[Oxford63] French teacher

oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
Mon Feb 22 10:12:14 MST 2016


Betsy -

What a memory! My sister went to Miss Hewitt's in NYC, and Mme LeFaivre 
was the French teacher there before she came to Oxford. I also remember 
rumors that she had been married to a Russian prince? After she retired 
to 1 Bis Rue de Siam in Paris (I'll take credit for remembering, though 
not the correct capitalization), I had occasion to spend 3 weeks there 
before heading to the University of Geneva for a French summer program. 
Mme LeFaivre and I went to the Tutankhamen exhibit at Le Petit Palais. 
She also got me to go with her to a Moliere play (sure don't remember 
which one!) at La Comedie Francaise. I did stay in touch with her on and 
off forquite a while. I remember one year she sent a Christmas card that 
she had drawn herself - a simple line drawing, red on white paper. I 
remember being impressed that she had talent.

I'm in her camp, but clearly she made an indelible impression on all of us.


*** Jane ***

Cyber Mesa Telecom
Santa Fe Headquarters
Tel 505-988-9200

/Local Contact Numbers/ <http://www.cybermesa.com/ContactUs.htm>



On 2/22/2016 8:48 AM, oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com wrote:
> Betsy - So great that you reminded us all of this - I remember Sept 
> d'un Coup very well.  And all the other things, especially Hum-sah! 
>  xo  Claudia
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From: *oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
> *To: *oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
> *Sent: *Wednesday, February 17, 2016 9:34:40 PM
> *Subject: *Re: [Oxford63] French teacher
>
> I just looked back in my 1960 yearbook at the list of faculty names: 
>  Mme LaBrecque’s given name was Yvonne.
>
> I never had French with Mme LaBrecque, but I had Mme Lefaivre in 7th, 
> 8th, and 9th grade.  She was my favorite teacher.  The bark was much 
> worse than the bite, I discovered.  I do recall that on the very first 
> day of class she told us that if we hadn’t done our homework (and 
> there might be a perfectly legitimate excuse), we should come to her 
> before class began, and she wouldn’t call on us.  But if she called on 
> us and we didn’t know the answer because we hadn’t done our homework, 
> and we hadn’t confessed it to her before class began, well… all bets 
> were off!  She was very demanding, but I learned so much French, that 
> after taking French I with her at Oxford, I was jumped into French III 
> my sophomore at Abbot!  (Where I had another French teacher, Mlle 
> Arosa, who was an equally demanding tyrant, but that’s another story.)
>
> What I remember best about Mme Lefaivre was her amazing story-telling 
> ability.  When we had finished our lesson and grammar, if there was 
> time enough before the bell, she would tell us stories from history 
> etc.  There was the story of Saint-Christophe, and stories of 
> Catherine de Medici, and once she was in the middle of a ghost story 
> when the bell rang, making all of us jump out of our skins.  It helped 
> us learn by listening, in a very pleasant manner.  I remember our 
> first little yellow book of stories:  “Sept d’un coup”, about a giant, 
> and “Les Chandeliers de l’Évèque” from “Les Misérables”, and “La 
> Chèvre de Monsieur Séguin” from "Les Lettres de mon Moulin” of 
> Alphonse Daudet.  She made us put our heads down on our desks before 
> we started an exam, and breathe deeply, saying “hum-sah” several 
> times.  Precursor to mindful breathing!!  And very effective for 
> calming down enough to write a good exam.  I used the technique all 
> through school and university.
>
> The grounding I received from her and from Mlle Arosa enabled me to 
> function fully in French when I moved to Québec to sing in the Opéra 
> de Montréal.  They made it possible for me to have a career in 
> singing, and later teaching ESL in a francophone college. I couldn’t 
> be more grateful!  I wish I had kept up contact with her, but I saw 
> her only once after I left for boarding school.  I’m so glad you 
> stayed in touch, Katie, and had such fun experiences with her in 
> France!  I thought she was just wonderful!
>
> Hope you are all staying warm and looking forward to spring!  Love,  Betsy
>
> On Feb 17, 2016, at 8:47 PM, oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com 
> <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com> wrote:
>
>     my favorite . . . still have le livre! Bon chance, Lelly!
>     Susan
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: oxford63 <oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>     <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>>
>     To: oxford63 <oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>     <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>>
>     Sent: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 6:26 pm
>     Subject: Re: [Oxford63] French teacher
>
>     And I am taking a French class at our library, and we are just
>     finishing Le Petit Prince!
>
>     Lelly
>
>     Sent from my iPad
>
>     On Feb 17, 2016, at 6:13 PM, oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>     <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com> wrote:
>
>         Yes, she was!!
>         Interestingly enough, about a year ago, while commuting in
>         traffic on I-95, started to translate license plates into French!
>         I have been thinking/ speaking in French ever since! A method
>         to avoid Alzheimers? Who knows, but I am loving it!
>         Susan
>         -----Original Message-----
>         From: oxford63 <oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>         <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>>
>         To: oxford63 <oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>         <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>>
>         Sent: Wed, Feb 17, 2016 12:33 am
>         Subject: Re: [Oxford63] French teacher
>
>         Yep, Simone LeFaivre.  Who could forget that bitch.
>
>         Sent from my iPhone
>
>         On Feb 16, 2016, at 6:34 PM,
>         oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>         <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com> wrote:
>
>             Simone
>
>
>             *** Jane ***
>
>             Cyber Mesa Telecom
>             Santa Fe Headquarters
>             Tel 505-988-9200
>
>             /Local Contact Numbers/
>             <http://http//www.cybermesa.com/ContactUs.htm>
>
>
>
>             On 02/16/2016 8:25 PM,
>             oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com wrote:
>
>                 A good memory and good to have found the packet of
>                 letters.  I remember Mme LaBrecque, but do not know
>                 her first name.  In fact, I only knew a few teachers'
>                 first names - Barbara Jarrell, Edith Evans, Shirley
>                 Storrs...What was Mme. LeFaivre's first name?
>                 Curiously, Claudia
>                 *From: *oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>                 *To: *"oxford63" <Oxford63 at cyber-community.com>
>                 *Sent: *Tuesday, February 16, 2016 10:08:56 PM
>                 *Subject: *[Oxford63] French teacher
>
>                 I happened to find a packet of letters my mother
>                 received after my grandfather and father died in 1969.
>                 One of them was from Wilfred and Anne La Brecque. I
>                 wonder if it was from Madame La Brecque  who taught at
>                 Oxford as she was a good friend of my grandmother's.
>                 Does anyone remember if her name was Anne?
>                 I hope everyone is safe from the bad weather.
>
>
>
>                 Barbara
>                 Brucket at aol.com
>
>                 _______________________________________________
>                 oxford63 mailing list
>                 oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>                 http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>
>
>                 _______________________________________________
>                 oxford63 mailing list
>                 oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>                 http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>
>             _______________________________________________
>             oxford63 mailing list
>             oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>             <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>
>             http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>         _______________________________________________
>         oxford63 mailing list
>         oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>         <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>
>         http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>         _______________________________________________
>         oxford63 mailing list
>         oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>         <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>
>         http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     oxford63 mailing list
>     oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>     <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>
>     http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>     _______________________________________________
>     oxford63 mailing list
>     oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
>     <mailto:oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com>
>     http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> oxford63 mailing list
> oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
> http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> oxford63 mailing list
> oxford63 at mailman.cyber-community.com
> http://mailman.cybermesa.com/mailman/listinfo/oxford63

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.cybermesa.com/pipermail/oxford63/attachments/20160222/2dd3ae21/attachment-0001.html 


More information about the oxford63 mailing list