French Teacher Emmanuel Kamla Joins SHS

Coming from Cameroon, the high school has a new face joining the staff.

Emmanuel Nguifeu Kamla is the new French teacher and he is bringing something new to the district.

Growing up, French was his first language, so as a French teacher he gives students the insight that only a native speaker can give.

Kamla is multilingual, meaning he knows more than three languages.

Fluent in French, English his native dialect Nagomba and he has an understanding of Spanish.

If anyone can help you learn a language, Kamla definitely has some tips.

While in school Kamla was interested in journalism and teaching. At the start of university was when his relationship with teaching kicked off.

“I started as a [tutor] first year of university and then I discovered that it was my passion,” Kamla said.

Kamla is certified in French language and literature.

Similarly to how an English teacher would focus on only teaching the language to a forgien student, and then teach grammar and literary analysis to a native speaker, Kamla is taking the same approach here at SHS.

“The way that I teach French, for example here in America, is not the same like when I was teaching in Camaroon,” Kamla said. “Why? Because I’m teaching French here for American students. That means French for them is [a] foreign language. But French for Cameroonian students, [it is their] native language, they were already French speakers.”

He also mentions his expectations for SHS students.

“So here, for example, the goal is what? To create or develop the ability in the student to listen in, to write in, to speak in and to read in [French],” Kamla said.

Kamla explained his relationship with students, describing how he likes to be engaged with the class and make the atmosphere comfortable.

When there’s a connection or familiarity between a teacher and a student, that’s when a constructive learning environment is made.

“I take students as my little brother, my little sister,” Kamla said. “I don’t consider students as only students, so I try to create that feeling between them and me because I know once we have that feeling, then it will become easy for them to [understand me] and to be very attentive of what we are doing in class.”

Ask any teacher and they’ll tell you that children are society’s future and Kamla agrees with that.
The main goal is to be a positive influence on students, ensuring a strong foundation for the future.

“What motivates me is that I can see my students [become] successful [and] achieve their goals,” Kamla said. “I can see some of them becoming like me because some of the students that I taught are teachers now.”

Stephanie Walker is one of Kamla’s students and she enjoys the class. Her favorite part of class is the activities they do.

“We’ll just all get into teams and see if we remember what we learned over the past week,” Walker said. “I like that it gives us a chance to hear French since he asks the questions verbally. I personally find it challenging to understand what is being said to me in French, so I like that it’s good practice.”

The general student opinion of Kamla is positive and it is easy to see why he really sees the importance of teaching and wants to do his best for his students.

“There’s something that you can feel but you can not express, I mean you can not explain it,” said Kamla. “Sometimes you can feel, something that is more than you, [like teaching, and] you can not explain it.”