Natasha Bastien

BA '09

I graduated from Dalhousie with a BA in French in 2009. Already knowing that I wanted to be a high school teacher, I very much appreciated the courses offered in the French Department, which gave me a better understanding of both grammar and syntax, and offered me a well-rounded understanding of literature from around the francophone world. Today, my students directly benefit from the classes I took at Dalhousie as we study poetry by Senghor, read fairy tales by Perrault, or study Rabelais’ Gargantua.

As a student at Dalhousie, I greatly appreciated the small class sizes offered by the French Department, and the warmth and guidance offered by its professors. I excelled in my degree because of their help and their efforts. 

It’s because of the French Department at Dalhousie that I had the opportunity, after my undergraduate studies, to become an English Language Assistant in France. That year, I not only improved my spoken French, but I got to travel within France, around Europe, and even northern Africa.  I also made lasting friendships with a few French people who lived in the village where my school was located. In the summer of 2014, a few of the friends I had made back in 2010 came to visit me in Toronto – it was their first time ever leaving France. 

Because I did so well in my undergraduate studies, and thanks to the experience I gathered teaching in France, I was able to attend OISE for my Bachelor of Education in 2012. Since then, I have been working as a French teacher for the Thames Valley District School Board in London, Ontario, where I get to teach and live the French language every day of my working life.