Testimonials – French in Oxford

Karine is not my first French tutor but is my last. Her professionalism is underpinned by a huge linguistic, cultural and historical knowledge beautifully delivered in a way which inspires and encourages. Always patient, enthusiastic and prepared to go that extra kilometre so that this student’s dream of mastering the beautiful language will be achieved.
– Sean, dreaming about moving to France one day, Oxford

Karine is a brilliant teacher. Her lessons are very much tailored to each student’s needs and she gets to know how you learn best. Her lesson write-ups are always really useful; well laid-out, precise summaries of the grammar and vocabulary covered in the lesson, and full of fun links to French culture. When I speak French in lessons, she is attentive, intuitive, and able to make supportive suggestions or corrections. What I most value is Karine’s ability to adapt to whatever interest or need I have in a particular lesson or over a longer period. If anyone of any level was going to start French lessons, I would recommend Karine whole-heartedly.
– Alex, improving French for business purposes, Oxfam Employee, Oxford

Karine is a really excellent teacher. She designs the lessons to meet the individual needs of each student. She provides rapid and tailored, feedback on every session, which helps sustain progress. Her experience is evident in her effective identification and correction of the many errors characteristically made by anglophone speakers of French. Whether you are learning French for professional, examination or conversational purposes, Karine will help you make the fastest possible progress, as well as ensuring learning is an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
– Andrew, improving French for pleasure, Oxford

I contacted Karine because I wanted to learn a minimum of French in order to better negotiate Paris restaurants and the metro, expecting to take at most ten or twenty beginner lessons. As it turned out, I enjoyed our classes so much that four or five years later I had reached a level around C1 and had discovered a love of all things French that will probably last for the rest of my life. Early on, she provided an encouraging and supportive atmosphere that got me over my absolute terror of uttering anything in French. In later years, her classes just felt like having a coffee and a chat with a friend about an interesting topic, whether linked to society, culture or science, and this made learning feel like a breeze. In reality, Karine puts in an enormous amount of work behind the scenes, tailoring her teaching to the interests and skills of individual students and identifying relevant exercises, podcasts, books and films. She’s also organised and professional at all times. I can’t recommend Karine highly enough.

– Harriet, improving French for pleasure, Oxford

Karine is a wonderful teacher, she identifies areas that need support and then adapts each lesson to build confidence and to practice specific skills. Karine also creates translation and listening recordings that I have found really helpful to overcome some of the typical errors that English speaker make. I am so pleased with the progress that I have made, it has been a really rewarding experience.
– Cath, learning French for pleasure, Oxford

I recommend Karine wholeheartedly to anyone who’s looking to learn French from scratch or improve their language skills. She’s a fantastic teacher who makes learning fun, inspiring and challenging. In just a few months, my son’s French has improved dramatically – so much so, that he got a 9 in his mock GCSE! You can’t ask for more…
– Laura, Oxford

Karine creates a safe space in which to learn and practice French. I know this because she only laughs a little bit when I get it completely wrong!! Lessons don’t feel like lessons for me, it’s definitely more conversation practice with help and advice to keep the communication – and confidence – flowing.
– Laura, learning French for pleasure, Oxford

I work as an academic and in the international art business, and, although I read French texts on a daily basis, I had lost all confidence in making conversation, particularly in a professional context. I felt frustrated and tongue-tied. Working with Karine has been transformative for me; I feel relaxed and the words come more easily. She is the perfect tutor for me, since she is also an art historian by training. Karine has worked with me to compile a technical vocabulary for my field, and has helped me prepare for public speaking and academic publishing in French. I look forward to our weekly class, which feels more like an informal catch-up than a lesson. It is never a chore. Karine is always positive, encouraging, and sensitive. Her lessons are meticulously planned, and she provides excellent reference materials. I look forward to continuing to develop this important life skill under Karine’s expert guidance.
– Margaret, refreshing conversational French for professional purposes, Oxfordshire

The idea of learning French as an older adult was daunting, but Karine is an excellent and sympathetic teacher and I highly recommend her. She is professional and organised, but also always helpful and patient. Her supportive written and verbal exercises and her encouragement of the student’s interest in French culture and local knowledge all add up to be an enjoyable learning experience. I continue with my learning because of Karine.
– Mel, with a long-time ambition to speak French ! London

Karine was of great help in preparing for my exam – I couldn’t have done it without her!  Being able to converse in French one-to-one, in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, has greatly improved my level of fluency, since you don’t have to worry so much about making mistakes.
– Peter, studied for taking my A-level exam and passed with grade A, D’Overbroeck’s College, Oxford

Karine has excellent teaching skills, she is very encouraging, supportive and patient, yet firm! She makes the lessons enjoyable and interesting and we can highly recommend her.
– Christine & Simon, improving French for pleasure, Banbury

I took great pleasure from Karine’s lessons and I learnt not only the language skills but also the culture, thinking and manners – the journey of learning French has brought a ray of sunlight into my life and appreciating the country has given me such inspirations/aspirations – those were more than I expected! Karine has a unique, captivating & multi-approached teaching method, without which I would never have learnt this much and come to this level where I am now. Thank you so much, Karine!
– Mio, learned French from scratch for two years, Oxford

I started attending Karine’s classes over a year ago. The class style is unique, encouraging, fun and on top of that I don’t have to do any notes! I am amazed at how much material we have covered, and how much I actually retained! Often in previous experiences, I have felt intimidated about language and working with a teacher. On the contrary, Karine is always very happy and friendly – every activity and every class was one that I enjoyed and really looked forward to! The class did wonders for my confidence.
– Joanna, improving French for pleasure, Oxford

It was a relief to discover that Karine’s approach to teaching is completely tailored to your personal level of ability and interests, and not prescribed from a textbook. I have found her both supportive and encouraging, which puts me at ease to test myself and enjoy French language simultaneously. The diverse range of resources that Karine draws upon – from French cinema, literature and websites, to more popular linguistic teachings – means that I have found myself exposed to a much broader spectrum of the French language and culture than I would have been taking classes in any other format. Fundamentally Karine invests a lot of time in all of her students, which makes her effective and inspiring. The success of my return to learning the French language after a long break has been solely down to Karine’s flexibility, support and excellent knowledge of modern French language. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone interested in learning the French language. Merci beaucoup, Karine!
– Ellie, improving French for pleasure, Oxfam Employee, Oxford

Karine is an excellent teacher. She always prepares the lessons well and also gives extensive feedback after each session. She is also very patient and takes a positive approach to each lesson.
– Clare, improving French for pleasure, Oxford

Twelve months ago, I struggled to make myself understood in France with my 30-year-old schoolgirl French. Now, thanks to Karine, I can understand and join in conversations with French friends. She has improved my vocabulary, my grammar, my pronunciation and, most importantly, has boosted my self-confidence. Thank you, Karine!
– Fiona, Ascott-under-Wychwood, improving French for pleasure

Karine was a fantastic teacher, her lessons were always well prepared and focused. She taught in a relaxed and friendly manner and always provided me with exercises and extra material to help me outside lesson time. Most importantly she was extremely enthusiastic and passionate about teaching French!
– Francis, learning French for pleasure, Oxford