French for Expatriates

.I had an amazing experience at Language International! The atmosphere was welcoming, and the classes were both fun and engaging. A special mention goes to my teacher, Olga, who was absolutely fantastic. Her teaching style was clear and interactive, making even the most challenging concepts easy to understand. She was always patient, encouraging, and eager to answer questions, which helped me improve my language skills significantly. The cultural insights she shared added an extra layer to the learning experience. I left feeling more confident and motivated in my language journey. Highly recommend this school and Olga as a teacher!

The teachers were very systematic and very helpful. I recomend this cours.

I had three teachers, first was horrible, second one was good, third one was great. However, the program was super messy, no structure whatsoever and the level of the participants was too different.

Sometimes the number of participants was up to 14, which was much bigger than promised, having people from level almost A1 to people wth level B2. Quite bad experience, and definitely not worth the money, I was quite disappointed. The last teacher really pulled her worth and improved the overall quality, she was so good and nice but everything else, from the first teacher, to the organization of the school was quite poor

Classes: Small groups which makes it easy to feel comfortable to talk and ask, good vibe between the students.
Teachers: Smart, relaxed, including. Very good at her job.
Location: Close to metro, lively place.
Facilities: Exactly what you need, but nothing more.
Activities: did not participate in any. Did not get information about any activities.

I found L'Atelier 9 to be disorganized and inflexible.

Students should be able to make-up courses.
If there is a holiday that falls on a course date, let us take a course the following week.
Help us place ourselves in the right level course from the get-go.
The teachers are disorganized, cannot remember the homework they assigned.

I thoroughly enjoyed my classes. They were challenging enough without being discouraging.
The instructor was patient and made sure we all understood what was going on.
It must be hard for them because we are all around the same level but some know a bit more than others.
All in all, I would recommend.

The location was easy to access via the Metro. The room lighting is minimal and the access staircase is poorly lighted and a safety hazard.

The classes were intellectually stimulating, challenging me to expand my understanding of various subjects ranging from natural language processing to neural network architectures. The professors were not only experts in their fields but also genuinely passionate about imparting knowledge to their students. Their enthusiasm was infectious, making every lecture engaging and inspiring.

Upfront, I would like to say that my French improved a lot over the duration of the course and that's why I give the class three stars.

However, I'm convinced that this is far from the best way to tech the language, mostly because there was never any explanation in English. For an A2 course, I think it's necessary to have explanations that can be universally understood. One time the whole class could not follow anymore after the first half of the lesson and without any explanation, the second half became a complete waste for everyone. This is simply not how you would normally learn a language beginning from a low level in a class. For less than 20 Euros, you can buy the same book that was used for all the exercises and since there were barely any explanations, I'm able to learn with the exercise book just as well as I have with the course (I stopped to course three weeks ago). This one was used in the class: https://www.cle-international.com/adolescents/francaiscom-niveau-debutant-a1-a2-cahier-d-activites-3eme-edition-9782090386905.html the same publisher has lots of other material for different levels and ages.

A good point was the small group size.

the teachers were good and qualified for the job. The location was very central, but for me who lived outside of Paris it was a long way to travel. some of the classrooms were quite small, the kitchen had all the neccecary. I was not able to attende any activites because i had school in the evenings.

On the website when you book a class you are informed that the class starts every monday, although when I started my class the other students had already been going to the same class for several weeks already. On my second week you restarted the whole course and I was placed in a new class. I think this should be better informed when booking a class.

De lessen, de docent en de sfeer heb ik als heel goed en prettig ervaren.
Ik heb echt veel geleerd. Ik beveel L'Atelier zeer aan.

The school is very conveniently located in the 9th: I had classmates from all over paris that could all easily get to school. It's a very cozy, homey environment, with common areas where you can chat and bond with other students. Facilities are also pretty convenient. Classes are speaking focused, which worked perfectly for me and my goals, but I did hear some people complaining about wanting to do more grammar/written exercises. I didn't mind the free-flowing structure, I think it's good for summer programs to be a little more laid-back. I had a great experience with both of the teachers I had (they switch every month), Sandra and Thomas. They were both very friendly and welcoming, other than overall super qualified for the job. The school in general cares a lot about making people feel welcome, organizing afternoon activities and monthly breakfasts and lunches.

