MEET OUR TEACHERS!   

      (page in progress)
Our instructors are native-born highly qualified teachers and certified professionals. Chosen for their impressive educational backgrounds and interpersonal skills, Alliance t eachers make each class a unique, productive, and enjoyable experience.
                   
                      Click on Teacher's name to read profile
 

FRENCH FACULTY MEMBERS

SPANISH FACULTY MEMBERS

ITALIAN FACULTY MEMBER

ARABIC FACULTY MEMBER

HAITIAN CREOLE FACULTY 

Corinne Martin

Corinne was born in France but spent her childhood under the sun of Ivory Coast in Africa. She moved to Nice for her studies and spent 6 years in Marseille where she completed her higher education and earned her Doctorate in Pharmacy.

She joined the Alliance of Providence in October 2015 and has been managing the Language Center ever since.  She has proven to be a skilled teacher and animator of  ‘‘Le Salon Français’’, teaching several groups of different levels as well as individual classes.

Corinne wants her students to be enthusiastic and proud of their French learning journey. She strongly believes that learning a language requires making mistakes and not being afraid to speak! She loves to share the beauty of the French language and culture, always trying to incorporate French songs, novels, literature and films in her classes.

When she is not teaching, she enjoys discovering new countries and cultures, walking, biking, and especially cooking and eating world food.

Gersende Chanfrau

Gersende was born in Paris.  She attended Universite Paris IX Dauphine where she received a Master's Degree in Management. She is the Director of Study Abroad & French Instructor at Rhode island College. She teachers French classes and private tutoring at the Alliance since 2017 and is currently teaching at Providence College as a French professor.  
Gersende is the mother of two daughters, 17 and 21, who are fluent in French and English.
In her leisure time she enjoys playing tennis.

Layela Moulay Benaissa 

Layela is the French and Arabic teacher for youths and adults and has been working at the Alliance from January 2017 to the present time. 
Layela was born in Morocco, and has dual citizenship.

She attended school in Morocco, and received her Master's degree.
She became a  Senior Banking executive in Belgium in 1989.
Layela recently received a Bachelor's degree in French Literature at Rhode Island College.  She been teaching French for 21 years, overseas and in the US. 

She loves traveling and spending time with her family

Layela has one daughter who is in the US Army, and 2 nephews here in the US, the rest of her family all live in Morocco.   Layela loves reading in her free time.

HAITIAN CREOLE FACULTY

                             Fred Lafortune

 

Fred Lafortune was born in Haiti. After travelling to Paris in 2007, he moved to the U.S in 2009. He is the author of several books, including En nulle autre, Silex, and An n al Lazil, a poetry collection written in Haitian Creole for which he received the Dominique Batraville Prize in 2017. In 2018, Fred received the Best Poet of the Year Award by the Haitian Academy Award. Fred is also the director of a collection of poetry called “L’immortel” at JEBCA Editions in Boston. His poems have been published in several anthologies, including the “Anthologie de Poésie Haïtienne Contemporaine,” published in Paris by Édition du Seuil – Collection Points. Additionally, several of his poems have been published in various literary magazines and journals, as well as online publications.

Fred currently lives in Rhode Island with his wife Joanne and their two children Grace and Isaac. He has been teaching Haitian Creole at the Alliance Française of Providence since 2016 and is currently a PhD student in French Language & Literature at Boston University.