A Born Teacher / Born to Teach
A native French speaker, Eric Simonis developed his passion for languages growing up in Alsace-Lorraine on France’s eastern border. Exposure to nearby countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and Switzerland gave him an instinctive grasp of the diversity and richness brought by different cultures.
Eric moved to Philadelphia in 1990, but his love for his mother tongue has remained constant: “When I first came to the U.S., I had little to no knowledge of English. I quickly understood the challenges—and beauty—of learning a new language! I soon took great pleasure in teaching French to friends and Francophiles in University City. The connections between the two languages are endlessly intriguing to me.”
Eric is an enthusiastic and patient instructor, seasoned by six years guiding students at Walnut Hill College and tutoring at The Lauder Institute of International Studies (University of Pennsylvania).
Eric is the founder of the lecture series “Le Cercle Francophone d’Histoire” and appears monthly as a French lecturer at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia. He enjoys teaching people from all walks of life, from children to retirees, from neophytes to students preparing for exams, from active professionals to artists—“and anyone who loves good conversation!”
Eric’s love of opera also makes him an ideal partner to help singers with French arias and répertoire. In order to support them, he offers very moderately priced 1-hour diction lessons focused on French comprehension, translation, and proper pronunciation. He also leads classes “en duo” for couples or friends who wish to learn in tandem and at the same pace.
Today Eric devotes his tutoring to a diversity of individual learners, in order to focus on their particular needs and objectives: “In every lesson, with every learner, my goal is my student’s goal—big or small—with one common trait: l’amour de la langue française!”