Die Klasse war angenehm. Die beiden Lehrerinnen während der 8 Wochen haben den Unterricht abwechslungsreich gestaltet.
Die Schule ist gut erreichbar. Die Einrichtung entsprach meinen Erwartungen.
Im Abendkurs sind keine Aktivitäten angeboten worden. Meine Unterkunft wurde nicht durch die Schule organisiert.
Der Abendkurs ist ideal, um tagsüber Paris erkunden zu können. Es wird kein Einstufungstest gemacht.

I spent gorgeous days at the language school L'Atelier 9. My teacher Ania is very talented how to teach French to the students. My other teacher Laurine is also a great teacher who is very enthusiastic. I think my French has been improved there. Thank you very much for all the experiences!

Best Regards,
Luca Rankay

I generally liked the language course. The teacher was always in a good mood and transferred her energy to us to learn. :D
I liked that we had so many exercises where we had to communicate with each other, because it improved communication skills.
Once in the afternoon there was an additional voluntary session with role plays, which was super fun.
I wouldn't have needed a 30 minute break after 2h because that turned 4 hours into only 3.5.
Also, I think it would have been better if there had been a strict plan. The fact that new people can join every week makes it pretty freestyle.

I enjoyed the class atmosphere, good classes if about 8-10 students which worked for the style of teaching. Facilities were good, no complaints there. Activities were fun and a good way to meet others. Only reason the rating is 4/5 instead of 5/5 is because the teaching method of Sandra relied very heavily on the use of paperwork and videos, whereas Auralie used the method of using the whiteboard to teach the material for the start of class, allowing us to take notes of what she put, and then using the rest of class to have conversations and use what we learned. Sandra’s method made organization much harder, it made the classes less enjoyable, and for me personally it was much more difficult to learn. Sandra herself was very nice, and she was willing to answer any question I had about the material. I definitely recommend atelier 9 to foreign expats/students looking to learn some French.

L’Atelier 9 Feedback:

The below review reflects my 12 weeks experience for having evening classes at L’Atelier 9 as well as the unprofessional administrative treatment after the course ended.

As a start, I registered to the evening classes twice a week with 90 minutes per session. Class was French for Expatriates which was meant to cover the entire A1 level in French.

Summary:
• Lack of teaching experience
• Teacher changed suddenly
• Advanced students kept on joining randomly
• Unprofessional, rude, and defensive administration
• Business and money oriented and not feedback enhancement approach
• Waste of money and no value
• Facility is fully equipped for schooling in terms of logistics (have to give them that positive point)

Feedback:
• Classes being provided were not progressive from week to another which caused confusion from my end. The teacher didn’t have a solid plan in which students couldn’t tell what we are studying every week and if it’s being progressively provided aiming to achieve milestones for upcoming lessons.
• The agency (Language International) has mentioned that by the end of the 12th week I would cover level A1, however I feel that I only covered 10%-15% from A1 French language.
• I could not assess my progress and measure where I stand in French language, in class, and in the course in general.
• We weren't taking any homework nor doing any exams nor engagement exercises like presentations or dialogues (not necessary as I was searching online for exercises of what we used to take every week and trying to find some).
• Had to inform the instructor that I do not know anything in French and if we could start with the very basics, letters, numbers, etc…

Concerns:
• New students were joining almost every week and some of them were way advanced from the class level.
• Main Concern: the teacher was suddenly changed in the middle of the course without knowing the reason. This has also happened in other classes, but I remain to speak about my experience without any further elaboration about other classes or students.

