and smartly dressed. She was poised and refined and… still is. Consequently, we called her “la précieuse” because, in Form III, we were taught “la préciosité”.

In 17th century French Literature, a “précieuse” meant someone very refined, conscious and careful of her physical appearance. Once we learned what “précieuse” meant, we realised this word suited her well. Despite the fact that she was still very young, she would not get too close to students. She knew how to make herself respected. She was strict but not severe and she knew how to inspire confidence in us.

She prepared me for “Alliance Francaise” exams even when she was no longer my French teacher. She gave me tuition in both French Language and Literature until “la terminale”, when she handed me to Désirée Latour, a more seasoned teacher. This is how our relationship really built up over the years. I still look up to her and she helps me whenever I need her, for example, when I have worries regarding the education of my own children. She has become my friend and I trust her a lot on pedagogical issues.

And the one who impressed me most as an English teacher is Paul Bancilhon. He taught English at Royal College Port-Louis and, when I took tuition with him, he was rector of John Kennedy College. Six months before my Form VI final exams, my father had this brilliant idea of sending me for some English tuition – “ to be prepared”, he said.

Paul Bancilhon agreed to take me at this late hour in the school calendar for which I am ever grateful. He was an impressive person with his towering height and way of teaching. The first time I went for tuition at his place, instead of making me sit at a table, he asked me to be seated in a comfortable rattan chair and then started speaking and walking around the room. He just kept walking and talking more to himself than to me. Shakespeare, Chaucer, Keats and Byron thus came to life in his study in Beau-Bassin. To be honest, I felt intimidated and it was also fascinating! I was captivated!

The teachers I have mentioned were very passionate and sincere persons. I could feel that what drove them was how to transmit their knowledge to us. I learnt languages from them but I have also tried, over the years, to emulate their passion, sincerity and confidence.