My Methods
How do I teach?
Whether you opt for a group class, a private class or a duet class, I use the same principles.
No matter what, you are going to talk.
Of course we are going to practice reading and writing. But with me, before anything, we will talk. Small talk, how to buy croissants, the weather, your romantic life, your week-ends, the last book you read, the news, politics, the environment, is Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandie or in Bretagne, why are French people so rude… We will talk. Even as a beginner, my main goal is for you to be able to have a short dialogue after the first hour.
No need to buy a textbook, any real life resource is a good resource.
Videos, TV shows, movies, podcasts, articles, novels, comic books, songs… I use multiple and varied authentic documents in my classes. First of all because it’s fun, but also because by listening and reading, you learn more vocabulary and you create intuitions that will make you think “this mustn’t be correct because I have never read/heard it before” or vice versa.
Grammar is here to serve communication.
Grammar is not the center of the class, communicating is. I use grammar only to serve our purpose which is to have a nice, interesting and understandable conversation. After some theory, we will practice with written exercises to properly understand the mechanics before introducing oral exercises to help you use more automatically these grammatical tools.
If you do not have any basic grammar or if you simply hate it, we can also totally skip it and learn "intuitively". It will probably take more time if you are not fully immersed, but it absolutely is a possibility.
I'm not a therapist, but…
I need to know how you feel about the pace of the classes, the relevance and the difficulty of the exercises, your confidence in French… You’ll see that I ask “ça va ?” every 30 seconds. Don’t hesitate to answer “no” and explain to me why! We are together to collaborate to make your learning process as enjoyable and efficient as possible. Don’t be afraid to talk to me if your motivation goes down, if something is too difficult… Or if you succeeded to finally speak with the waiter of this little French restaurant you adore!
There's not one method that works for everyone, there's a method for each one of you.
Some students love grammar, some don’t. Some students are very creative, some a bit less. Some people want to speak French right away, some prefer to use translations and to use their mother tongue to tame the language (I speak both English and Spanish, if it can help!). That’s my number one rule as a teacher: whatever works for you, I’ll adapt to your needs and your desires. We’ll reach your goal using what works best for you!
A class during which we don't laugh is not a good class.
I try as much as possible to foster a friendly environment. Learning French should be fun! That is why I also try to include games or to offer some creative activities, in order to learn in the best atmosphere possible.
English 
French