Sir Michael studied composition, conducting and piano at the Royal College of music in London, and later became a schoolteacher, teaching French to keep himself while he set about finding a musical voice of his own.

BBC: World: Analysis

D. and teaching college French in order to raise Sheryl and her two younger siblings, David and Michelle.

NEWYORKER: A Woman��s Place

But a committee set up to discuss improving the teaching of economics and business to French schoolchildren was disbanded after a few years.

ECONOMIST: Textbooks round the world

By this time, she had discovered that her greatest joy was shopping and eating as the French did, and teaching how to do it.

ECONOMIST: Julia Child, cookery teacher, died on August 13th, aged 91

That is why it took Switzerland more than 20 years to introduce teaching in a second national language (German or French) at the age of 11-plus instead of 14.

ECONOMIST: Do you speak English? Jaa, es bitzli

The French education establishment, and its 1m-strong teaching body, is filled with powerful lobbies, which fiercely defend subjects, teachers, students and other corporatist interests.

ECONOMIST: French education