Elementary French Classes

This is the perfect sequel to a Beginner or Refresher course. Still more grammar extravaganza (ahem!) and conversation based on board games. We will perfect the art of talking about things past this term, and of things to come.

This class will bring you the confidence and the practice you need: it will have you talk in French in no time.

The informal way Lise teaches this class means that students quickly feel at ease and leave their inhibitions behind, enabling them to focus on learning through interactive and fun games and exercises.

In this course, the group will start by a quick revision of the basics (present, elementary vocabulary etc.), and will quickly move on to the past and the future tenses. Carefully selected exercises will mean that by the end of the course, everyone will feel able to talk about most subjects that interest them in French at a elementary level.

Classes are kept small in terms of size, as there is a maximum of 8 people per group. This ensures that everyone can participate in the course of the lesson and that no one can “hide”. It also helps create a friendly atmosphere, which is very conducive to learning.

Availability of the Elementary French conversation classes:

  • Evening: Tuesdays, 6-7.30pm
  • Evening: Thursdays, 6-7.30pm
  • Day: Mondays, 2.30-4pm

Grammar

Through the use of board games, the group shall improve on specific aspects of grammar that students find tricky at this level.

  • Present tense
  • Past tense :
    • perfect,
    • imperfect
    • and pluperfect
  • Introduction to the Conditional
  • Introduction to Pronouns

Fluency

The use of board games and other facilitators for learning ensure that everyone is speaking in French, almost without realising it. The activities are carefully devised to ensure that new vocabulary and more complex grammar are acquired without ever getting to be too intimidating.

Vocabulary & knowledge

Every week, students receive a short list of words and structures studied in the course of the previous week. The group’s teacher starts each lesson by going over that new French vocabulary in class with the students who explain it into French: this process enables a deeper understanding allowing the students to memorise the newly acquired structures better, seemingly effortlessly.

Interested in joining Lise’s elementary French conversation groups? Why not contact Lise today to check if this is the right level for you? >>> Free 30 minutes assessment of your present level!

Gift vouchers are also available if you would like to offer someone a special gift!

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT CLASSES FILL UP QUICKLY:

BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!

  • New classes start every month.
  • Blocks of 4 weeks.
  • The fees (£56) include documents used in class as well as tea, coffee and herbal tea for in-person classes.
  • Minimum number of students: 4
  • Maximum number of students: 8

For more information and for a free assessment of your level to determine if this is the right group for you, contact Lise at lise@edilang.com or on 07946 540 495.

French classes in Edinburgh, TUESDAY, Tuesday 6pm

Absolute Beginners

This group is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of French.

Do you go to France on a regular basis? Or have you always wanted to learn French, but always thought it would be too hard? This is the course for you: in a small group, with a friendly atmosphere, Lise will teach you what you need to know to start talking!

You can expect to learn basic conversational French, with a specific emphasis on pronunciation.

By the end of the course, you will be able to operate at very basic level, which should enable you to cope with most ‘tourist’ situations.

Contact Lise today to check if this is the right class for you: Free 30 minutes assessment of your present level!

 

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT CLASSES FILL UP QUICKLY:

BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!

  • New classes start every month.
  • Blocks of 4 weeks.
  • The fees (£56) include documents used in class as well as tea, coffee and herbal tea for in-person classes.
  • Minimum number of students: 4
  • Maximum number of students: 8

For more information and for a free assessment of your level to determine if this is the right group for you, contact Lise at lise@edilang.com or on 07946 540 495.

French classes in Edinburgh, TUESDAY, Tuesday 6pm

Post-Beginner/Refresher French evening class

  • Tuesdays, 6-7.30pm
  • Wednesdays, 8-9.30pm
  • Fridays, 10.30am-12

This course is suitable for people who have studied French at school a long time ago or in evening classes, and who want to refresh their basic knowledge.

Primarily an activity-based course, with elements to allow the students to become more autonomous. By the end of the course, the students will be able to operate at basic level in every day tourist situations. We will also work on tenses (past, conditional) which will enable you to develop actual conversational skills.

Interested in joining one of Lise’s Post-Beginner/Refresher French conversation group? Why not contact Lise today for a chat? Free assessment of your level to check whether this is the right group for you.

Gift vouchers are also available if you would like to offer  someone a special gift! Contact Lise for more information 🙂 or buy your own here.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT CLASSES FILL UP QUICKLY:

BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!

  • New classes start every month.
  • Blocks of 4 weeks.
  • The fees (£56) include documents used in class as well as tea, coffee and herbal tea for in-person classes.
  • Minimum number of students: 4
  • Maximum number of students: 8

For more information and for a free assessment of your level to determine if this is the right group for you, contact Lise at lise@edilang.com or on 07946 540 495.

