Top honour for local French teacher

ANN Lüssi, the French teacher at Eden College, was honoured with an award from the French Ambassador at a special assembly at the school last week.

Ann was given the distinction of “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques” (Knight of the Order of Academic Palms) for her many years promoting the French language and culture at a provincial and national level.

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The French Ambassador, Christophe Farnaud and guests were treated to a French dialogue by three Grade 5 learners and a piano piece by head boy, Tyrell Pillay before Farnaud took to the stage to speak about Ann and her achievements.

“The Palmes académiques is a distinction that is meant to honor prominent figures in the promotion of French culture and language.”

“This includes members of the education community but also artists, singers and musicians. The people who receive this distinction are always people of passion, because when it comes to culture, arts, literature, education, teaching and learning, nothing can be done without passion,” he said.

Ann has had an impressive career. At a provincial level, she founded and directed the department of French at Eden College, where she has been teaching French since 2007. She also played a key role in the training of French high school teachers in KwaZulu-Natal and further contributed to the training of future trainers of French as a foreign language at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

She has been very active at a national level as well. She participated as a member of the local committee in charge of the organisation of the 13th World Congress of the “Fédération Internationale des Professeurs de Français” in Durban in 2012.

She has, since 2012, been a very important member of the Association for French Studies in Southern Africa.

“Because it is your most recent achievement for the benefit of French, and for the cooperation between our two countries, the partnership “Kwazulu-Loire” must be mentioned. Ann is one of the teachers who initiated this partnership between the Association of French Teachers of KwaZulu-Natal and the Local Education Authorities of the Region of Pays de la Loire in 2011. She has contributed a lot to the coordination of this project and the development of exchanges of teachers and learners,” said the Ambassador.

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He said beyond this remarkable and exemplary career, was her passion.

“Indeed, her passion for teaching French was preceded by a passion for languages and literature, which grew during her French and English literature studies at the University, previously called University of Natal. This passion also led Ann to spend 11 years in France and Switzerland.”

“It is rare and remarkable to be able to associate a professional experience and career with such a passion, and it is exactly what Ann has done,” he said.

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