Unprofessionalism by the Administrative officer:
• I accidently published a review to this website with my feedback, concerns, and had more inquiries to continue with L’Atelier 9 but I had my own requirements asking the school to support and if they had the right class for me without having the teacher changed and including a curriculum/syllabus with progressive learning (an email was sent to L’Atelier 9 with the above inquiries/requirements).
• As soon as L’Atelier 9 saw my published review, they replied to my email disregarding my inquiries, requirements, and feedback saying the following (only): "Bonjour XXXX, we would have really appreciated if you let us know your disappointment before we read it on the comments on the agency page for all people to see, which would have been very constructive for you and for us and your progress. Bonne continuation “
• I replied apologizing and mentioning it was a mistake (not my intention) that the review should have not been published but it was a discussion with the Language Agency to support me find the right course, and I have asked for the review to be deleted. I also asked again L’Atelier 9 to support in answering my inquiries.
• Then I received the following: “It would be super nice to delete this comment because it is very important for us to receive positive reviews. Of course, we understand that not everyone can be completely satisfied, but we prefer to find out before the end of their registration so that we can rectify the situation. We are very flexible and understanding and we can find solutions. Hope this comment goes away.”
• Then I called L’Atelier 9, talked to the same lady who was answering my emails and I explained the entire situation again. What really didn’t make sense is that she mentioned that maybe we can offer you free couple of weeks if you delete the review. Then I replied mentioning that I do not appreciate the attitude of If you do this, we will do that (totally unprofessional and has no negotiation skills) as well as I specified that money was not my concern during that phone call.
• The next day I confirmed that the review was deleted, and I followed up with L’Atelier 9 to answer my inquiries or at least to mention that I’m not welcomed at there center anymore (as this is the vibe I sensed).
• I did receive an apology from the administrative officer afterwards regarding the “miscommunication” but had no positive feedback from their end towards supporting finding the right course for me. In the end of the email, they wished me good luck in finding another school: “I am so sorry that your experience at school did not bring you what you expected. I hope you find a school that will meet all your needs.”
• A week after I re-explained to L’Atelier 9 my inquiries to clarify their misunderstanding and mentioned that they did not offer support especially after I confirmed that the review was deleted.
• I received a generic email offering their entire list of courses and emphasis on re-offering the evening course that I did not benefit from it.
• Towards the end, I the agency followed up with the school and the school did not accept the feedback, did not admit their lack of teaching experience, as well as did not accept to improve and enhance based on the feedback.
o The agency put the blame on me as I did not mention to the administration any feedback during the course: I did mention and guide the teachers on the gaps they need to fill for us as level A1 students to be able to accelerate in the course, feedback was provided to the teachers several times from me and form other students (but the administration is absent so how would they know if they do not seek to get feedback from their students?), administration asked for money to register and continue at the end of the course while they totally neglected asking for feedback.
o Administration also blamed my absence: which was 1 class during the middle of the course and the last two weeks (4 sessions) as at this point I lost hope. So being absent at the end of the course is not a valid argument a mature business administrator would use.
o I hoped that the administrative officer would put her ego aside and accept the feedback and work on improving their efficiency and added value otherwise there are hundreds of other schools in Paris who are way more efficient and customer centric/oriented because this is what also matters in keeping a business alive.

I am not posting this review as a negative one, but I am posting this review to showcase that I understand that L’Atelier 9 is business oriented, and their business model is to make money for the sake of the survivor of the center. However, if they were this enthusiastic about receiving feedback from their students, they could have communicated with me for feedback instead of asking to renew and eventually waste more money taking the evening course (as before this entire dilemma happened, and towards the end of the course, L’Atelier 9 has sent an email to extend, renew, and pay for staying in the course and totally neglecting or offering to hear out any feedback).

As a person who is pursuing their career and living in France moving forward, I did not appreciate the unprofessionalism that happened after my course as well as I did not appreciate not benefiting that much from the evening course.

I am rating L’Atelier 9 a 1 out of 10 for the 10-15% value I gained and neglecting the unprofessional treatment their administrative officer indulged with me. I’ve heard from other students in my class and in other classes that the same administrative officer is not so kind, but I only speak for myself.

