Pasadena Language Center

I’m so happy Pasadena Language Center is here! I’ve been looking for a place to supplement my 8 year old daughters French education and it fit our needs perfectly. The weekly Saturday courses are perfect. Teacher/​Student ratio is low! The French teacher is dedicated and engaging. The class is very interactive. Best part kids are encouraged to participate which makes learning more fun. Only drawback, it’s not a super warm and fuzzy environment, a bit serious but not a deal breaker. The location couldn’t be any better… In the heart of old town Pasadena. Couldn’t be happier with our existence so far. We will be coming here for a long time.

I’m of Middle Eastern descent, and decided I needed to brush up on my Arabic language skills and after taking the class with Samar, I’ve never looked back! She was so competent, friendly and accommodating, even going as far as inviting us to events at local centers in the area to really utilize the language. I never dreamed I would have had this much fun learning a language, and I highly recommend taking a course here.

Intensive, highly effective and efficient – those are the only words in a nutshell I would use to describe the teaching and learning method that I have been experiencing over the past 5 months at the Pasadena Language Center. This is particularly true in learning one of the most difficult languages: Chinese Mandarin in my attempt to further pursue my professional career in international relations. I took French and Italian in high school and during my college years, but Chinese Mandarin is definitely a language that was so foreign to me with its tonal differences (pinyin system), similar sounding words, etymology that comes in phrases and especially characters (hanzi); making it a very difficult language to master unlike any other I have encountered in my life.
As a native speaker, the language instructor is an excellent and highly experienced teacher who always comes to every session well prepared with new lessons and homework for me to study at home. She also makes herself available and approachable for any questions I may come up with. Without a doubt, she answers my questions and provides with good explanations. Her teaching method, which is based on the 4 language-​learning pillars of listening, reading, speaking and writing, forces me to learn comprehensively from the text books and lessons catered specifically toward my goals. Furthermore, in addition to her deep knowledge in the Chinese cultural notes, linguistic nuances and drawing connections to make learning a language a fun and exciting experience, her regular written and verbal (conversation) tests and quizzes do not only motivate me to learn further from other sources online and offline, and also review Mandarin lessons every day (even weekends), but more importantly also immerse myself in Chinese Mandarin effectively. Learning by practicing and practice makes perfect are definitely the mottos of this course.
As a result, as someone who started this learning experience 5 months ago without any background in the Chinese language whatsoever, I’m now capable of speaking Mandarin from anything as simple as ordering food at Chinese restaurants to the more extensive conversational Chinese as introducing myself and talking about my plans and hopes to even talking about some current events in the news. It is still work in progress since as a student you really need to put in your own efforts too with doing homework regularly and doing your extra research about certain features and expressions in the language, but I have seen myself making great improvements in speaking and reading Mandarin.
For those of you who are in the need to learn a foreign language for educational purposes or professional growth or simply foreign language enthusiasts, I would highly recommend Pasadena Language Center. Start by calling their phone number or send an e-​mail or just drop by. The highly knowledgeable and very friendly Gina will definitely be glad to talk to you about different types of courses and how they would fit in with your goals.

I have been taking private Spanish lessons at this studio for the past 6 months and have loved every moment of my journey. This studio is the coolest place to learn a language in LA! I definitely recommend working with Alex if he is available. He is an incredible teacher and knows how to make the process fun.

I have taken numerous courses over the last several years at PLC: first in Spanish and then in Portuguese. When I first began, I was unable to do much more than pronounce words in either language. My goal was to become fluent enough to assist my work in both languages because I travel consistently throughout Latin America for my job.
For Spanish, I was able to take classes directly with Alex (the owner) who is a great teacher. Because he has spent time in various Spanish-​speaking countries, he was able to teach nuances in pronunciation and vocabulary between countries. This was very important to me because of my work travel to many different Spanish-​speaking countries. Based on my schedule I was sometimes able to take small intimate classes with only 2 – 3 students, or at certain times when I could dedicate more time, 1-​on-​1 courses focusing on subject matter more relevant for work. After several terms, I built up a solid foundation enough for me to conduct meetings overseas fully in Spanish.
For Portuguese, I had a wonderful instructor named Marcia, who is originally from Sao Paulo, and extremely patient as I learned to mentally separate Portuguese from Spanish. Once again, I took small class courses often with only 1 or 2 other students, and could progress faster than any large class. I also augmented with 1-​on-​1 sessions immediately before trips to Brazil for an extra boost. In just 1 – 2 years, I was able to participate in work meetings fully in Portuguese on my business trips to Brazil.
I only took weekday morning or evening courses as I did not have time to do intensive full-​day Saturday programs. Also, PLC was quite flexible in allowing for customized numbers of classes per term since I knew way in advance when there would be times I was traveling so could not attend. This was really essential and complemented my work schedule.
The course materials used were not expensive and readily available for sale at PLC or through Amazon (only a slight savings). We also progressed to using newspaper/​magazine articles and other literature that were prepared by the instructors or that I selected.
Prior to starting with PLC, I compared prices and programs between PLC, PCC, PCC Extension, ELAC, SMCC, CSULA, Berlitz, and online courses. Many were only once per week which is not sufficient to get anywhere with a foreign language, and most were large classes meaning very slow progress. Also, almost all of them cost more per hour than PLC, especially compared to super-​expensive Berlitz, which I have used in the past when prior employers footed the bill. I found out that many of the instructors at PLC also teach for Berlitz and other private language schools, so their credentials are the same. For the online courses, it was difficult to stop group classes mid-​session for lots of questions.
To me, PLC was the ideal language school and truly helped me to learn Spanish and Portuguese. I just wish I had more time now to go back and take advanced classes.

