English

English at the École des Ponts

The ENGLISH SECTION at l’Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées is committed to promoting a variety of cultural and linguistic approaches in accordance with the standards of the Département de Langues et Cultures (DLC), which offers  courses in multiple languages and operates under the framework of the CTI.

At Ponts et Chaussées, English classes are compulsory due to the fact that English has become the de facto international language of the arts, science, and business. The ENGLISH SECTION provides a panoply of theme classes designed for advanced language learners. Students are given all the support necessary to achieve the highest level of fluency and accuracy.

Our program is specifically designed to address the student engineer’s needs to acquire cross-cultural, transversal, and communication skills. This is accomplished by a diverse team of teachers with different skill sets and hailing from different cultural backgrounds, each one using innovative pedagogy to encourage collaboration and interaction within the learning environment.

Our department’s mission is focused upon the values of Discovery, Critical Thinking and Creativity. With over 50 themes to choose from every semester, our course selection provides something for everyone. Students have a rare opportunity to explore subjects that may complement, or diverge from, their engineering degree. This provides a chance for students to spread their wings, to be exposed to different perspectives, and to challenge themselves.

No matter which class a student chooses, they will receive a unique learning experience since every professor transmits their passion for the subject matter by creating an original syllabus in line with departmental standards. The process involves providing the skills necessary for ‘lifelong learning’ so that students can graduate with the highest level of self-sufficiency. One of the principal tools for acquiring this ability is the ‘autonomous project’, a feature of every class, uniquely designed to serve not only the subject matter at hand, but to stimulate intellectual curiosity and creativity.

Ultimately, students who have taken courses at Ponts and Chaussées will leave with more than just fluency in written and spoken English. Our students will have the cultural knowledge, critical thinking, and transversal skills to broaden their horizons along with the communication abilities required to show a high level of professionalism essential to succeed in any future career.

Choosing your English course

We usually encourage students to choose their second language course before they choose their English class, since there are more English classes available. This does not mean that you should choose your English class just for the title, the teacher, or the time: each description indicates the target population, the subject of the course, the kind and style of work involved, and the course's spirit or personality. While choosing a course for one semester, students should also consider how this choice fits in with their total English programme over their time at the school - more a question of covering a range of different content areas and competences than an apparently neat linguistic progression from one level to another.

Courses usually offer a range of levels, so that even if students are not very strong in English, they can still choose a course on a subject that interests them. Some of our courses are language skill or level-based, but most are organised around subjects. This is because we think that interesting and useful subjects are more motivating than language exercises detached from context, especially for students who have studied English for many years already. In this way, students can learn English and another subject at the same time. If levels are not entirely homogeneous as a result, this too is representative of the situation in the wider world, in which speakers learn from and adapt to one another.

Teachers, Staff, and Who to Contact

The Languages and Cultures Department  has been able to develop its cross-disciplinary, multicultural language programmes thanks to the varied professional backgrounds of its highly qualified and experienced native speaker teaching staff. Their diverse international origins provide opportunities for students to increase their understanding of cultural factors in communication. There are four permanent English teachers in the DLC and over 10 part-time teachers in any given semester.  The four permanent members of the English section are Stacey Benoit (USA), Caroline Preller (England), David Sayers (England) and Kyle Weinandy (USA). They are there to help in any way they can and welcome suggestions for new courses and activities.

 

Head of the English Section I Stacey Benoit I Office B328

Stacey Benoit has taught English in the French grandes écoles since 1988 and has been at ENPC since 2006. Originally from Atlanta, she has a Master's in Audiovisual Ethnology and is trained as a Director of Photography. Having worked for many years as a filmmaker, distributor and producer of documentary film, she teaches courses on social justice, design thinking, an alternative vision of the US and digital literacy, video conferencing and student exchange with the US. Her course We Are What We Eat focuses on food and food issues, and allows students to get hands-on experience in ENPC’s organic community garden, le Jardin Pontanique, which won a Coup de Coeur Prize from the CTI for Innovative Pedagogy.

Caroline Preller | Office B224

Caroline studied languages at Cambridge University, (Selwyn College), physical theatre in Paris (Gaulier, Pagneux) and has a Master MEEF Pratiques et Ingénierie de la Formation Parcours Art'enact "Pratiques artistiques dans une écologie énactive des apprentissages." from UPEC - INSPE. She has worked as an actor/performer and theatre practitioner in France and abroad, in theatre, street theatre, radio and film. She has developed her teaching practice around the use of drama in language learning, working with students in schools and universities. Courses on creativity, communication, voice work, literature and architecture. Drama Club Journeys, a course using theatrical masks, received a grant for pedagogical innovation from IDEA (investissements d’avenir, ANR). 

David Sayers | Office B301

David Selim Sayers obtained his B.A. from the University of Cambridge and his Ph.D. from Princeton University before teaching at institutions such as San Francisco State University, the University of Vienna, and HEC Paris. He is a co-founder and core faculty member of the Paris Institute for Critical Thinking (PICT) and has released a number of books and articles in the fields of history and literature, mostly with a focus on the Middle East, through publishers such as Penguin Classics. At ENPC, David teaches on social sciences (identity politics, nationalism, urbanization), literature (English literature in Paris, fanfiction), and the Middle East (the Ottoman Empire, gender in the Middle East). A native speaker of English, German, and Turkish, David has taught in all three languages as well as French.

Kyle Weinandy | Office B305

 Kyle Weinandy has over seventeen years of experience teaching theme classes in various universities and grandes écoles in the Paris region such as Polytechnique, La Sorbonne, Sciences Po, and ENS Louis Lumière. Since 2011, Kyle has coached the Ponts Debating Club and given courses at ENPC on photography, cinema, storytelling and current events. After obtaining a double diploma in English and Art, he originally came to Paris on the Harriet Hale Woolley scholarship and also completed a Maîtrise and D.E.A. at l’Université de Paris VIII. Prior to teaching, he also worked in photography for advertising, as a sound engineer, and ran an art and antique business for ten years. He is also in charge of the English Project Atelier and enjoys advising students on how to carry out their personal projects.

THE TOEIC AND OTHER RELEVANT INTERNATIONAL EXAMS

A minimum of 785 points on the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) test is an ENPC degree requirement. We organize several TOEIC tests here at the Ecole des Ponts per academic year, and offer language courses for weaker students, including coaching sessions. TOEIC preparation materials are available in La Source, and online. Students will receive an email giving them information on test dates. Students entering the school will sit the TOEIC during their first semester at the Ecole des Ponts. If you have an equivalent international test or exam, Cambridge exams, IELTS or TOEFL, please send them to Stacey Benoit stacey.benoit@enpc.fr or Diarietou Coulibaly diarietou.coulibaly@enpc.fr with a scan of the original of your certificate, score report, etc. so that equivalence can be officially recognized. Your exam/test result should be valid and/or recent.

The TOEIC is geared towards the use of English in the workplace, and is often demanded by future employers. It is NOT accepted by English-speaking universities, for which the American TOEFL or the British/Canadian/Australian IELTS is required. Davis Sayers will register you for the TOEIC and inform you of the date that concerns you. Official score reports are to be collected from Diarietou Coulibaly in B223. Both tests measure your competence in academic English and your ability to live on an English-speaking campus. Generally, universities do not accept the TOEIC.