It is with great sadness that we share the news that our colleague Cécile passed away after a long battle with cancer. In fact, she was so much more than our colleague – she was Gruff’s mum and Marie’s cousin. She was family. In so many ways she was the mother of KwizIQ, creating the original models for Kwizbot and his companion Robetta and, of course, her passion for teaching helped inspire Gruff to develop his own approach to learning French, laying some of the foundations for what KwizIQ would become.
To our French learners Cécile was a familiar and reassuring presence on the KwizIQ French Q&A forum. Over the years, she answered more than 5,000 language questions, always with patience, expertise and genuine encouragement. Her thoughtful responses helped so many of our learners gain confidence, and many of you will remember the care she took with every question.
Born in Versailles, Cécile later settled in the UK, where she raised two children before studying at Warwick University. She then founded her own business, initially teaching French to local companies from SMEs to multinationals. It grew to deliver more than 20 languages and twice won the Regional Language Trainer Award (1995, 2003), the UK’s National Languages for Export Awards.
After entering semi-retirement, Cécile joined KwizIQ to help with the growing number of questions from learners. She quickly became the veteran of the team, sharing not only her exceptional knowledge of French but also her warmth, kindness and generosity.
We have preserved Cécile’s team profile as a tribute to the lasting impact she made on our community. Her contribution to KwizIQ, and to learners whose lives she touched, will not be forgotten.
Our thoughts are with her family, friends and everyone who had the privilege of knowing her.
Author info
Shui is KwizIQ's COO and Head of Languages. She is an experienced technical writer, translator and project manager. Shui grew up bilingual English-Spanish in the UK, completing her studies in London, Madrid and Paris where she now lives. She speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian. Her love of languages and technical knowledge make her a perfect fit for KwizIQ.