I’m currently taking beginners Farsi class and I’m loving it. The instructor is very friendly and I’m learning a lot. The facility is really nice, clean and in the heart of old town Pasadena. I’d recommend learning a language here. The only down fall is parking. You have to pay about $ 2 – 7 each class unless you get lucky and find street parking.

I had such a bad experience with this place, I blocked it out of my memory for nearly a year and am only now returning to review it. I signed up for weekend intensive beginning German to try to refresh my memory from a one-​semester German class in college. Before I went into the first class session, I had to sign a contract with «no refunds» etc highlighted. That highlighted sentence became a source of misery almost at once. It became clear from the first few minutes of class that the teacher was totally unprepared, even to the point of being unfamiliar with the textbooks we had all just purchased, and seemed to not have a basic sense of what language pedagogy requires, basic strategies for explaining German grammar to English speakers, or how to organize a course of any kind. I missed most of the sessions because the thought of going back just to stumble through exercises in the textbook and play games better suited to elementary school students was too depressing. When I came for the very last meeting, I could still keep up with what was happening, in part because the students remaining seemed equally unmotivated.
I may be especially sensitive to all of this because I have been teaching at a university for several years, and also because I had some previous preparation, but, truly, in eight weeks I think this «intensive» class covered less than I learned in the first month of a regular college course, and no one was even really putting sentences together. Over $ 500 out the window, + textbooks. Because I had missed so many sessions, there was some offer of possible applying what I’d paid to a regular class in the following term. I appreciate this gesture, but at that point I didn’t even want to bother coming back.
Simply knowing a language does not make one capable of teaching it. Based on previous reviews, I believe that there may be some more experienced/​qualified instructors here. Make sure you find out who will be leading your class and what his/​her teaching experience is. Otherwise, stay away.

I have been taking Spanish with Alex for 15 months now. He is a great teacher and has taught me a lot. We started with very basic beginner stuff and now we are doing literature and Spanish poetry. They have medical Spanish, conversation Spanish, grammar, etc. Highly recommend.

I love this concept! A place one can go to learn nearly any language imaginable, truly capitalizing on the diversity of Los Angeles to bring native teachers and language learners together.
The PLC is nestled in a cute alley in Old Town Pasadena, which makes going to class something of an adventure where you can imagine you’ve been whisked away to a foreign country.
I’m taking Chinese Beginner C, and the class is very small with just two students! This gives us a lot of flexibility to adapt the pace of the course and to explore topics of interest without worrying about not being able to stay on schedule.
Our instructor is kind, funny, and truly seems to care that we get a lot of value from the class.
With only 90 minutes of class time per week, you will want to do some homework to consolidate your learning, such as writing characters and practicing textbook exercises.
I may update this review upon completion of the class, as last night was just our first session.

I attended the beginning French class. I felt as though the teacher was inexperienced and didn’t have a proper lesson plan laid out. The course seemed disjointed and was, by the 3^rd class, confusing and hard to follow. The teacher was not prepared — not having enough print-​outs for students, etc. I left after the 3^rd week and didn’t bother asking for a refund. The small class size was a plus, but as a whole, didn’t really live up to my expectations. It’s not a super welcoming environment and everyone seems too busy to deal with you. I never really felt comfortable there. Great location right in Old Town.

Not bad. Small classes are definitely a benefit here. Cheeper then if I were to choose personal classes but expensive to keep on going throughout all the sessions.

I am very pleased with my experience at Pasadena Language Center. For the past three months, I have been taking Spanish at an intermediate level and my grasp of the language has really improved. At first, I tried the once per week class but in order to learn more quickly I signed up for the twice per week intensive classes. In a few short months, we covered the same amount of material it took an entire year to get through in high school Spanish! Our instructor, Alex, is very capable and not only guides us through verb conjugations and grammar, but also encourages us to work on conversational topics that apply directly to real life situations. As a professional who is trying to use Spanish to communicate with clients, even my clients are praising my efforts and improvement in such a short space of time!

