FRENCH WOMAN LECTURER

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28422, 31 October 1957, Page 6

FRENCH WOMAN LECTURER

English Examination In Paris

When Miss Christiane Foiret, the French student who has been lecturing for the last term in the modern languages department at the University of Canterbury, returns to France next year she will prepare to sit an examination in English. Miss Foiret left Christchurch vesterday for Wellington and will leave New Zealand in JanuaryShe will fly home to Paris by the longest route that she can manage, across the Pacific and through the United States. Then, at the Sorbonne, she will sit an examination on English literature and language. Her interest in English prompted her researches into the New Zealand-born writer. Katherine Mansfield, during her stay. She is still pursuing the report that Katherine Mansfield, when about 16. wrote letters to a Maori girl which suggest, the beginnings of a Maori novel. She has not yet been able to find the letters, which may be in the hand of descendants of the Maori. Inquiries are being made with a Palmerston North solicitor. Her New Zealand friends will hear more of Miss Foiret after she leaves. She has made several recordings for broadcasting of French songs. In these she tells about, and sings, folk and cabaret songs and songs about Paris. Visiting New Zealand, a country with a more peaceful way of life, had given her the opportunity to see her own country in perspective, said Miss Foiret before she left Christchurch. “I have enjoyed very much mv stav in New Zealand, especially in Christchurch.” said Miss Foiret. who has lectured in Wellington. Auckland and Dunedin. “Everyone has been very kind to meStudents and teachers should come to France, she said. They should spend longer than the two or three days that they often did.