Lastly, to support my above review, you can check L’Atelier 9 reviews on google reviews and sort by lowest rate, several has mentioned the following: unprofessionalism, change of teacher, students from advanced level were in lower-level classes.

it was very pleasant to have classes with a high level of conversation in French, all the questions and answers were in French, the method used for the classes encourages a better practice of the language.

Thank you very much for such a great opportunity - studying in the city center in comfortable time with native French speakers and in the small groups. I also got a very nice feeling of "back to school" )

Although sometimes I felt lost since my level is close to beginner and all the explanations was in French, I do feel that it was a great practice.
I would've certainly recommend the school!

First I want to write that I did learn a little French and I am satisfied with what I learned, but the course was really confusing. The teacher did not speak English (only very little) and we jumped around in the topics, so it was hard to understand the assignments or what I was supposed to learn. The heater did not work in the classroom and it was so cold. They did not try to fix it or fixed it while I was there. And the garbage was not taken out from the kitchen, so it smelled really bad, and that is the only place you were allowed to eat (which is fair), so I was not thrilled with the school.

Really enjoyed my experience of L'Atelier 9. Great Location, really friendly and relaxed. Sandra is an incredible teacher!

There was no structured curriculum or logic from one lesson to the next. It was just a series of random 90 minute sessions which varied in objective/complexity. very little conversation mostly just the teacher asking questions and students responding.

The whole experience was amazing. The class rooms were good, the location of the school very easy to reach, it was really nice that there were 2 activities per week to attend to improve the language even more and the teacher was amazing. Sandra made the classes really easy to understand and learn and she’s super motivated to teach the language. She helped everyone really good, and if one person had trouble understanding something she spend some extra time with that person to explain it very well. I’ve learned way more than I expected in those 4 weeks. All teachers are very kind, and the director made sure to make everyone feel welcomed and comfortable and helped with questions.

The l'atelier neuf has good transport connections and is very nicely and comfortably furnished. The teachers are nice and mostly only speak French. The groups are small, which I find very good. Unfortunately, there were several changes of teacher during my stay, so it was difficult to follow a specific learning strategy.

The school has a great location and great teachers. I learned a lot during the three weeks I attended the A2 course and gained the confidence to use my French on a daily basis for simple tasks such as shopping etc. The lessons were fun with enough time allocated to each student in the class. The students are on different levels, even within a group, but it was very well managed by the teachers, both in the daily classes (my teacher was Anika, and she did a great job) as well as the weekly ateliers (different teachers took part). The facilities are perfectly adequate, a few classrooms and a common kitchen area with coffee (very important). I intend to continue with my studies and, if time permits, I might return :)

Wonderful, friendly, committed teachers. Lovely atmosphere. I really felt my French improved massively. Also a great location in Paris - very easy to get to.

Although I was intimidated by the immersive aspect of the course I did end up finding it very useful in learning. Our first teacher and third teacher were great, but the 2nd teacher who came in was really unprepared. The fact that I was only here for four weeks and had three different teachers also really hindered my learning I felt because we were never really building on what we had done previously.

The school was in a great location. So I could discover the beauties of Paris after the course. Unfortunately during my course the building next to the school was being repaired. So we were bothered by noise. But the school can not be blamed for it. Otherwise, the course were varied. They focused a lot on theory and practice. The course met my expectations.

I mostly enjoyed the school. The teachers were enthusiastic and helpful. The experience inspired me to continue French studies on returning to the USA.

Drawbacks:
Masks - I don’t hear well and they affected my experience. Obviously not the school’s fault
Location - 45 minutes by metro from our apartment, it got tedious
Lack of structure - I would have benefitted from a lesson plan with targets/goals etc

It was great to have an evening course offer. The class size was perfect with 5-7 students and the teacher was great as well.

I loved my 2 weeks at L'Atelier 9. The school was in a great location with simple but adequate facilities. The classes were small which was great as it enabled easier conversation and interactions with the teacher and other students. The teachers were engaging and very good and I really enjoyed all the classes as well as additional activities like guided tours and discussions.