Not very professional. I took two quarters of ASL and one quarter of Spanish. Issues with professors canceling and rescheduling class meetings. Ordered and paid for the book three weeks in advance and was told to pick it up on first day of class. first day of class, no book… Back ordered. Can’t study, can’t do homework. Turns out they sold the copy I had bought and they were supposed to be holding for me to another student.
Update: my Spanish instructor from the first two classes disappeared and we got a new one (who was also flakey). She wasn’t very organized and didn’t seem to have a plan, curriculum, anything for teaching us a new language. No foundations, no practice, nothing. Week one, conjugating verbs. Are you kidding me? Shouldn’t I learn some words before I start conjugating them? The exercises assigned assumed we already had Spanish vocabularies. I mean, I know this is LA and I should already know Spanish, but I don’t. Two people in the class quit, one was a high school student struggling with Spanish class at school and needed help to keep up. This place did not help her at all.
Overall, this place sucks.

The teacher is okay, but the refund policy is awful. After only two weeks, they wouldn’t give me ANY sort of compensation or refund or exchange for other classes…
It may be in their contract, but a director who wants to have happy customers can give SOME sort of compensation. These rules are not written in stone.

Horrible service from the director and his assistants,
i would not recommend this center to any friend!

I have been coming to the Pasadena Language Center for over a year and would recommend it to anyone seriously considering learning a new language.
When my boyfriend and I first started, our Spanish was elementary. Now, I feel very comfortable engaging in conversations with strangers in Spanish and my boyfriend has also made excellent progress and speaks Spanish on a daily basis. The combination of grammar instruction and conversation sessions have been incredibly effective for us to learn how to speak, read and write in Spanish.
We both feel that Alex and company are like an extended family. Our plan is to continue taking classes and further deepening our skills. The goal is fluency in speaking, reading and writing and even though it might take several years, we know the Pasadena Language Center is capable of getting us there.

Decent enough school — though very small offices. In a great location for coffee and lunch — but parking is terrible for a 2-​hour class.
My Italian instructor is very nice and is very accessible. Also, the staff are extremely friendly and know you by name.

I personally am really enjoying my beginner Japanese class.
The reason has a lot to do with class size — only 1 other student! Which means I get a lot of personalized, customized attention, almost like having a tutor.
After the first «registration fee» of $ 35 (which I’m personally not a fan of: it’s a bit like paying a cover charge or tax to give someone your business, isn’t it?), courses are $ 205 if I pay early.
This breaks down to $ 205 early pay /​8 sessions (90 min. each!) = $ 25 a lesson.
That’s a good bargain. (Again, first-​time students pay a $ 35 fee, so it’s a bit less of a bargain, but still not bad. I was going to remove 1 star for the fee, but since I don’t know the economics of it on their end, and they’re all friendly, I’ll give them the benefit of my doubt.)
Of course, you have to buy a book, but I got mine cheaper at Amazon.
The other thing I like is, hey, this is Old Town Pasadena: it’s a nice place to go anytime, and the school itself is very, very charming to visit. It feels like a little modern building in Europe.
Our teacher is low-​key, but very nice, and she gives me extra work since I’m doing well. Love that!

I’m taking the weekend Spanish immersion class (4 hours on Saturdays for 4 consecutive weeks), my last day is this Saturday. I have to admit that I might be a little spoiled from the one-​on-​one classes I’ve taken in Guatemala for 5 hours/​day five times a week (at
that I highly recommend.) but with that said, I still think there’s better out there…
Positives:
the class size is great with only two other students.
Good for students looking to learn basic conversational Spanish for traveling or just a refresher on grammar.
Negatives:
-$ 400 (including 2 books and registration fee.) is too expensive!
— my instructor will assignment homework but forget to go over them the next week.
–One of the two books we had to buy, we used only once for ten minutes!
–It’s in Old Town Pasadena (Smith Alley) and it’s very hard to find free parking for 4 hours.
Problem:
I’m taking classes because I need it for work, hoping to have more time to practice speaking and while we do practice speaking, it lacks the kind of depth that would allow someone to have real conversations with native Spanish speakers. I think the class would be fine for those interested in learning just enough to travel.
Solution:
I am looking into taking one-​on-​one classes with Strommen Tutoring (
) which seems to have raving reviews (5 stars) on Unilocal

Great location, great teacher! Spanish with Alex is awesome! He is able to answer questions, stay on task and have fun while teaching Spanish. He is smart and knows which words are used where, so you can learn local flavor or how they speak in Spain.
There’s only 3 people in my class so we learn a lot and learn it well!
I highly recommend this program and they teach something like 30 languages! This is not your high school Spanish. Thank God!