La Méthode
Homemade French
Students have many textbooks to choose from to learn French, la Prof first used many of them with her students. But she could see that those textbooks were lacking in simplicity, practicality, liveliness, and fun. So la Prof developed her own technique and set of materials. Her methods...
- Focuses on commonly used idioms
- Makes French grammar simple
- Uses repetition (never assumes that a lesson is learnt right away)
- Is continually adapted to focus on strengths and weakness of each individual student
- Consists of discussions of current social/cultural issues du jour (after all, it is Le Salon de Sophie!)
- Has exercises focusing on the everyday to teach grammar and expand vocabulary
- Has lots of pronunciation, pronunciation, pro-nun-ci-a-ti-on (because if you pronounce it right, you will comprehend it right too!)
Lots on the menu but, Les Spécialités du Chef - I mean de la Prof- are:
Total Beginner Students
La différence Passé Composé/Imparfait
Les Articles
Les Pronoms
Les Verbes Pronominaux
Le Subjonctif (délicieux!)
La différence Présent/Futur Proche/Futur Simple
Learning any language is a challenge, but it is a mind expanding journey that has many rewards. La Prof is committed to making that journey a lively and enriching one...
Success Stories (no student was harmed or bribed during the making of this website!!)
"I have had numerous very good French teachers, however, Sophie is the very best for a number of reasons. Language learning is very difficult for me. Sophie made it possible for me to progress, because she knows how to explain very complicated grammar without ever speaking a word of English to make us understand. And very important to me, we have fun in class- which helps the learning process and makes you want to come back. Needless to say, I highly recommend Sophie as a teacher." Barbara Norland, Montgomery County, Maryland USA.
"Sophie is a teacher who transcends the typical "teacher" role. Bringing a positive energy and spirit to each lesson, I found myself engaged and learning the entire time. With Sophie's help, I moved to Paris after a year and a half of lessons, and stepping off the plane, I was ready to use what she taught me. I am constantly complemented on my French and the credit goes to Sophie. Her approach is straight-forward, reliable and is based on getting you to use what you know. She keeps things simple and short. Sophie has my absolute highest recommendation." Jeff Suzda, New-York, USA and Paris, France.
"I usually find learning languages a very frustrating process - sitting through a two-hour class can seem like torture. But Sophie has developed an amazing way of teaching French that seems to eliminate all frustration and actually make the process fun. Her methods clearly work. After just a few months of lessons, my husband and I moved to Brussels and, in addition to being able to converse in shops and restaurants, we found we were able to search for an apartment, ask questions about administrative issues and even deal with some bureaucratic tasks in French!" Jennifer Gauck, Brussels
"Sophie is an excellent instructor and personally friendly and charming. She has the amazing ability to make herself understood in French even when you are at the beginning level. She is so experienced that she knows how to express herself clearly and simply. She is a gentle but tough taskmaster. I think everyone feels that her classes are very valuable and that they learn far more than they imagined they could. I particularly enjoy her focus on helping us understand French culture as well as the language. Sophie's lessons gave me a great deal of confidence to just "dive in" and use my French language skills." Joan Zaro, Bethesda, MD, USA
"I am bereft of words to pen my experience learning with Sophie. Sophie teaches from the heart not the books and her love for teaching and the French language are unparalleled. Sophie herself has learnt English when she first came to the United States, so having learnt a foreign language herself, she knows what a learner at any level would expect from a teacher and a course undertaken. She has unique testing methods. The best I think is her involvement of the students to the fullest. The exercises are relevant to the course and the lesson that were learnt earlier. If I have to recommend anybody to take French lessons, Sophie would be my obvious choice." Parag Bhabal, Mumbaï, India
"Sophie uses creative and conversational approaches to encourage her students to take an interest in, and to develop their French language skills. I thoroughly enjoyed Sophie's classes because they blended learning with discussions about French culture and elements of our personal lifes." Laurel Lundstrom, Washington DC, USA
"Sophie is the best and most fun foreign language teacher I've ever had. Well prepared and inventive, Sophie will amaze you with how dynamically she conducts her classes and the energy she devotes to each student. Complete beginners soon develop the ability to interact in French. You not only learn nuances of vocabulary, correct grammar and proper pronunciation. More importantly, you gain confidence in your ability to express yourself in French without the crutch of a dictionary. Sophie's classes also gradually expose you to French culture as well as the language." Bill Simons, Washington DC, USA.