 

French classes in Edinburgh, THURSDAY, Thursday 6pm, TUESDAY, Tuesday 6pm

Private tuition 1

On occasion, we are asked to tutor people individually. There are a number of reasons why you may require private tuition: maybe you lack confidence and would like to brush up with individual lessons before facing a roomful of people. Or maybe you would like to organise classes for family or friends. Whatever your reason, please do give us a call: we will find the right solution for you… And it may not be as expensive as you’d expect: classes cost £15 per adult (based on a group of 3+)!

This may be beneficial for a range of reasons:

» Maybe you need to gain confidence first before joining a group.

» You may be a couple, who would enjoy doing something together, at your  own pace.

» You may not fit into any of the traditional categories because you have specific needs, whether professional (specialist vocabulary) or academic (grammar), or because of learning difficulties, and need individual attention.

» Maybe you are a group of friends, looking for something interesting to do together, around a coffee or a nice cup of tea.

» Or you may have a schedule that does not allow you to attend classes on a regular basis – for instance if you travel a lot, or if you work off-shore.

Whatever your own circumstances may be, our individual tuition is tailor-made for you, using carefully designed material, or on occasion manuals if we feel you may respond better to a more traditional method of learning. All training material used in class is included in the fees, so there will be no nasty surprises – and the materials are yours to keep: no one will ask you to give them back at the end of the course!

After your free 30 minutes consultation, Lise will advise you as to what solution will be most suited to your individual needs, and she will devise a training plan which will be emailed or sent to you before the first lesson is arranged, so you get a chance to have your say about what you will learn!

Lise Morel has 20 years experience in language training, and knows all the tricks of the trade – you will quickly speak (and listen!), through a range of interactive techniques.

Contact Lise now to arrange your meeting!

  • The fees include documents used in class, as well as a selection of tea/coffee/herbal teas during the lesson.

For more information and for a free assessment of your level to determine if this is the right group for you, contact Lise at lise@edilang.com or on 07946 540 495.

 

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Why learn French?

Over the next few weeks, I’ll meet a number of new  students, all keen to improve on their existing skills.

The past has shown that, inevitably the question of why they want to learn French crops up at our first meeting as [a] I am curious, and [b] well, there is no real [b] – I am just curious!

Most of the time, people get quite embarrassed, and mutter quickly something along the lines of:

“In Britain, we are very lazy and we expect everyone to speak English when we go somewhere on holidays or for business…”

I always point out that I, for one, have to disagree with this statement: I have been teaching French since 1991 in Scotland and have seen a lot of very motivated individuals, who undertake the study of French either for a short holiday or because they love France or for business related reasons…

There was never the sense, for me, that British people were particularly lazy, or that they were uninterested.

Do I think that languages should be promoted better at school? Definitely. I am also annoyed at the lack of grammar these days in the curriculum: grammar may seem evil and overrated, but I can assure you that it really helps if you want to speak in another language in a natural, fluent way. Unlike a parrot.

Anyway, here are some reasons for learning French given by my students in the past on their registration forms:

  • I’d like to be able to get by in France on my own
  • Switzerland!
  • I enjoy travelling and would hopefully like to move to France in a few years
  • I have a property in Nice
  • Plan to live in Paris for 2 months next year
  • To be able to communicate in another language in the hope that I can one day move abroad
  • To be able to speak French in France
  • Why not?
  • To have fun
  • To keep the brain occupied with something else than computers
  • I love the language
  • Rugby!
  • My interest and to assist with my work
  • For pleasure!
  • To try and maintain my level of French and also improve on it
  • I travel a lot and would like to live in a Francophone country.
  • Enjoyment: keep up skills and knowledge
  • Because one day I will be fluent
  • My girlfriend is French and I want to communicate with her family.
  • If I don’t keep practising I’ll forget it all

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why people want to take up French or brush up on their existing skills!

Some people just do it because it’s there – their own personal Everest if you may. Others  have a specific objective in mind: property, retirement, love, sporting events…

Learning another language is difficult and can be disheartening at the best of times: a few years ago I took up Russian in preparation for a trip on the Transsiberian. I have to say this was a truly humbling experience.

As a student, you do go through ups and downs: when you finally think you are beginning to ‘get it’, something else crops up, and you’re back to square 1… The other thing that really bugged me is: you practise things in class, bits of ‘conversation’ etc… Then, you arrive in the country and… You are lost! Can’t seem to do anything right! But in the end if you keep at it, you reap some rewards: you manage to buy your own train tickets, you have a kind of conversation with other people, you get a glimpse of the country from the inside, you compliment someone on the meal they have prepared in a language they understand (well, or kind of understand, given my half-baked Russian)… Just those little things make it all worthwhile…

Anyway… all this to say that learning another language is scary, but it is in no way insurmountable. It can even prove quite a fun and enjoyable hobby, if the conditions are right and the atmosphere in class is quite relaxed and friendly!

Should you wish to meet me, to know more about what levels I am offering this term, or for some advice, don’t hesitate to contact me!

