« It’s a culture shock for many of them »: a teacher creates an online French school for the wives of expatriate rugby players.
Because she knows the problems they face, Faustine Rebeyrol-Brimeur, whose husband is a physical trainer at Castres Olympique, has set up a French language school for the wives of expatriate rugby players. But more than just learning the language, the 39-year-old teacher offers support to make their lives in France easier.
She had already been doing this on a voluntary basis for a number of years, as a way of helping out. She has now decided to make it her full-time job. Faustine Rebeyrol-Brimeur has just set up an online French language school called « Women speak French », aimed primarily at the wives of professional rugby players & top sportsmen & women who are expatriates in France.
This French teacher, who also has a diploma in French as a Foreign Language (FLE) & was previously working at the Lycée Notre Dame in Castres, decided to put her career in the French education system on hold to embark on this new adventure. « I used to regularly help foreign students who came to the lycée, » explains Faustine, who also ran conversation workshops at the MJC in Carcassonne, where she lived before moving to Castres in 2016 to follow her husband Julien Rebeyrol-Brimeur, who joined the Castres Olympique staff as a physical trainer. So she’s well aware of the difficulties that players’ wives sometimes face in integrating into a new town. Especially when you don’t speak the language.
« Putting my experience to work for them »
« I’ve been in rugby for 17 years. We all move around, we all bump into each other, we’re all scattered. And I’ve come to realise that the foreign wives who follow their husbands have real needs in their daily lives, » continues the 39-year-old teacher, who over the past few years has already accompanied a number of companions of OC players who spoke only English or Spanish. I know what they need, and I wanted to put my experience to work for them. And so the « Women speak French » school was born.
Because it’s not just about learning the language. Faustine also gives her students invaluable advice, « codes for everyday life ». Just taking your children to the doctor or enrolling them in a crèche or school can be a real obstacle course for these women who arrive in France. While their partners are quickly surrounded by the club, the women are often isolated at first. « It’s a bit of a culture shock for a lot of them, so I help them build up their confidence and explain how things work here, » continues the Castra native by adoption, who offers group workshops and individual training sessions by video.
« Helping expatriate women to feel more secure and independent ».
Faustine has already received registrations for the start of the new school year in September from women players at the OC, as well as from other clubs all over France, but she is already offering free kits and information meetings to provide some tools and help people discover her method. It’s a « flexible » method, adapted to all profiles andbackgrounds, with daily follow-up.
« My driving force when I’m teaching is to see that what I’m doing helps people, makes them feel capable. Beyond the language, there’s also this idea that a woman is helping women to feel more secure, more autonomous », explains Faustine, who has always combined her passions for teaching and the world of sport. Already at university, she obtained her state tennis certificate and went on to teach in clubs for several years. « In fact, sport and French are a bit of an atypical combination, » she concludes with a smile.
For more information, check out her social networks on Instagram @womenspeakfrench or Facebook @womenwanttospeakfrench
