Vincent Aurora
French Teacher
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY - BA
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - MA, M.PHIL, PHD
Born and raised in Hoboken, I discovered my love for languages at Regis High School in Manhattan. Starting with Latin, I moved to French, Italian, and Ancient Greek, and seeing my true interests, the administration twisted New York State laws to allow me to opt out of Physics so that I could take German and Japanese. Having been lucky enough to find my passion that early, I majored in French language and literature at Georgetown University, and then, after getting married, I went to Columbia University for my Masters and PhD in French and Romance Philology. The publication of many articles and of my thesis, "Michel Leiris: Immobile in mobili," together with my reputation as a teacher got me hired back at Columbia, after two years teaching at Fordham in Manhattan and the Bronx. At Columbia, I taught French language and literature as a Lecturer for 22 years. A life change was in order after thirty years at Columbia and my children leaving for college. That change brought me to Lang, where I discovered what I had always yearned for and never quite gotten at Columbia, a true community, workmates that were friends, supporting and helping each other without ulterior motives, and students who I could work with for years, rather than just a few semesters. I’ve never looked back, and can now mostly be found writing and recording the textbooks and workbooks we use for French at Lang, where I am overjoyed to go to work every day. I also love to paint.
