My name is Philippe Boucher. I am French. I have been married with Patricia -who is American- since 1977 and we have 4 daughters who are all bilingual and dual citizens. We live on Bainbridge Island since November 1998.
Our family loves music and singing. French songs have been a constant part of our familial environment.
I think that people who want to learn French should also be exposed to and enjoy the many great songs that have been produced as that would -hopefully- make the learning even more enjoyable and exciting.
When our daughter Anne just left for Mount Holyoke College on the East Coast I thought about keeping in touch with her via a daily French song I would post on line via a blog.
That idea reminded me of the class I taught in Denver in 1974 when I was French Assistant at Loretto Heights College.
This blog is a new internet based version of this 1974 initiative.
Bienvenue
PS: do I have educational credentials to do this beyond my passion for French songs? Not really even I did collect a few degrees along the way a long time ago.
My college education started with 4 years of law at Paris X University (based in Nanterre La Folie) where I graduated in 1971 with a JD law degree.
In 1972 I graduated from the CELSA, that was at the time a newly created program within Paris IV (Sorbonne) focusing on communication. My graduation thesis was about wrongful advertising.
In 1973 I spent a year in Cameroon as a assistant to the Law School at the University of Yaoundé.
I also took classes and passed the exams for a BA in French Modern Literature (this Licence ès lettres modernes is a teaching degree in Cameroon).
Back in France in 1974 I graduated for an advanced degree (Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures) in political science at the Sorbonne (Paris 1). The thesis I wrote was about L'image de l'armée et du militaire dans la bande dessinée d'expression française.
As a French Assistant at Loretto Heights College in Denver during the school year 1974/1975 I collected French songs to present them to students and created a class about Women in French History.
I have written a few books in French: L'espoir des arbres, manuel du papier recyclé (Prix Jean Sainteny - 1982), 100 motivations pour arrêter de fumer (2007), Le guide de la maison écologique (2008), De cette île, L'autre Microsoft (2015). Also few in English.
