Mark Sullivan is Aux Petits Soins’ newest intern. He will be part of our new French Playtime program on Saturday mornings from 9-11:30 a.m., and will engage with the children by reading books to them and playing games. He took some time to share a little bit about his background, and why he loves French.
What’s your background as far as French language/culture goes?
Il était une fois (once upon a time), I was a Peace Corps volunteer in francophone Africa — Chad — where I taught English at a college in a small village. It was then that I started to develop my interest in French and French culture. Our school had seven teachers: six Senegalese men, teaching as part of a pan-African agreement, and me. The Senegalese were adamant that I speak French correctly at “their” school, and I worked hard to improve my language skills.
There were few opportunities for me to speak English. There was a Catholic mission from Québec, and some of the priests/monks spoke English — but not often. The French (people) in the Third World were there as a result of colonialism, and some of them still held to the colonial lifestyle. But there were others who loved Africa and seemed to embrace the culture and the people. (These were the groups) with whom I became friends, and from whom I started to develop an appreciation of things French.
What do you love about the French language and culture?
The language is beautiful, and rich with expressions. I read that a language is a reflection of a culture and that seems to be true of the French and their language. There are expressions and ways of saying things that seem to be inherently more respectful than in English. One easy example is that a brother-in-law in France is called a “beau-frère” — it is so much nicer to think of a relative by marriage as a beautiful person as opposed to a legally-defined person. The culture is rich and people in France seem to appreciate it more. And there are centuries of culture from long before this land was a country.
What drew you to Aux Petits Soins?
In my career, I started working in a Head Start classroom. Every promotion throughout my career took me further from the children. When I retired, I was working in an office and rarely even saw children. In retirement, I decided to go back to the reasons that I had chosen to work in childcare — the children — and to give back a little bit of my time.
My wife and I split our year between Lansing and Provence, France. When we are in the States, I volunteer at daycare centers near our home. When we are in France, I volunteer at a crèche (French daycare). I have been volunteering since my retirement. Aux Petits Soins fits with my volunteer goals and in a French language environment. There are not a lot of opportunities to speak French in Lansing.
What activities will you be doing at APS?
I will be reading to groups of young children. Whether it is reading, participating in a group activity, singing songs, it really does not matter.
Welcome to the APS Team, Mark!