I like the fact that the classes are very small, which enables the teacher to give you personal attention. It makes the teaching better and makes the classes more fun. I also like that the teachers only speak in French and encourage you to do also. The only thing I do not like is that we do not have a textbook, but just get printed pieces of paper.

My experience at L'Atelier 9 was over-all extremely positive.
The classes where spacious and fully equipped.
Our teacher was extremely competent and the whole class made huge progress in just two weeks.
She was also ready to help us with tips about Paris.
The location was very close to a metro station, all around there were plenty of shops and cafes and it wasn't far from the historical heart of Paris.
We also had extra activities each week, including an interesting tour of Montmartre with a local guide.

I’ve taken part in the part time evening course at latelier 9 and overall the experience has been great ! Unfortunately the school itself has been closed due to Covid , however the classes have been going ahead via zoom and it’s been really enjoyable. My teacher is fantastic , super friendly very patient and really clear. The classes are completely in French but small and you get to know every single one of your classmates. My French has gotten so much better in such a short amount of time !

I would say that the A1 French course at L'Atelier 9 did help rehash a lot of the knowledge I had prior, having had French classes in Primary/Middle school for around 6 years when I was younger. I had pretty much forgotten all of my French knowledge prior to the course, and it is pleasant to be able to understand many of the basics and also comprehend the general topics of texts and conversations now (providing if people don't speak too quickly). The extra workshops that were held 5 times a month also were a welcome addition, and it allowed me to interact with student from other levels. Furthermore, my teacher specifically, Annelise, was very accommodating and friendly in her approach to teaching. However, I would say that there are great variances in the way each teacher teaches, and some of the other staff at the school I felt had taught in a less effective manner. It was also a shame that the school shut down most of its courses after confinement began and didn't offer more in the way of online alternatives.

The location is near district 9 and it is not that far from the station.
Facilities were nice, and teachers are helpful.

However, if you are a total beginner, it might be hard for you to catch up since the course is in French and lot of the people in beginner's class has studied french for a while,

Even though it is quite hard, staff are helpful and teachers are helpful as well, so i think it is not that bad. The choice is yours!

I found L'Atelier9 a great place to learn French! I would say that they focus more on speaking, so they teach you vocabulary and in every class you have speak/read load, which is good because you practice and improve faster!. In my case, I came to France and did not know any French (only salutations hah), and in three month I can see how I got better which makes me really happy in my decision.
The groups are not quite big, I believe that the maximun in class are between 7 or 9 people, so is very personalized.
Also, the area where is located is very close to several metro stations. The place is a bit old fashion, but in my case I didn't care because the clases were good, and the group inside also.

First day arrived, I couldn’t find the entrance! And I didn’t know the code!

The place is quite relaxing. I prefer using textbook because it’s more organized. Their method is a bit different. It depends on the teacher. I love my teacher. She tried really hard to explain words and grammar. They teach the topic rather deep than a bit but repeatedly.

Messy way to teach a foreign language. I was expecting a kind of method to follow but couldn’t understand it at all

I was pleased with the instructors I had but overall my personal experience was lacking. There is no structure and we were supposed to have no more than 9 students. There were times we had 12 which didn’t make too much difference but I felt having the 9 would have given us more individual attention. This did not happen. At times our “assignments” would not be completed and we were told to finish the following day. This was not the case. No homework was ever assigned and neither was there testing except at the end of the 4 weeks to see what if any progression was made.

As far as the social activities go providing the breakfast was very generous and pleasant. The wine tasting, however, was a complete bore. It could have been greatly improved by having a flight, either vertical or horizontal, instead of devoting an hour and a half to a mediocre wine. How much can be said about cheap wine?
I personally need a more structured environment and this was not the case for me.

Very welcoming staff, extra lessons and activities were great and at least twice a week. Materials and lessons focused on essentials and for more specific stuff they had extra lessons in the afternoon. Loved it!

The classes were perfect for complete beginners as they began with a basic introduction of ones self and then built on to this each lesson. We had one teacher for the whole 12 weeks and the maximum number of students was 10 during that time. The location was very convenient for me. It would have been good to go to have a revision section every few classes, as to refresh our memories. It was a good introduction to the French Language and would continue if time allowed.

