Cet avis concerne le cours "Français par les techniques théâtrales" A mon avis, l'Alliance Française a un énorme avantage sur les autres écoles de langues en proposant un cours très spécial "Français par les techniques théâtrales". Je suis tellement reconnaissante à notre incroyable professeur Sylvaine Hinglais qui a créé ce cours magnifique et qui a une patience incomparable avec nous. Ce cours est absolument unique pour améliorer les compétences en français oral, en écoute, en lecture et en écriture. On travaille la grammaire, les conjugaisons, la phonétique, le vocabulaire à travers des dialogues contemporains. Et on découvre beaucoup sur la culture française ! Il est incroyable de voir les améliorations et la confiance accrue à l'oral pour moi-même et mes camarades de cours. C'est un excellent moyen de pratiquer la langue sans s'ennuyer. J'espère que mon avis sera utile à ceux qui apprennent le français et qui voudraient plonger plus profondément dans le monde merveilleux de la culture française. read more

It's a good place to make your first strides in French. I went from A1 to A2 here, for not too much money and with some good experiences with classmates. read more

Wanting to improve my french to a business level I joined AF after moving to France. Having had positive past experiences with AF outside of France, I signed up with good expectations. Unfortunately, I wished I had read the reviews for the french locations online. The quality of the service, lack of professionalism and skills of teachers and overall professionalism of the company is disappointing to say the last. If you are looking for good value for money in a longer-term French language course, I would recommend looking for other institutions than AF. I'm surprised with so many repeating comments, an international institute like AF does not look to improve its services. - the administration is messy and very commercialized; (you'll require a minimum of B1 level French to speak with any of the admin/enrollment department as nobody speaks any other language than French -- leading to confirmed registrations ( & payments) but no availability in courses). - teachers are of varying skill levels; some don't know how to operate a computer or slideshow presentation. In a day and age of a pandemic and 50% of the students being online. - teachers change throughout a course block and don't follow the same style/curriculum/level. Not ideal and not consistent. - Classes are big and the levels of the students in one class fluctuate. If you are a top-class student, expect to be bored (unless you get one of the better teachers who assign additional exercises). - As it is so flexible, students in a course can change completely from the 1st to the last week. takes away from the consistency of learning. All in All - outside of AF I've had good experiences and hence am disappointed with having the worst experience with AF in France itself. It's too expensive for the quality of education and the service received. Would not recommend it. read more

To my fellow Americans... Like you, I did not want to bumble around Paris embodying the ignorant Anglo stereotype. I did not want to start conversations with "parlez-vous anglais?" I did not want to smile coyly while people made jokes about me in a language I didn't understand. Instead, I wanted to try - laughably, pathetically - to speak French. Even just a little. I had taken two courses at the Alliance Francaise here in California: the 8-week beginner level 1, and then on to level 2. At this point, I was feeling good about the foundation I had going, even from taking class only 1 day per week, so I expected the week-long Intensive Course (4 hours per day, 5 days per week) at the Alliance Paris to really send me into conversational mode. Faux! It's a fabulous school, no doubt. Gorgeous facilities, like a real college campus (cafeteria, library, high-tech classrooms). Really friendly and helpful staff to help you navigate. And the teachers are authentic Frenchies. But, the downside for me was that I wanted to learn conversational French, and AF focuses more on technical, grammatical French...much more paperwork than actual speaking. My first day was a terror of various "temps" / verb tenses, and little to no actual conversation. Thankfully, of the 5-10 people in each class, there are usually half that don't have a clue what's going on, and another half that you will hate for comprehending things so effortlessly. Also, the professors teach 100% in French, which is great for immersion but terrible for seeking help or clarification when you need it. My advice to fellow Americans coming over from another non-French AF location would be 1) don't cheat on the online test. Ending up in a level too advanced will make you suicidal. 2) study up on verbs, because you won't learn any new ones here (but you'll be expected to use them). The AF Paris is best for polishing your already-decent French, or for going long-term (1 month minimum). But I'm glad I did it. Even though I didn't get out of it what I'd hoped (more confidence and conversation material), I'm sure it's all useful info in the long run. Just know what you're getting into - this is school, homework included. read more

I was hesitant to choose Alliance Francaise based on some reviews of the staff, the administration and even the quality of the school. But, all in all, it seemed to meet my needs better than all of the other schools in Paris, so I took the chance. I've been overwhelming pleased with my experience (I have been taking classes, with a few breaks, for 10 months now). In that time, due to the way I have scheduled my classes, I have had numerous teachers. Apparently there are about 120 at AF! I have found all of them to be excellent, except one or two I didn't really enjoy. In those instances, I was able to go to the registration and ask to change classes and they readily accommodated my request. The teachers are friendly, work hard to provide a quality experience, and genuinely take interest in you. Some will continue to stay in touch beyond your courses and offer help in your future endeavors, be they academic or otherwise. I can't say enough about how great the teachers are, and also many of the teachers have told me that in their experience, those at AF are of very high quality (as some work or have worked at other schools). Again regarding the administration, I couldn't be more pleased. They have been so helpful in accommodating my requests and needs. Renewing a student visa is a royal pain and twice I have needed above-and-beyond help from the school. Last time the woman even offered for the visa office to email her if I continued to have issues. I have always attempted to speak French with them, but they will speak English with you if absolutely needed, especially when your level is low. I had read the contrary and was intimidated by this from previous reviews. Every time I sit down with someone in registration for one reason or the other, I have found it to be a pleasant and productive experience. I love how flexible the schedule is. This also has some drawbacks, which I will mention in a minute. But basically you can start any Monday and stop any Friday. The classes are on a 4-week cycle, so keep that in mind if you take a break and need to re-start where you left off. I have also needed to drop back a little as learning a language at an intensive pace can move very quickly. I do think the rhythm of the courses is a little TOO fast for the intensive, but it has worked well for me to just repeat a little here and there for refreshing and giving it more time to sink in. One downside to the extreme flexibility is the composition of the classes can and often does change weekly. Some students come for 1 week and some come for over a year. Therefore, each Monday you usually are welcoming new students to the class and each Friday losing some others. It's not my favorite part as I prefer to have consistent classmates, but I wouldn't trade it for a rigid semester schedule. Yep, it's expensive. Like all of the other private language schools. Be sure to take advantage of the really fantastic library/media center, the cultural programs and offerings and the cinema showings if possible. You will get even more for your money. Overall, I've been so pleased that I selected Alliance Francaise. I am learning the language in a relaxed, yet academic setting. I have made countless friends from around the world. I have had great experiences with teachers at all levels and can even call some of them friends outside of the class. I am not terribly stressed by attendance or testing; they do take attendance and they do test, but it if you miss a class, no one slaps your hand. I can wholeheartedly recommend AF Paris! read more

