Dear Beth,
I would like to inform expats of an event which will take place on October 14th which might interest your readers who live in or near Paris.
Last year I wrote a book about taking the agrégation d’anglais exam to become an English teacher: Sorbonne Confidential. Published in French by Fayard in 2007, it is now coming out in English at WH Smith on October 14th.
If you know of anyone who might be like to come, I’d be most grateful if you could pass on the info.
Many thanks and best regards,
Laurel Zuckerman
Book launch of
SORBONNE CONFIDENTIAL...
or one American's attempt to become an English teacher in France
At WH Smith Tuesday October 14, 2008
7:30 PM until 8:30 PM
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Author Laurel Zuckerman will talk about Sorbonne Confidential : "a hilarious, hair-raising insider's look at the esoteric world of French Education." (HW Rochefort).
Closely based on her own experiences at Paris IV, Sorbonne Confidential explores France's unique competitive exam system for English teachers, in which French dissertations and knowledge of the difference between "pigs' feet" and "pigs' trotters" can make all the difference.
Meet the author with talk and signing. Open to all and especially recommended for teachers and learners of English, Francophiles, and readers who enjoy humor.
WH Smith in Paris October 14th 7:30 p.m. To reserve, contact WS Smith at : books@whsmith.fr
Reactions in the press to Sorbonne Confidential:
THE TIMES - « Laurel Zuckerman has split the academic world with a book that relates her experience at the heart of the archaic French teacher-training system.”
EDUCATION REVIEW – “Sorbonne Confidential… illustrates how objective measures can be far from objective—a concept often difficult to see when looking only at one’s own context. It illustrates how rigor by itself can distract, exclude, and alienate. By taking on an institution that began before the American Revolution, the book demonstrates how systems can develop around programs, allowing them to self-perpetuate without regard for their impact on schools and society. At some level, the book is also an argument for the power and importance of teacher education and of the need for systems that care more about creating good teachers than objectively assigning scores.
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR – « Un ouvrage à la fois savoureux et hautement instructif. »
LE POINT – « Son récit tragi-comique explique ni plus ni moins comment sont fabriqués les plus mauvais professeurs d'anglais du monde »
LE MONDE DE l’EDUCATION - "La candidate s'imagine que sa qualité d'anglophone lui donne des atouts supplémentaires. Elle s'aperçoit qu'il s'agit plutôt d'un handicap. Ses tribulations sont prétexte à mettre en évidence avec humour quelques-uns des éléments qui expliquent pourquoi les Français sont les mauvais élèves de l'Europe dans l'apprentissage de l'anglais."
L’EXPRESS - « Absurde, inadapté, discriminant. Et dramatiquement drôle. Ainsi apparaît le système universitaire français vu à travers les yeux mi-candides, mi-incrédules d'une Américaine… Le constat, sévère, a d'autant plus de poids qu'il est dressé par une Française d'adoption, à la fois impliquée et extérieure. On rit beaucoup et on se dit qu'il est décidément urgent de réformer le système »