- Evening classes (and in general the wide variety of schedules offered) were very convenient for us to choose a time of the day and the week which fit into our schedule.
- Lesson instructions were completely in French, which was good for immersion in the language and helped us to more easily understand spoken French.
- Small class sizes were very good for one-on-one instruction and group lessons. We felt that we were all learning together and we were very comfortable helping each other to learn.
- Interactive teaching style kept us engaged and motivated.

SUGGESTIONS
- On the first day we had difficulties accessing the school, as we did not know the door code. It would be helpful to have the necessary information sent to students ahead-of-time.
- An early lesson on how to ask basic questions in French would have more easily allowed us to get clarifications while maintaining discourse in French (for example, "How do you say X in French?" or "What is the difference between X and Y?").
- For verb conjugations, although we were taught a few regular and irregular cases, it was often insufficient to allow us to extrapolate to other cases. More comprehensive demonstrations and practice when learning new grammar would be helpful.

The classes were dynamic, fun and the teacher did a very good job in engaging everybody. I was able to read and have a basic conversation after a couple of weeks.

Loved the classes & teachers, and the location was great. It was a great way to meet new people as well, and the overall atmosphere was happy and positive.

The amount of homework was just right, and the time of the lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays was perfect for me. Good choice for week days too.

What I would suggest is the introduction of tests. This would definitely have made me work more, and feel like I had tangible goals to work towards. I feel quite muddled with the basics, and tests would have helped me understand them more.

When I joined the class I said I was a beginner, but the class I was put into was definitely not beginner level. You need a class for people starting from ground zero, who know absolutely no French. I think it’s important to get the foundations nailed before moving forwards, because if you don’t have this you can’t progress further on. For me, I still don’t feel like I know the proper basics, this is something tests would also help with, because it would force you to revise and repeat...

Hope this helps!

Overall I absolutely loved it

Thankyou Mado!

Kate

The school was well located. The teacher was friendly and engaging and the other staff were helpful.

It was really fun and I learned a lot from the people there I enjoyed being with other people from different parts of the world and it was really nice to meet so many new people. The location as well as the facilities were really nice and I liked where it was located.

Best experience ever, and I have learned a lot. I love my teacher Carol, she is the best teacher ever!!! Olga is a good teacher too, and I have made a lot of good friends

Teachers were excellent, very hard working and put a lot of effort into the lessons (especially Sylvie). Class sizes were small as promised. Location was good, pretty central. I was living in the 5th and walked every day for about 40 mins to get there which I really enjoyed. The extra activities were ok but repetitive for me as I was at the school for such a long time. The guided tours each month with Antoine were excellent, definitely not to be missed.

The school is very nice. Staff is very helpful, friendly and professional. I recommend anyone who is eager to learn french to join this school.

I went student in l'atelier 9 for 3 weeks. In theses weeks i get out from 0 in French language to start to form sentences and talk a little French. I never expected that I would go so far. This course has a excellent teachers as well good infrastructure.

I had very good one week at L'Atelier9. The teachers and staff members are friendly.

All in all I think I had an interesting stay in Paris because my teacher was exerted in helping all the students. There was a mixture of oral, writing and reading skills but in the center were grammar, talking and vocabulary training.
I also liked the school because of its amazing location in the 9th district of Paris.

What I didn´t like so much was the ambiance in school ... all classroomes and the "recreation room" seemed to me in a bad state and a bit improvisational. The other thing which I didn´t like very much was that many students came from anglophone countries like Great Britain, the Unites States or Australia ... so all of them were always talking in English which isn´t very helpful when you are interested in learning French.

My experience at L'Atelier 9 was wonderful. I had a fantastic teacher (Vanessa) that enabled me to understand French after 4 weeks. I appreciate a lot the other students coming from all over the world.
The school was in a very nice location, very easy to get to with the metro. I also enjoyed the activities especially the one about Paris and the experience at the cinema. The tour of the modern part of Paris was very interesting.

