MY FRENCH RENDEZ-VOUSAbout
In short, here are a few good reasons for working with us.
MY FRENCH RENDEZ-VOUSAbout
A WORD FROM THE TEACHERSarah, your expert
Read more about me and my teaching:
On this web page, you’ll discover examples of the tools and materials I’ve selected to maximize your memorization, the development of automatisms in your brain and the application of what you’ve learned. In the course of the lessons, we’ll go deeper into what YOU need to know in a way that’s adapted to you, rather than simply following a preconceived program. When it comes to grammar, we’ll work on it because it’s necessary, but we won’t just say “the rule is like this and voilà“. I’m particularly fond of linguistics, so any structures that are complicated for you will be deconstructed, analyzed and clarified.
Why are these aspects important at My French Rendez-vous? Because when I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics, I discovered the amount of mechanisms we implement just by speaking, without even being aware of it. To speak fluently, we need to acquire more and more of these linguistic automatisms, in order to concentrate fully on the communication situation and on the meaning of what we want to say – I like helping others achieve this fluidity. This is why I graduated with a Master 2 in Linguistics and Teaching French as a Foreign Language. This is also why grammar won’t be an ennemy in your learning process!
Apart from teaching French and sharing French culture, I like pastry and cake design for birthdays and weddings, walks and hikes in new regions, to play the flute and the piano, to read historical biographies, and to analyze ancient Greek and ancient Hebrew texts!
TOOLSLet's focus on your memorization and boost reflexes
At My French Rendez-vous, we believe that successful learning requires serious personal investment and discipline. If you only take time to learn during lessons or 5 minutes before each lesson, you won’t see the results you’re looking for. And because it’s more effective to work on your French 10-15 minutes every day than 3-4 hours every Sunday, we use tools specially adapted for a good language learning routine.
At My French Rendez-vous, you’ll be asked to follow this little routine every day to enable your brain to develop linguistic automatisms efficiently and sustainably. Each lesson will begin with a (kind!) mini-test to see where your reflexes stand.
During each French Rendez-vous, we use a voice recording application alongside the videoconference. This means you’ll instantly see every new word, expression or sentence structure in French and its English translation, as well as its phonetic transcription. At the end of each lesson, you’ll consequently get a list of the most important elements to remember. This list can be exported directly to your smartphone (or computer/tablet if you prefer) in a flashcards application.
Once imported into this second application, each list is automatically converted into flashcards, and you can start memorizing new linguistic items from your smartphone, whenever and wherever you like. Each time you review an item and click to check it, you’ll not only see the written answer but also hear the recording, so you can correct your pronunciation if necessary. Each time you check, you’ll be asked to indicate your level of memorization of the word/expression in question: were you able to give the right answer quickly, with difficulty, or not at all? In this way, the application’s algorithm will redefine the order of appearance of the flashcards by priority: next time, you’ll review more of what you remembered least well.
What we’ll ask you to do between lessons is to work on your flashcards for at least 15 minutes every day. Not just the latest list, but all the flashcards. If you’re regular, the increasing number of items won’t be a problem, as the older ones will gradually enter your long-term memory and be acquired, appearing more and more rarely in the application, while the newer ones will still be in your short-term memory and will need to be worked on. It’s a fairly repetitive task, but repetition pays off! In fact, the more you are confronted with an element, the more it becomes anchored in your long-term memory.
MATERIALSVideo support
to get you talking
At My French Rendez-vous, we use a variety of teaching-learning materials to help you put into practice and mobilize the new elements you’ve learned. Among our activities, we use video support to help you unlock your speaking skills and express yourself without repetitive or preconceived role-playing. Regularly during our lessons, you’ll be shown short films that your teacher will frequently stop to ask you to explain what you’ve seen or to ask you specific questions. The aim is to put you in a spontaneous situation (you’ve never seen the video before) and “force” you to find a way to express your idea in French. You’ll make mistakes, and that’s normal! This type of activity is very effective for revealing the elements you need to consolidate and for putting you in a situation where you have to use what you’ve learned. It’s an appreciated way for students to put information about a new situation into French words.
A board, just like
in a classroom
A board, just like in a classroom
French Rendez-vous are given via videoconference (Zoom), which obviously means that you can see and hear your teacher from her computer. At the same time, she will share a second screen with you, that of her tablet, to carry out various activities (texts, videos, games, exercises) and in particular to write down everything you explore together in the language. You’ll have the equivalent of a whiteboard, with all the explanations / patterns / examples / schemes / analysis written down as the lesson progresses (see example screenshot). Of course, you’ll be expected to take your own notes during each lesson – we memorize much better that way – but you’ll also receive a PDF file of the whiteboard notes after each lesson.