"J'ai étudié le Français pendant des années (avec des professeurs différents, utilisant des méthodes différentes) mais les résultats étaient limités. Etudier le Français avec Sophie a grandement augmenté ma capacité d'utiliser le Français. Et bien sûr j'ai adoré avoir Nina et Lilly [les chiens du Prof] dans ma classe!" Mila Kopaeva, Virginia, USA
"Bien tombée chez Sophie... bald haben wir einjähriges Jubileum... Aber von vorne; Ziemlich verzweifelt, weil ich mit meinem bisheringen Französischkurs so gar nicht vorwärtskam, aber dochimmerhin schon 6 Monate in Salon-de-Provence wohnte, machte ich mir im Internet auf die suche nach professioneller Hilfe. Glücklicherweise fand ich dir Internetseite von Sophie. Am nächsten Tag schon verabredeten wir unser Kennenlerntreffen in eine Kaffee in der Stadt. Seitdem geniesse ich meist einmal pro Woche den Privatunterricht in Le Salon de Sophie. Sophie Unterricht: Sophie holte und holt mich immer genau da ab, wo ich mit meinem Sprachkenntnissen stehe. Mit akribischer Liebe sucht sie meine Schwächen und verpasst mir dann den massgeschneiderten Unterricht. Ich staune immer wieder, wie sie das macht. Für mich ein Phänomen! Ich denke, das ist Sophies langjährige Berufserfahrung und die Liebe zu ihrem Beruf, der whol Berufung ist. So lerne ich leicht, mit Freude und Erfolg! ... Und nun haben wir bald unser Einjähriges." Petra Pfrommer, Salon-de-Provence, France
"In August 2013 I was looking to take an intensive one week French class in France for as part of a "learning vacation" to improve my French language skills. I consider myself intermediate but did not have much opportunity to pratice. I tried to improve my French by taking courses sporadically over the years, but found that I kept on "slipping" back, really not advancing past lower intermediate stage. I thought that perhaps one of those intensive immersion classes in a Language School might be just the "ticket" to push me to the next stage of intermediate. As I was looking at my options, I came across Madame Sophie's website on the Internet, and everything about it "spoke" to me. Her essence being described so clearly in the first words I read. It stopped me in my tracks and I looked no further.
I sent Madame Sophie an email; she responded quickly and generously, being open to meeting my dual needs for French lessons and some much needed vacation time to explore the region. She provided advice on where to stay. We also had a Skype rendez-vous so I got to know her before I arrived. It was like I had a "safety net" below my feet, and any apprehension one might feel before starting a class was not part of my "Madame Sophie experience".
In our first face-to-face rendez-vous, Madame Sophie encouraged me to speak French. She very quickly took stock of my level and needs. She informed me - and very correctly- that I was functional in French and could be understood, but was at the "me Tarzan, you Jane" level. While Tarzan was king of the jungle, let's face it, he had no competition, and his Jane would have fallen for the any remotely good-looking guy who had a better grip of the English language, if there was one around. This image, which still makes me laugh, shows how great a professor Madame Sophie is - she went to the core of my problem, helped me recognize it, and went about re-teaching the basic concepts of the language so I retain my learnings. Her methodology for teaching the language is unique as it is effective. I have never felt so secure in understanding or knowing the French language until I met Madame Sophie - and the icing on the cake is it has been loads of fun.
Madame Sophie is an amazing instructor and a wonderful person. She is kind, and gentle, but when it comes to learning, you can see her passion, as she is very strict about accuracy and attention to detail. She has a wicked sense of humour. Those of us who have studied with her, know exactly what I am talking about, and there is truth in all the other testimonials.
Madame Sophie continues to remain in my life, instructing me on a weekly basis on Skype, and over the years I have visted her many times for resetting, rejuvenation and inspiration. She is truly a unique gem. Priceless!" Mahmuda Ali, Paris, France and Edmonton, Canada.
Un grand "MERCI" à tous mes étudiants de Washington DC, de Salon et de Trans-en-Provence pour leur soutien et leur adorable participation!!
