Karine Sauvignon
Karine is the Founder and Director of “French in Oxford”. In Spring 2025, after more than a decade teaching French in the UK, Karine has embarked on a new adventure living in France.
Karine continues to undertake all online tuition for “French in Oxford”, while her new colleague Marlène looks after all face-to-face teaching.
Born and educated in Paris, I have been living in England for twenty-two years. I worked as a Museum professional in London and Oxford for six years. However, I changed career fourteen years ago to join the Education sector, because I felt very much attracted to teaching.
I immediately was convinced that this was the right path to follow, especially as I received praise and encouragement from my first students, as well as from established teachers.
I have a genuine interest in helping others and very much enjoy being able to transfer my language skills. I consider that I have developed a friendly approach to teaching, as I don’t overly focus on theory and make sure that the learning activities are interactive and fun. Having a wide range of interests, I am able to quickly identify the topics that I can explore with my students.
Teaching Experience
Since I left the Museum sector, I have devoted my time to getting hands-on experience, as well as improving my skills from a theoretical point of view. I took part in many teaching seminars and received much advice from a network of teachers. In April 2012 I acquired the TEFL qualification (TEFL info), in order to gain a better understanding of grammar issues for English-speaking learners.
I mainly provide private one-to-one tuition, but I also currently teach for Cactus Language School, Central Oxford (classes for adult groups – languagecoursesuk.co.uk) and Le Petit Club Français, North Oxford (classes for children – petitcluboxford.org).
Qualifications
2013: FLE (Français Langue Étrangère) Certificate for Teaching Children – CNED
2012: TEFL Advanced Certificate in English Language Teaching – TEFL Express
2001: MPhil in Art History (distinction) – University of Lyon-Lumière
1999: Masters in Art History (distinction) – University of Paris-La Sorbonne
1996: Masters in Museum Studies (distinction) – École du Louvre, Paris
1995: Bachelors in Art History (distinction) – École du Louvre, Paris
References
Available on request
CRB checked
Marlène Quinnell
In Spring 2025, I was honoured to be invited to join “French in Oxford” by its Founder and Director, my friend Karine Sauvignon. After more than a decade teaching French in the UK, Karine has embarked on a new adventure overseas.
I am therefore very happy and excited to now be heading all face-to-face teaching for “French in Oxford”, while Karine continues to undertake all online tuition.