There were two things I disliked. One was that all of us knew English so we spoke in English and not in French. That was our fault. The second was that everybody had the cell phone on the table looking for
translation or may be for e-mails. I know that Vanessa tried to change this, but it was almost impossible!!!!

I like the way they teach, lot of speak-exercises, listening to songs, playing games, etc.

I can recommend Atelier 9 for their very friendly and helpful staff and teachers and the good and joyful learning experience.

I enjoyed talking with the teachers and my classmates so much, it pushed me to speak more even though I'm shy and scared to show my poor French.

The location and the school is very nice, not very big but it has a warm feeling. Students were very international, a small class with more than 6 different nationalities. It's also good for us to learn some culture diversity.

However, the only problem was that every student has different level of the language, it was difficult to follow at the very beginning. And after a period, I had to learn again many subjects because the other students didn't know about it.

Generally, it was good experience to stay in L'atelier. Every time I finished m class, I feel so happy to speak French and it inspires me to keep learning the language and fall in love with the language.

Everything was great. I enjoyed my classes a lot. The location, facilities & housing were great.
The teacher was really good, very interactive and I loved the fact that she didn't speak any English or even she didn't allow anyone to speak anything else aside from French. She would explain at least two or three times if still not understood. Interactive approach, including everyone in class.

Overall, my experiences at L'Atelier 9 was good. Although it was very difficult for me, especially the first week. Despite starting in a new school were everything takes place/happens in French, what made it more difficult was that I came in the last week of July and therefore most of the assignments in class was hard for me, because the things/concepts hasn't been introduced to the compared to the other students. When the month changed I was placed at the next (and higher) level due to procedure, I guess. Consequently I was placed in the same level as people who had four weeks more experiences at L'Atelier 9 than me, which was a bit weird and perhaps not optimally. Still, I ended up being very happy that I followed my class from A2 to B1.
Even though I am very happy with my time there and I think my French, as well as my confidence and willingness, have improved. It was more challenging than expected. I think generally I was placed wrongly, but being the worst in class also motivated me and made me focus and work even harder, which I think has been good for my development.

There were more grammar lessons than I had expected, since I thought the main focus would lay on the oral part. But in the end I'm glad I learned more grammar. So overall I was very pleased with the activities in class.

The location of the school was very nice, and I very much liked the size of the school and that it was in an old apartment. This made everything more relaxed and homey. The teachers and administrators were very nice, and I loved that one of my teachers (I had two different teachers in two weeks) joked as much as she did. It took a lot of the pressure off the students in the classroom and made the classes more entertaining, as well as more challenging. Also did the aperitif/get together in the beginning of August helped us to meet more people which was nice.

I know that next time I go to L'Atelier 9 l I will stay for more than two weeks, because it was around the middle/end of the second week I really started to settle down.

At first I though it was very difficult because the teacher was talking in French all the time but when I got used to that, I found the classes were very good. I think I learned a lot of French words and phrases and I'm looking forward to two more weeks in the same school at the end of summer!

The classes were small which was great. Teacher Erika was very good – she was patient and introduced extra material during the class. The location was fine. Facilities were a little poor. The kitchen could be jazzed up. The activities were fun and worthwhile. The class was very mixed in terms of ability which I found a little frustrating, but it was overall a good week.

I had improved my language skills and had learned more about France. I hope my new knowledge will be useful in the future.

I liked the conditions and the warm atmosphere during the clases. Everybody was nice to each other and very supportive, even when you made a mistake.

We practiced writing, reading, pronunciation and conversing with each other a lot. There were lots of practical usage of speaking.

I really liked classes witch Stephanie. She was patient and very kind. She explained everything very well and corrected our mistakes.
The classes during which I felt very bad, were extra classes ''Jouons'' with Vanessa during our first week. The game with numbers was too fast. We could not manage it and it was very stressful for us. The game ''French idioms'' discouraged me, because there was no way we could understand it with our knowledge of French language. In this stage of study (third class) it is impossible to understand it for a foreigner.
I missed didactic materials (e.g. board games, word puzzles, didactic games) during the classes.

