Berkeley Language School

Ariane is great! I was looking for a private tutor that would be able to tutor me at my home. Ariane listened to my expectations and provided an excellent match for me, Elodie is a great tutor, she is patient, listens, provides lots of speaking practice and keeps the lessons entertaining.

I began taking private lessons with Ariane last fall, at the rate of two per week, to regain a little proficency before a trip to Paris in November. She’s funny, intelligent, sensitive, and quick to correct, in a most charming manner.
I have been promising her this review on Unilocal for some time. She just mentioned she had another ten positive reviews — but all of them filtered! I will add to my brief recommendation for Ariane and her Berkeley Language School, once I verify whether or not my endorsement will similarly be screened.
March 18, 2013 update: I see that my review of «BLS» remains posted, so, as promised, I’d like to expand on my recommmendation.
The hardest part of improving your French will be in actual unstructured conversation. My sessions with Ariane are about 75% dialog with her; describing my job, hobbies, current events, and responding to her commments and questions. This «on the fly» conversation will use 100% of your CPU, but Ariane’s gentle encouragements, and uncanny ability to put you at ease, make the chats a really fun, challenging, and interesting exchange. I’m not a conversationalist, but she is, and you’ll soon find yourself chatting away!
It’s not often you can find a native, with a sparkling personality, keen wit, hypereducated (PhD no less), funny, really French… but when you do, you’ve found Ariane. There are others who’ll charge less, but you’ll get what you pay for. I’m paying for the best apprentissage, the most motivating teacher, the one who’s really helping me improve, and she’s worth every penny. Below, the remainder of my initial post of several days ago:
In the meantime, I will say this: I have been to classes at our local Community Center and at the Alliance Francaise in Berkeley. There is simply no comparison to a full hour of conversation with Ariane; that’s why I have renewed my ten-​lesson «ticket» two more times since beginning last October.
Ariane is a treasure, that rare French teacher who motivates you to do your best and who works diligently to fast-​track your apprentissage… Peter from Orinda

Ariane is a wonderful French instructor. She is delightful, friendly, and welcoming. She conducts her 1 on 1 instruction as if it were everyday conversation, which really takes away the «schooling» feel and makes it much more convivial. She has that wonderful teaching quality of being patient with her students while also applying the right amount of pressure to push them just beyond their comfort zone. Her lessons are taught partly in English and partly in French, where the balance of each is tailored for each individual student. It’s such a great way to learn a foreign language, and my skills in conversational French were noticeably accelerated by working with Ariane.