Nope. Took five weeks of a "true beginner" course. Had two different professors during my time. They were nice but not very helpful. I left class feeling confused every day. I didn't learn much. A lot of us struggled with what came to be simple concepts. It is really expensive as well. Too expensive. They have a nice library but it never felt comfortable. What really annoyed me was their "system" of textbooks. You had to buy them there and there was always a ridiculous line when new classes started (all the time). Not only, but they make no sense outside of the class. I was tempted to recycle them because there is no study-able content. Waste of money. I switched to Campus Langues and never looked back! Everyone was friendly and helpful. Tuition for 9 weeks was less than half of what I paid for my 5 weeks at Alliance. I walked out of class all the more knowledgeable every single day. read more

I went to the Alliance in Paris many years ago and had a very good experience. So I signed up for an intensive "beginner" online class in Denver, CO during COVID. I was not impressed. The materials - Saison 1 are terrible. We hardly spoke in class. It was worse than learning a language in high school. There are much better language methods. I guess they have had a number of complaints as their Welcome Package included a Q&A about the method which explained that ALL French classes use a similar method grammar, etc. Perhaps I simply chose the wrong course but the way this class is structured is really sad. This type of learning is why Americans don't speak other languages. So be careful before you sign up. Ask to review the materials and the flow of the class. This really did not fit my needs. read more

I've had 2 teachers in my time at the school. One of them was ok, nothing to write home about, and the other one was horrible. I hated the school when they were my teacher. It really felt like she didn't care about anything and just read from the textbooks. read more

I had a very bad experience with the Alliance Française in Paris today, trying to help a friend who is learning French. The people there are awful and really have an attitude, they're not trying to help, they just want you to sign a check and be out of their desk. They're as nice as DMV when you have to give proof of identity... As a French, I feel very ashamed. This should not be happening. read more

NO. DO NOT GO HERE. I was placed in a class that was inappropriate for me and notified them almost immediately. They offered a partial refund, so they still charged me a fortune. A note that their "registration fee" is something like 60 Euros...something they don't mention on the website or any literature, but happily surprise you with it when you're paying your bill. This place may seem inexpensive, but it's not. The staff is not helpful or accomodating. It was a very, very bad experience. read more

I had a very bad experience with Alliance Francaise. There was no on-site evaluation and I was placed in a class way above my level. I asked to be re-assigned but, a proper class didn't exist at the time. The classrooms were hot with the windows closed and noisy with them open. Worst of all was the teacher. She was rude and absolutely refused to answer my questions. Alliance may be the biggest french language school in France and some people may have benefited from going there but, not me. There are better french schools. read more

As Alexis said. Stay away from them. Being 20 students per classroom is not acceptable considering the price we pay!!!! You can't learn a language if you are that many students for one teacher. read more

French is a really difficult language so I understand why some people feel the way like the classes are confusing. But I have been to a lot of language schools and this one has been pretty good so far. read more

I signed up for 6 weeks of intensive French classes in order to learn as quickly as possible so I could adapt to my new life here. I married a Frenchman and I wanted to be able to find a job, speak with his family, and do basic things like go to the grocery store, post office, etc. I placed into the A2 level and began classes. One of the biggest difficulties for me was that I wasn't able to learn grammar because the classes were all in French. How am I supposed to understand a concept if it's written in a language I don't speak? It makes sense to hold classes entirely in French for intermediate or advanced learners, but you are wasting your time if you are a beginner. The absolute worst part of the whole experience was the teacher I was assigned. She would find the student who did the worst on the homework and pick on them, over and over, asking them questions they didn't understand, until they hung their head in shame. If you asked a question that she didn't think was "worthwhile" she would berate you for a good five minutes and tell you what a terrible student you were. She would ask if someone wanted to do an activity and if not every person raised their hand, she would harass that person and say they're not trying hard enough in the class. It made me wonder, why would she ask if we wanted to do a certain activity if she would do it anyway, just to see who would prefer something else and provide someone for her to pick on? It is incomprehensible to me why such a well-known organization would hire someone like that who has no business teaching. The money I paid was a waste. Needless to say, I quit after three weeks of classes and got my money back for the second half. Oh and the internet at the school was down half the time. I write this review with the hope that others will avoid the Alliance Francaise and learn from my mistake. You can do better. read more