A few testimonials
SWITZERLANDDenis D.
DELF B1 result: 91/100
Sarah is simply a super teacher. She is knowledgeable and experienced, pushy but gentle at the same time. Her lessons are interesting, structured and well-planed. There are different types of exercises to explore your limits, to build up vocabulary and revisit implicitly themes already covered. I find that the timing of revisions matches me perfectly so the rules are stuck in my head longer. My French knowledge grows constantly and any confusion is cleared up during the lessons. She also improves the learning experience by exploring and adapting new technologies. For instance, just after the lesson I have my flashcards collection updated with new words and perfect French pronunciation so I can review them on the go at any time. What could be better? Lastly, don’t be surprised if after a lesson you suddenly feel extremely motivated.
CALIFORNIAMary D.
I have been taking French lessons twice a week with my professor Sarah for almost a year and I’m so happy that I found her after a few false starts with other teachers. I also have a Master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) so I’m well-versed in the requirements for a good language learning program. Sarah is very patient. She knows my level of speaking and gives me prompts to help me discover and correct my own mistakes. I enjoy our time together and appreciate the structure of the class. We always start out with a social-emotional check-in where we talk about what we plan to do or have been doing since we last spoke. We then move on to exercises where she helps me work on areas for improvement. Often the exercises take the form of a game which makes time pass very quickly and enjoyably. After working on language skills, we often watch a video or movie, after which she quizzes me on what I saw. This allows me to further practice the skills we’ve just gone over as well as use new vocabulary. During the lesson, Sarah takes note of words and expressions that are unfamiliar to me and records them on a program that I download to make flashcards. Each week we review the last lesson’s flashcards as well as ones that we went over in previous months and weeks. I look forward to these informal little quizzes. As mentioned, Sarah is very patient and seems to thoroughly enjoy her job. She is always well organized, has carefully prepared for each lesson, and thoroughly knows her subject. She has a natural talent for teaching and I highly recommend her as a French teacher to anyone who wants to learn or improve their French. She makes learning enjoyable and I learn so much about French culture during our conversations. If you are thinking about learning or working on your French, do not hesitate to contact her. You will be happy that you did!
UNITED KINGDOMAdam W.
I have had lessons with Sarah for over a year – she has been fantastic at building up my French listening and speaking skills whilst making lessons fun and engaging every time. There is so much to learn but Sarah has helped to make things easier with online tools and a mixture of exercises during and between lessons to practice new words and concepts. I have even learned about French culture along the way and was able to do my wedding speech in French! Highly recommended.
THAILANDPanida R.
DELF A2 result : 95.5/100
I had my French lessons with Sarah for a year and a half for my DELF A2 and my result was 95.5/100, thank you Sarah. She has been an excellent teacher, organized and explaining very well. Learning with Sarah was very useful and if you are looking for a French teacher for your DELF, I highly recommend!
VIRGINIAIrina M.
I enjoy my French classes a lot. My teacher introduces different fun activities in every session. She eagerly shares her love for the language and her knowledge of linguistics. When I search for a word, it miraculously appears on my screen, and our dialogue continues naturally. I don’t feel that I am taking a lesson. I am just having an engaging conversation in French in a relaxed atmosphere. Yet I am getting more confident in French, and my vocabulary is expanding. I cannot recommend this methodology enough. Thank you very much!
UNITED STATESShwetha R.B.
I have been studying French with Sarah for several months now. I had tried tutoring with a few different teachers before and while they were all helpful to a certain degree, the structure and support I have received from Sarah have been the most rewarding for my French education. I feel like I am learning at a good pace and we always make very good use of our sessions together. Sarah also creates very helpful flashcards through applications. She will record new words and helpful phrases during each session and then I am able to listen and practice saying the words and phrases with flashcards during my free time. I look forward to continuing my French education with Sarah and I would absolutely recommend her as a teacher for anyone who is looking to learn French.
SINGAPOREMei H.L.
DELF B1 result : on hold
I totally enjoyed my lessons with Sarah. She helps me build a lot of confidence in learning and speaking French. She is very patient even though sometimes I may be slow to pick things up. She is also very creative in her teaching methods. I’m always amazed by the range of her resources to make learning fun and interactive. I have benefited a lot from learning with Sarah and would totally recommend her to anyone learning the language!
UNITED KINGDOMMary W.
I very much enjoy my lessons with Sarah. I find she is very patient and good at making me feel that I am making some improvement. We have started practising for the oral component of the A-level exam and I am finding this very useful – as well as our general conversations and the grammar aspects we are looking at in the regular lessons. I find Sarah is very intelligent and resourceful.
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