French - Beginner
This course is ideal for:
… real beginners or the truly terrified. This course starts with the basics: hello, goodbye, what’s your name; but builds up quickly to short conversations based on your real life. By the end of the course you will be able to:
Not sure of your level? Answer the questions here to get an idea.
Course Location(s)
Course Teacher
Bonjour! I originally studied French at the University of Manchester which included a year spent living and working in Clermont Ferrand among the volcanos of the Auvergne. That was where I really fell in love with France and all things French.
After my degree I taught English at the University of Dijon for a couple of years before returning to the UK to take a Modern Languages PGCE at Goldsmiths College. I then spent 10 years teaching French in secondary schools in Kent, Sussex and Guernsey.
I took a break from teaching in 2005 and used my language skills in the corporate world for a couple of years. While working for a law firm in the City I met my now husband.
In 2007, on the day after our wedding, we set off across the channel in an ancient Triumph with a rather leaky tent and very little luggage to find a house in France. A few months later we settled next to a boulangerie in a village on the river Vienne near Poitiers. Our son was born the following year. We taught English and made a lot of French friends who we were very sad to leave when we came back to Sussex in 2013.
On our return I taught at a local Prep school until July 2025 when I started a new chapter with Language for Fun. In the 30+ years I have spent teaching, I have taught learners aged from 4 to 90 from all sorts of backgrounds each with their own story. I love sharing my linguistic and cultural knowledge, getting to know people, building their confidence and seeing them progress.
