Jean-Claude Arragon

Jean-Claude Arragon (J-C to friends and family) was born in south-west France and spoke Occitan as a second language. After completing his secondary education, he went on to study English language, philology and German for a Licence (B.A.) at Bordeaux University. He then spent two years working as a French assistant at various English grammar schools, before returning to France to do his military service. Having completed his national service duties, he returned to England where he took up a post as Head of French in a secondary school and married a British girl. He then went on to become Lecturer and later Senior Lecturer in French at what is now Huddersfield University.

He has an M.A. in Phonetics from the University of Leeds and is convinced that his ability to learn new languages, to master their pronunciation and to discover their underlying patterns is, to a very large extent, due to his grounding in phonetics and linguistics. This, in turn, enabled him to get an insight into the language needs of learners and to guide them towards success. J-C (Jean-Claude Arragon) believes in developing his students' 'detective skills' in their approach to language learning.

In addition to teaching French full-time and in the evenings at all levels from beginners to postgraduates, he has also taught English to international students and served as a technical interpreter and translator for local companies. He has written dramatic material for a BBC French Language series and for the Open University. For ten years, he was Chief Oral Examiner in French for an A level board. More recently, he has worked on a number of French language books for Hodder Education, including a grammar title, now sadly out of print, in which he clearly set out his views on language learning. When he is not writing language books, he likes to fill his time pottering round his garden, playing with his grandchildren, dabbling with watercolours and acrylics and visiting faraway places (Peru, Vietnam, India etc.) with his wife Lesley.