Rachel Leblanc

In 1970, after earning my bachelor’s degree in English literature from Université de Moncton, I left my home province of New Brunswick to pursue a training program in psychopedagogy at Université du Québec in Chicoutimi, with the aim of building a career in teaching English as a second language.

I began by teaching in high schools across Quebec and the Maritimes, then moved on to various vocational schools and colleges in Quebec City, including Collège Bart, Centre de formation professionnelle Fierbourg, and Cégep Garneau. Throughout my career, I remained committed to designing engaging activities tailored to each student’s interests and learning pace. As I gained experience, I also took part in assessing students’ English proficiency levels for group placement purposes.

My career took a new turn in 2005 when I was hired by Autorité des marchés financiers. It was quite a challenge: I was tasked with setting up and managing the English department at the Quebec City office! Fortunately, the department’s mandate—planning training activities to help employees improve their English skills, while also providing writing, translation, and proofreading services—was perfectly aligned with my skillset.

Over the course of my various roles, I had the opportunity to design custom training programs and develop a range of materials to help diverse audiences strengthen their command of business English. It was therefore with immense pleasure that, at the request of Logitell Publishing and in collaboration with Christopher Kolar, I drew on this expertise to co-author a series of textbooks: Interaction en anglais, Communication en anglais (English and bilingual versions), and Communication en anglais des affaires. These textbooks were intended for students in secretarial and accounting vocational training programs, as well as for college students.