A bientôt!

French classes in Edinburgh

French tuition for school pupils

French for students: School

Maybe your child has moved to a new school and the standard is substantially higher than in his/her former school. Or he/she may feel demotivated and discouraged, and has stopped paying attention to the classroom. because he/she does not understand what the teacher is talking about. Or maybe he/she just needs a little bit of revisions before an important exam.

Whatever your reasons may be for choosing to give extra support to your child, we are here to help. We’re experienced , but most of all friendly, and your child will regain his/her confidence in no time, through a range of fun activities : typically, just a few weeks are necessary to give your child that extra boost that will make all the difference and enable him/her to follow better in class and gain this invaluable asset that is a second language.

»French GCSE.
»»» Revise the vocabulary you need to pass.
»»» Feel less intimidated by verbs.
»»» Write short essays more effectively.

»French Higher / A Level.
»»» Feel less intimidated by literary texts.
»»» Practise complex grammatical structures.
»»» Say what you mean, clearly & logically.

Whatever your child’s circumstances, our individual tuition is tailor-made for them, using carefully designed material, or on occasion manuals if we feel your child may respond better to a more traditional method of learning. All training material used in class is included in the fees, so there will be no nasty surprises – and the materials are your child’s to keep: no one will ask him/her to give them back at the end of the course!

After a free 30 minutes consultation, Lise will advise you and your child as to what solution will be most suited to his/her individual needs, and she will devise a training plan which will be emailed or sent to you and your child before the first lesson is arranged, so you both get a chance to have your say about the training!

Lise Morel has 19 years of experience in language training, and knows all the tricks of the trade – your child will quickly and noticeably improve, thanks to a range of interactive techniques.

Contact Lise now to arrange your meeting!

A choice of tea, coffee or herbal tea is available free of charge during the lesson.

French classes in Edinburgh

New blocks of classes to start mid-September 2011

New group French classes start every month.

There is noticeably less choice than previous years due to the development of my translating activities in the past few months and existing students will have priority booking until early September 2011, after which date the classes will be open to everyone.

 

 

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Advanced Monday – Summary 1

Cette semaine, on a commencé par parler du programme et du format des cours pour ce trimestre : nous allons étudier chaque semaine un thème particulier, pour lequel vous recevrez une liste de vocabulaire que je vous donnerai la semaine précédente. Chaque semaine, vous ferez une petite présentation sur le thème en question et nous ferons aussi des questions-réponses. Nous verrons aussi pour la grammaire 🙂

Nous avons ensuite révisé le futur en parlant de nos projets pour 2011 : ce que nous ferons, les voyages que nous avons prévus et les changements que nous affronteront dans notre vie !  Puis, nous avons commencé un jeu destiné à réviser “passé composé” et “imparfait” – ce n’était pas évident de passer d’un temps à l’autre, mais je pense que vous avez trouvé cet exercice assez ludique et utile ! 🙂 Nous n’avons pas terminé, donc nous continuerons un peu la semaine prochaine.

DEVOIRS
Рlire le vocabulaire sur la maison (voir pi̬ce jointe): vous pouvez aussi utiliser les liens internet que je vous ai indiqu̩s:

– Préparer une courte présentation (1 ou 2 minutes) :  “Parlez d’une maison dont vous gardez un souvenir particulier.” (attention, il ne faut pas parler de la maison où vous habitez en ce moment, mais d’une maison que vous avez visitée ou que vous avez habitée précédemment!)

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Intermediate French: Summary 9

Cette semaine, nous avons eu, malgré la neige, notre cours de français! Pour ceux qui n’avaient pas pu venir, nous avons diffusé (!!) le cours – si vous désirez le revoir, je vous communiquerai les mots de passe pour y avoir accès… —> French Classes TV

Nous avons d’abord revu le vocabulaire de la semaine 8, puis on a parlé de vos projets et bonnes résolutions pour 2011. On n’a (encore!) pas eu le temps de parler des émissions que vous détestez, donc ce sera pour la semaine prochaine! Sinon, on a révisé la formation du subjonctif (voir fiche).

DEVOIRS
– Vocabulaire à expliquer en français
– Talk about a TV program you hate… Explain !
– What are your plans/good resolutions for 2011 ? (to be finished)
– 2 things that you HAVE TO DO before Christmas (using a structure such as “il faut que” or “il est indispensable/nécessaire/essentiel que” + le subjonctif!)

Vocabulaire

une pelle
dégager la neige
tout le temps
n’importe où
un enterrement de vie de garçon
faire de l’escalade
faire de la randonnée

Archives

Advanced French PM : Summary 9

Malgré la neige, nous avons encore une fois vaillamment eu cours! Pour ceux qui n’avaient pas pu venir, nous avons diffusé (!!) le cours – si vous désirez le revoir, je vous communiquerai les mots de passe pour y avoir accès… Read More…

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