They’ve experienced a French immersion with me...

If your brain associates pleasant moments with your learning, neural connections will be made more easily and your memory will function over the long term...

My immersion program with Soline began with clear communication during the planning phase. I knew each day's schedule, and any supplemental costs were agreed upon up front. At her beautiful home in tiny Volvic and on our outings, we spoke French all day. Soline is an amazing conversationalist, and she kept the ball rolling by asking me questions, reacting, and following up with still more questions. I was impressed by her intellectual curiosity, warmth, and energy. Our excursions were thoughtfully customized to my interests; we went some places she herself had never been. At first, Soline made relatively few corrections to my French, focusing on my listening comprehension and on my generating speech to express myself. Mid-week, we discussed some of my recurring mistakes and how to raise my level of French in the future. I never felt criticized, but rather helped along by a friendly guiding hand. After that, we continued our conversations, but with more focus on correct grammar and conversational French usage. My experience was not only a language course but also a cultural immersion -- Soline and her family welcomed me into their home and lives. I am deeply grateful and will treasure this experience always.

Jim (US)

Jim

Brigid

David & Wendy

I have been dreaming of doing some kind of French immersion for years and I finally decided to treat myself. I wanted to stay in the country, somewhere beautiful and old and I found Soline’s offer on the French Today site. Before leaving, I didn’t give much thought to the fact that as I was doing this alone, I would be spending a lot of time with Soline - 3 hours of French, lunch and two afternoon excursions over 5 days. I had only counted up the hours of opportunity for speaking French and listening to French being spoken. Looking back, I reflect upon my good fortune in having chosen French In Context in Volvic and Soline as my teacher. She is an excellent teacher with the patience of a saint, but she is also such a lovely and interesting person. I wanted to improve my French conversation and this meant Soline had to endure my halting attempts to find long lost words. Soline speaks with such a perfect French accent and really clear diction. She spoke to me at just the right pace for me to understand. I felt like I was in very capable hands as far as French instruction goes, but there was the added pleasure of getting to know Soline a little as we discussed all manner of topics. Her patience and gentle encouragement gave me confidence and my French definitely improved. I also loved Volvic and La Gite. It is a very pretty old town and the surrounding forest and hills are beautiful. I should also mention that I have annoying dietary constraints and both Soline and her husband went to some trouble to cook up something delicious every lunch time to accommodate these. Thank you Soline! I hope to return some day and do it all again.

Brigid (Australie)

Last month I spent a week in Volvic on a one-to-one French language immersion course with the wonderful Soline Sterbecq. It was my second immersion homestay with Soline; two years ago my wife Wendy and I stayed for a week in her comfortable adjoining gite while everyday Soline patiently suffered my mangling of the language of Moliere. It was a marvellous experience; enjoyable and so rewarding, so much so that we came back to do it again! Both times I’ve been amazed at how quickly our sessions flew by. For more than three hours every morning we spoke French, with Soline interjecting, correcting, and taking notes for my later contemplation. Our topics ranged from travel to history to photography to current affairs to cheese, with many diversions, and much laughter. As before I was gutted when the week drew to a close, as it had been so much fun, and I could feel myself speaking French with more ease and fluidity with each day. What’s more the week provided Wendy and I with another opportunity to really immerse ourselves in the French way of life, and to explore the beautiful surrounding area of the Parc des Volcans d’Auvergne.

Of course everyone’s reasons for learning French are different, but Soline’s flexible approach allows for each Immersion Course to be customised to guest’s needs and priorities. While apps and online courses are useful there is no substitute for speaking French, in France, with a professional French language teacher, face to face across the kitchen table, practising what we’ve just learnt. Making mistakes, stumbling over tenses, searching for the right words, torturing pronunciations, mixing our pronouns and grappling with the subjunctive is all part of the learning experience, but for me with Soline at the Gite de la Planche it’s also been great fun, and so productive. Both times I’ve left full of enthusiasm and resolve to carry on improving.

David (UK)