(Host)

Welcome to Season One - Episode Three of our Peck podcast. We’ve been focusing on the world languages program at Peck and today we have the pleasure of getting to know Tyler Mosely, Peck’s Upper School French Teacher.

(Tyler)

Bonjour, je m'appelle Mme Moseley. Je suis la maîtresse de français.

(Host)

French is well-established as the language of business and it might be a surprise where even a basic understanding of the language can take you.

(Tyler)

I love that I teach French, but there are so many other things that you can do with French – the UN, and business, and beyond that even, humanitarian work. It’s pretty amazing, the world that’s out there

(Host)

The fact that French is currently the only language (other than English) spoken on all seven continents is a testament to the French influence on culture and commerce, finance and fashion, as well as government and gastronomy.

(Tyler)

We talk about it a lot. We talk about how it’s on every continent, about how it’s hard to really get the sense of that here. Once you leave the US, it is amazing how it’s everywhere. And Africa has been something that I think a lot of people forget about. Africa has so…Africa has so much French influence. The students are always amazed with that.

But one place next door that speaks French is Canada.

(Host)

The Peck School has a historic connection to the sport of ice hockey. Many of our hockey players – especially if they continue in the sport as they grow older – will probably get the chance to practice a little French – even if it’s just knowing how to say a casual “What's Up?” to a French-speaking Canadian.

(Tyler)

I’ve been loving getting into the hockey with my fifth-grade hockey guys and gals, and a lot of them go and travel and play hockey. I think it’s so nice that they’re getting a chance. Because in Morristown, there’s a lot of Spanish opportunities, which I think is fantastic. They don’t really get as much as that with French. So some of these hockey guys and gals get a little taste of it. Even if it’s just that they got to say, "sup" to another hockey person. I teach them how to say "sup." “Quois de neuf?” is how you say "sup." And I’ve had a kid or two use it!

(Host)

Tyler’s love of the French language started at an early age, but her journey into teaching was an evolution

(Tyler)

I did not start off my job journey, or my life after college thinking I would be a French teacher, and when it came together, I thought, “Whoa!” What a thing to be able to teach your passion.

(Host)

When Tyler was a small child, her parents both worked and she had a bi-lingual nanny. Much to her brother’s chagrin, Tyler’s mom insisted that the nanny only speak to the kids in her mother tongue.

(Tyler)

When you start young, what’s good with that is that your ear develops.

(Host – to Tyler)

So your parents, obviously loved languages. That idea must have come from a real desire to have you be bi-lingual.

(Tyler)

Yeah. I’m going to call them later today and thank them! (laughs)

(Host)

Tyler’s love affair with French is a true celebration not only of the language, but of the artistic and cultural influence of France.

(Tyler)

I always have loved the theater, and I had done some ballet when I was really young. So there were some glimpses of French in those experiences. I go and watch French movies all the time. I love French cinema. I majored in French in college and one of my favorite classes was this French horror cinema, and we got to create our own French horror film.

(Scary sound FX)

(Host)

According to Tyler, experiencing a culture directly is really the beginning of a love affair with a language and by learning French, she has been given a passport to so much of the world.  

(Tyler)

A lot of the students here at Peck have an opportunity to travel. I always encourage them. My first time going to Europe when I was in sixth grade was France, of course, and that gave me that little taste of, oh, I’m in a different place, a different world. I can understand some things. And then in high school, you have the opportunity to go study abroad, which is a real opportunity. Living with a family. Full immersion French. I was dreaming in French by the time I was done.

My first job out of college actually was going back to this school called the Winter Term, in Switzerland. Actually, Peck students have gone. I went to the program in eighth grade. So I went back there and I taught middle school French. So I just feel like I kind of have come full circle. When you find something you love, you should embrace it on all different kinds of levels. Pursuing it in school, out of school, on your own. And I’ve done that and it’s been a lovely gift to my life.

(Host)

After three podcasts focusing on the language program at Peck, I’ve come away truly impressed by the personal passion our teachers have for their chosen languages, but also their love of teaching, and perhaps even more so, their love of conveying to their students that a language is an opportunity to puzzle through challenges, bring people together across cultures, and experience the world with new eyes.

(Tyler)

Our language meetings are really fun. I think we all love language. I’m happy every day I come to work because this is something I just genuinely loved and pursued for all these years and now I get to share it with everyone. I mean I just feel so lucky.

(Host – to Tyler)

All right! Well awesome. Thank you!

(Tyler)

Thanks so much! Merci boucoup!