A Little Bit About Me!

A little bit about me!.....

Hi - my name is Nicole and I am the owner and creator of
Learn-french-today.com.

I am also married to Bill and the mother of 3 kids – Sam and Ellie (young teenagers) and Douglas aged 12. They are all growing up far too fast and all those 'baby' years I had with them at home seem to be a distant past and I am now wading through the 'fun teen years'!

A Childhood Dream

My out of home working career started in London as a general nurse which I loved. All those bright city lights and nurse-doctor parties were just heaven to an innocent convent girl. I then moved on to pediatric nursing (still in London) and continued to love my work and to equally love my social life.

Then an event happened that changed me and my life - it was in the 1980's and there was the appalling famine in Ethiopia. With it I just got this incredible urge to go and help and to try and do my small bit.

So after bombarding Save the Children Fund (UK) with my CV and lots of phone calls I finally got a work placement in early 1987 in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

What a shock to the system. I thought I was well prepared but working in the children's hospital and feeding centers and seeing a child starving day in and day out was something that made me grateful for my whole life for ever more. It was a privilege to have that experience and an honor to work with people who were so dedicated.

Added to that I met my husband Bill. He was the refugee camp administrator and was this vision of a tall, handsome bearded man whom I thought looked like Jesus. Funny as I don't go for beards anymore! Yes he has shaved it off.

After 6 months in the camp, we both returned to England. I went into school nursing and then community health visiting and Bill went back into the Save the Children Headquarters.

We both knew though that we needed to go overseas again and that we would some day.

A Family Is Born

That day came pretty quickly. By 1992 we were married and along with Sam who was only 6 weeks old we headed off to Togo in West Africa.

In Ghana we had 2 more children (Ellie and Douglas) and all the time I stayed at home to look after them.

Much of West Africa was under French influence for many years and French is still the administrative language in many West African countries. Thus when our kids started school it seemed natural that they go to a French kindergarten.

That decision would help to shape our future.

Much as it was a privilege to have the opportunity to stay at home with the children, there were times when I would tear my hair out with boredom. To counteract that, I did some distance learning courses in interior design, in learning French, and setting up a home based business.

Little did I know that the latter two would be a starting point in an eventual new career.

From Africa To Asia

By 2000 we were ready for a change of continent and we didn't want to head back to Europe so Asia it was.

Sam was now 8 and so beginning to appreciate the ability to do other things than just be at home with mum. His social life took on a whole new meaning and he relished being in a big school, and making use of sports clubs which we were sort of deprived of in Mali.

I continued to think about going back to nursing but having been out of it for so long would have meant a long refresher course back in the UK.

I then tried exporting lacquer crafts back to England but that was harder than I thought and took up lots of time for very little money. It was fun and interesting but I lacked enough contacts back in England to make it work properly.

My sister ended up buying a lot of the lacquer with the idea that she would sell it at these fancy craft markets in her village. I don't think she ever did and it still sits merrily in her garage ready to be dished out as yet another wedding present.

So I kept myself busy with other things including working in local kindergartens, voluntary work, learning Vietnamese, and learning to ride a motorbike. This was the 'only' way to get around here.

Mind you I never mastered the bike and ended up selling my little green Honda – what a relief when I could just get back on my trusty but rusty old bicycle.

I also carried on trying to improve my French. With 3 kids going to a French school I really needed to be able to have a vague conversation with the teachers and their friends. So I took courses at the Alliance Francais in Hanoi and did French language correspondance courses through the Open University.

It was here in Hanoi that my new career was also born!

From Stay At Home Mum to Work At Home Mum

It was 2003 that I also discovered the joys of the internet. We only had dial up but it meant I could send emails and be in contact quickly with the outside world.

I realized that I really enjoyed surfing the net and began to wonder about doing a online study course in photography or child psychology. It was through that research that I discovered SBI! (Site Build It!). What an eye opener.

SBI helps you to turn any hobby, passion or skill into a viable online business. No experience necessary. Now that got my attention as my experience of websites was a big fat ZERO.

I spent ages researching it, checking out other people reviews, downloading other similar programs (even paying for one or two of them) but always came back to SBI!

Bill kept telling me to just go for it but I am obsessive about research and being organized so I couldn't "just go for it" until I was 100% sure that I was doing the right thing.

"Just Go For It"!

Anyway to cut a long story short, I did eventually "Just Go For It" and I am happy to say as of today I have been a work at home mum (WAHM) for the past 4 years and I couldn't be happier.

Below is a video of me that I made for an SBI! competition last year....and won a prize!

I never imagined that my hobbies/interests would end up making me a decent income each and every month!

I put in hours to suit me and the family and some days I don't put in any hours at all – but I still earn money.

What I didn't realise at first is that almost any topic/hobby/interest can make money with a website.

My brother and sister in law have also just set up a website on caravanning as that is what they are passionate about and next year I might do another on family life in France as later this year that is where we are moving to.

I have started the blog in preparation.... Move To France Blog

So now you know a bit about me and my family. I think it is always nice to know who is behind a website as it can make it much more of a personal experience.

I too like to know who has visited my website and where they have come from which is why I love getting your messages.

I find that many people come here looking for a French dictionary or French course and end up asking questions about how they might work at home.

If that is you and you wish to know more, I have a page dedicated to the most popular questions that people ask.

All the best