The location of L'Atelier 9 is good in my opinion.

I like the fact there was tea, coffe for us and a microwave for our userage. In my opinion access to dvd films (connected to our studies) should be free. I pleasantly recall team building meeting (''Pique-nique'').

The house I stayed in was too far. It took me more than an hour to get to school.

The woman I stayed with was very nice. I felt free in the house. Her daughter were very kind as well. I had great contact with them. The only thing which was difficult to me was conversation with Mrs. Gladiz. She was talking to me like I knew French really well (I told her I just started studying French). I was really stressed trying to understand her and answering her questions. i felt awkward when I did not know what to say.

This was my fourth time that I went to Paris to learn French and my first time at L'Atelier 9.
The first thing I noticed on my first day there was that all of the staff are kind. Not only kind, but in an honest and exhilarated way. This spirit seemed to be spread out over all students and it would have been very hard to not become influenced. One of the biggest advantages at this school is that students need to be over 18 years old and so they know why they inscribe. The method of teaching was very varied, intensive, exciting and also amusing - a perfect mixture.
This was very important to me because being employed full-time I needed to take vacation and I didn't want to be exposed to competition in class or pressure to perform. Exactly this helped me to make my biggest progress with French during my stay of 3 weeks.
I am really looking forward to going back to this school in a few months.

All the items are OK with me. The school has a very good location, the teacher was perfect and very good lessons. I think it is not necessary to explain all the positives, because I would like to continue my class.

Our teachers were great and so was the size of the class. The level of the course was appropriate, and the setting was social and relaxed. Our cooking course and tour of Paris was also really good, and the teachers were available for questions and follow up. The theoretical and oral training was good, and the teachers were patient and funny.

I had the best summer this year. I loved my time at L'Atelier 9 and would definitely return and recommend it to others. I think that what made it for me was our teacher Celine. As a beginner, I expected to be overwhelmed, but her lessons were fun and I felt like I advanced tremendously! The other students were great, and I know I made some friends for life. The general atmosphere was very welcoming and inclusive. I really enjoyed meeting so many new people. The location was walking distance from where I was staying, which was nice! I thought the workshops were great, and felt like an unexpected bonus to compliment the lessons, as were the Paris tours.

I had an absolutely amazing time. My class was filled with enthusiastic people from various cultural backgrounds who mingled quite easily. Agnes is the funniest and the best teacher I have seen when it comes to teaching language skills!
Location and facilities of the school were just perfect, and I wish I stayed there longer!

My seven and a half year old daughter and I have attended l'Atelier9 on two occasions and only have good things to say about this school. The first time we attended for five weeks last summer (2013) and the second time was a week this October (2013).

We started as complete beginners and have had a very positive experience.

The school offers summer group classes for children and my daughter reported that the classes were not only interesting, but also very practical. Thanks to Olivier, who was very engaging and personable, she learned a lot and started practicing her newly acquired skills right away.

I was in an intensive class for adults taught by Céline. Céline is an excellent teacher – extremely patient, knowledgeable, and dynamic. French is a hard language to learn for a native Russian speaker, but despite the fact that I was struggling with pronunciation and grammar, I enjoyed our every class. The didactic materials we were provided helped a lot with understanding the concepts.

This October, I was in a class taught by Vanessa, who is also a very good teacher. It was only one week, but I feel I learned quite a bit. Vanessa gave us very useful techniques to practice pronunciation, which I continue to use at home.
That week, my daughter had private lessons with Stéphanie, which went very well. I feel she’s more confident and is not embarrassed to practice French with native speakers (e.g. in a restaurant). She has French at school, but I feel that that week she learned more French with Stéphanie than she had since the school year began.
I am very motivated to become fluent in French and will be returning to L’Atelier9 as soon as I can.

Yes, one week in this school gave me more then a few months of learning here in USA. So yes, it was great experience although I stayed for only one week which obviously was not enough. Thank you, Mike.