About your French tutor
I’m Sabrina, I was born in Bayonne but my studies in French Literature and French as a Foreign Language led me to live and work in different places and countries !
I am a very easy-going, passionate and good-natured person, keen in many different subjects and aspects of our life. I have been traveling the world for about 10 years (god, I am old!), studying, backpacking, working my way out in various jobs and teaching my beautiful language. I have what we say here in French “le virus du voyage”.
I have been teaching for quite some time in very different places such as Ukraine, Jersey or even in France, to students, like we say in French, de 7 à 77 ans !
Those last couple of years, I’ve also graduated as a Primary school teacher in France and I’ve had the chance to develop new skills around teaching to lovely (and lively) kids. (Discover L’infograph’ de Frenchy Hour, my curriculum in French).
I love writing (I run a blog for my short stories), reading, watching movies, creating any kind of stuff (which don’t always turn perfect for gifts), practising yoga, playing boardgames, walking and even playing the guitar/ukulele, to the great displeasure of my neighbours…
About Frenchy Hour
After having “roulé ma bosse sur les routes”, I have finally settled down in a beautiful place in the Dordogneshire where I can enjoy all the things listed above and many other things (like acting on stage under 35 degrees !).
On October 2022, I launched this Frenchy Hour website where I offer a French podcast, short stories in French, online lessons, sessions in Dordogne and events about writing and reading in French. Why Frenchy Hour ?
Why Frenchy Hour ?
Frenchy Hour is derived from “Happy Hour” and well… French, because learning a language, especially French, doesn’t need to be difficult or boring ! Forget about your unpleasant high school memories of endless “j’adore les sushis” (French joke) and start learning and speaking French for real !
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My teaching style
As a creative person, I try to use that part of my personality to make our lesson fun yet efficient, in a relaxed atmosphere where you feel confident to speak and explore French. This is the time where you have the ability to speak French as much as possible.
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Your class will always help you develop different skills of learning a language, as suggested by the CECRL : reading (a document before and during our lesson to check pronunciation) / listening (a video / radio piece…) / writing (short sentences, quizz, written tasks for upper level if you fancy it) / speaking and most importantly interacting ! To do so, I’m always in search for games and new material (articles, songs, podcasts, videos…) to work on, trying as much as possible to use authentic material for you to get used to our spoken language which can seem fast and any digital tools (Google Docs, Screenshare, slides, games…) that seem adequate to learn real French.
Our learning journey
In every session, you will receive material before or/and during the class, and I will type down every correction, grammar point, new vocabulary, in a shared document that you will keep, for you to be able to review and prepare for the following lesson. I use a colour coding for interesting words / idioms, corrections and also pronunciation for you to be able to go over our lesson later on your own.
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It’s a version of what you could call “classe inversée” for us not to waste too much time discovering a document and to focus exclusively on speaking practise. Do not worry though, these homeworks are totally optional, as I know we don’t always have time to add some study work in our busy lives !
During my lessons, I can also use any textbooks (Défi, Entre Nous, Grammaire en dialogues…) which seem appropriate to your goals as every student is different, and so goes love of typical grammar exercises ! (But if you’re into subjunctive, I’ll be delighted to help you out on these matters too !).
Not sure about your level ? You want to see if we’re a good match ? Take a 15 min long free meeting for me to assess your level / your goals and to get to know you !
Great conversations, real French
I’m very happy to share and exchange about our way of living and thinking and discuss the latest news. I like talking about movies, books, drama, culture, politics, environment, cooking, traveling, psychology, feminism, human and animal rights…
Our sessions
Our sessions will be held in a chill atmosphere, starting with a warm-up and a short drill to recycle what we’ve covered during our last lesson and then we will go through the new document / explore the new topic and have a deep conversation about it, for you to be able to discover and use the new vocabulary / structures / idioms in context, express your opinion and… maybe debate with your favourite teacher who likes to ” se faire l’avocat du diable” before we close up our lesson with a smile !
In short… everything that makes a lively discussion, within a safe atmosphere, full of laughters and profund questions such as “are you a green or a black tea person ?” Most importantly, I will adapt to your interests and give you material accordingly to make you feel super confident to speak in French about anything that you enjoy talking about ! Au plaisir de vous rencontrer !
I’m always open to questions or adapt throughout our learning journey ! So do not hesitate to show up to our lesson with some French curiosities you might have heard, because, there’s no way you could guess what “tu m’as encore posé un lapin!” means (find the answer in my podcast).
Check our online courses and worshops
Whether you’re looking for private or duo classes, or want to join a group class or one of our events, we have plenty of formats you can choose from.
Your first 15 min meeting is free, for us to get to know each other and see if we’re a good match !