Daniel Jouanneau, Ambassador of France to Pakistan, conferred the French medal of “Palmes Académiques” upon Dr Saman Asif, Professor of French, at Aitchison College, Lahore, during a ceremony held at this college.
The “Palmes Académiques” is a prestigious French decoration stemming from an honorary title set up in 1808 by Napoleon, and it became a national award in 1866. It is the highest distinction for the teachers.
Dr Saman Asif started her brilliant career with Master of Arts in linguistics and French literature at the National Institute of Modern Languages in Islamabad. This allowed her to get a scholarship of the French government to study at the University of Paris-III Sorbonne Nouvelle, where she received masters degree in Linguistics and French Literature. She also obtained a degree in teaching of languages at the “Institut des professeurs de français à l’étranger” (Institute of Professors of French abroad).
After coming back to Pakistan, she started teaching French at the National institute of Modern Languages and launched the Department of French at the OPF Girls College in Islamabad. She also started working for the Alliance Française Islamabad and was elected Vice President of the Association of the French Teachers. Since then, she has mostly been involved in teachers’ training, contributing to various workshops, methodological sessions, creating teaching material and curriculum courses or classes of specialised French.
Dr Saman Asif obtained a PhD degree in 2006 with distinction and the honours of the jury.