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Meet the Authors Meet Nancy Gadbois and Connie Fredericks-Malone... 
Questions? Ask Mme Gadbois and Connie Fredericks-Malone! "We are delighted that students of French worldwide will have the opportunity to use Tant Qu'Elle Chante, Elle Vit: apprendre le français grâce à l'héritage de Carole Fredericks," says Connie Fredericks-Malone, sister to the late French recording artist. "This is a momentous occasion for my family and Nancy Gadbois." The program consists of a 27 minute videotape and a Teacher's Manual. Nancy Gadbois is responsible for the lesson plans and assorted activities offered in the Teacher's Manual. "Mme Gadbois teaches French in Springfield, Massachusetts, our hometown," says Fredericks-Malone. "We met for the first time at the family memorial service for Carole in August 2001," she continues. "You can imagine my surprise when Nancy said she had been using Carole's music to teach French since the early 1990's. We exchanged telephone numbers and promised to stay in touch. Little did I know at the time that Nancy Gadbois is a highly respected teacher of French and the Chairperson of the Foreign Language Department at the local high school." Mme Nancy Gadbois is a veteran member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), and the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). She serves on the Board of Directors for the Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (NECTFL), and she is a regular presenter for professional organizations. She was also a pilot site teacher for both the content and performance standards of the National Standards for Foreign Languages. "I've used music videos before in my lessons and find the clips fuel my class-work," says Mme Gadbois, "so when Connie asked me to take a look at the collection of Carole's music videos, I said, 'sure.' WOW, was I thrilled. Each music video was like a mini-film in itself. Beautiful stories, great photography and fantastic music. I immediately showed them to my French 1 and French 5 students who became as excited as I was. The students were really surprised when I told them that Carole was an American. And when I said Carole was born and raised in Springfield, I couldn't answer their questions fast enough," laughs Mme Gadbois. Fredericks-Malone continues, "once the decision was made to create a formal language unit, the process took on a life of its own." A long-time family friend and author, Barbara Summers, suggested the phase, 'Tant Qu'Elle Chante, Elle Vit - As Long As She Sings, She Lives..' The program's title finally emerged when Nancy and Connie added the defining phrase 'apprendre le français grâce à l'héritage de Carole Fredericks - learn French through the legacy of Carole Fredericks.' Next, Mme Gadbois selected six songs with corresponding music videos. She then developed assorted activities (vocabulary lists, questions, word games, puzzles) and the pedagogical exercises. Mme Gadbois goes on to say, "the videos allowed me to engage my students at their level of interest - contemporary music and the dramatization of the song. Then I structured a lesson around the music video's storyline, song lyrics and Carole's experiences in France. The lesson plans grew out of my 30 years of experience in the classroom." "This selection of music videos had never been released outside of the French-speaking world," continues Fredericks-Malone. "It took more than a year to secure the appropriate permissions and copyrights approvals from the record companies and publishers. It was at this point I realized that Tant Qu'Elle Chante, Elle Vit! was unique, and perhaps, the first of its kind to use contemporary music videos in an educational format." Carole's family was very fortunate in their effort to establish a legacy program. Carole was a protégée of Jean-Jacques Goldman, France's foremost independent recording artist and producer. Jean-Jacques and Carole had worked together on numerous projects in the past. In 1989 Jean-Jacques was assembling a new rock-music group. He asked Carole to join him and Michael Jones on stage. As one third of the dynamic singing trio, Fredericks Goldman Jones, Carole was catapulted to fame in the French-speaking world. For more than ten years she worked with the best of French musicians - Erick Benzi, Jacques Veneruso, Christophe Battaglia, Gildas Arzel, of course Jean-Jacques, Michael Jones and many others. Yvonne Jones, Becky Bell, Maria Popkiewicz and Nicole Amovin were her singing partners. "The musicians and singers became her family," says Fredericks-Malone, "and there was a great friendship among them." Fredericks-Malone continues, "when I asked if we could use the recordings in an educational language program, without missing a beat, Robert Goldman and the Goldman management team, the musicians and singers all said, 'oui.'" World renowned celebrity photographer, Claude Gassian, contributed his photograph of Carole for the cover of the Teacher's Manual and video cassette. "We set up partnerships with the American Association of Teachers of French in the U.S. and TRALCO Educational Services in Canada to distribute the program," says Fredericks-Malone. "Nancy Gadbois became an invaluable member of our team. My family and I continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of generosity. This program could not have been possible without the support and contributions of so many wonderful people in France as well as in America." Tant Qu'Elle Chante, Elle Vit: apprendre le français grâce à l'héritage de Carole Fredericks is a creative Franco-American collaboration and an exciting new way to learn French. Back to Top |
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