Hola Me Llamo EJ. Me encanta Fluent City! First of all, I have learned more than just that from Fluent City, but they have really helped me improve my Spanish skills tremendously! After taking two courses here, I really appreciate how knowledgable and organized the classes are. With less than 12 students per class, the teachers really encourage students to get to know each other and really speak only the language. If you don't like the class and/or teacher within the first two classes, you can get a refund or switch to another class! I have tried other language courses in DC, but Fluent City really helped me learn and use my Spanish most proficiently. It really takes a lot of extra time and effort to be more fluent on the language yourself, but in the city of DC, Fluent City tries their best to make sure that you are Fluent in your City!!! Offering a variety of languages other than Spanish, Fluent City is the way to go especially if you want to use it for employment, take up a new language, or just explore the world! read more

Really loved my experience with Fluent City, and would totally take Spanish classes from Pineda again. Her lesson plans were the perfect pace and Spanish 3 turned out to be a great level for me -- I had only taken two years of Spanish in high school, and just kind of stumbled my way through travel for 10+ years. Could not recommend Pineda's class enough. It's a challenge to follow along sometimes because she explains everything in Spanish (and she's from Barcelona), but at level 3, you need to be getting comfortable with hearing everything in Spanish anyway. Gracias por todos! read more

So, my review is sort of mixed. I signed up to take a total of 4 French classes with Fluent City, and all except for one (French 2) was cancelled. They were very accommodating, but for someone who really wants to learn the language, this is incredibly disappointing. When French 1 was cancelled, they gave me 10 hours of private lessons. Then French 2 was cancelled. For that, they refunded all of my money - both the money I paid for French 1 that was transferred to private lessons and the cost of French 2 - and gave me a promo code for a future class. They had a different French 2 class starting so I signed up for that one and loved it. Then, I signed up for French 3... first class was postponed a month then it was cancelled all together. Yes, they refunded my money. But, given the timing of when it was cancelled, it was too late to start another course at a different learning center. I am pretty sure I am done trying with Fluent City. I loved my teacher, but the inconsistency is a complete let down. For what it is worth, Fluent City was recommended by a friend learning Spanish. Her experience has been completely different. She had absolutely no issues with classes getting cancelled. I assume it is because there is more interest in Spanish than there is in French. read more

Incredibly disappointing experience with customer service and beyond. I do not recommend in any capacity. Refused to refund my classes after two separate teachers didn't show up for my scheduled lessons. read more

I'm taking a French I class with Fluent City and am very happy so far. This class is exactly what I have been looking for! Other classes I"ve tried just want to talk to you in French the whole time. I realize immersion is good, but I need you to give me some fundamentals such as how are things pronnounced, some grammar etc. Fluent City is doing exactly that. I really like the teacher she is very approachable and set the stage well saying we won't be fluent, but may be able to speak like a kid and that's awesome. The location is convenient in Thomas Circle (there's also a Dupont location). It's afforadable as far as these things go $300 and they give you handouts so you don't have to buy books which is great. The one downside I will say is the Fluent City woman running the site was REALLY rude. The class is held in a huge church and there were no directions in the email which door to go in which would have been helpful. I called the office in NYC which had no idea, but game me the cell of the woman in charge of the site. She responded "you should come in the way everyone else did." HELLO.......if I knew where that was I would have come in already. So rude. This also happened to one of my classmates so at least I know it's not me..... read more

I found fluent city on Groupon for half-off your first language class. I've been pleased so far with my Spanish class. My teacher is great. She has tons of energy and really emphasizes speaking and listening. In my Spanish II class the professor only speaks in Spanish, maximizing the short time we have. My only frustration was that she was unable to answer some of my specific grammatical questions. Perhaps she was keeping it simple for our class's level. The hours and locations are convenient, although to be honest, after working all day, sometimes the last thing I want to do is think in a foreign language for two hours. A Saturday or Sunday class would be a nice alternative. Compared to language classes in high school, everyone is eager to learn However, I noticed that class attendance drops after the first few classes, so a initial class size of 15 may drop to 6. Good if you like individual attention. Overall, I will be returning to Fluent City for Spanish III. read more

Since writing my first review, I took one more class with the same teacher, and after she left, I took one more Spanish class (Advanced Conversation). The Advanced Conversation class was OK. We found our own articles to read and present to class, read stories, watched a movie, and spent a lot of time on conversation, but there wasn't any grammar review at that level. Teachers may or may not prepare very much outside of class. As is the case with any of their competitors, Fluent City doesn't pay their teachers for any time they spend preparing for class, only actual hours in class. I haven't confirmed this with them, but I also believe teachers are now required to let Fluent City own any materials they come up with for class, which probably further disincentivizes planning. All the same, from my experience, I can't really recommend any other private language class company that offers that variety of languages, especially since Fluent City is probably still the best deal. It might be worth checking out whatever local institution specializes in the particular language you're trying to learn, depending on what that is. No matter where you take a class, it's all going to come down to the teacher you get. read more

This program was suggested to me by a trusted friend with top notch skills, not to mention one who is part Salvadoran and a former Spanish major. Overall, excellent selection of intro, intermediate and advanced language courses. The program provides in-person sessions tailored around a young professionals busy work day. Whether the objective is to feel comfortable speaking different languages abroad or becoming totally fluent, Fluent City stays true to its name. read more

I was really excited about learning French, but Fluent City didn't have a class at a time that worked for me. They suggested private online lessons, which made me a little apprehensive, but was the perfect solution! I feel like I really lucked out with the instructor I was matched with. Jaclyn was well-prepared for each of our lessons, flexible with scheduling, friendly, and had such great knowledge of French. She really tailored each lesson to my progress so far and my interests in learning the language. I would highly recommend taking private lessons through Fluent City -- from my experience, the teachers are top notch which makes them a great value. read more

Fluent City was a great experience! I took French 2 with Lindsey Cochran, a really knowledgeable teacher. She was very understanding of everyone's level of comprehension and her teaching style made everyone comfortable with their respective speaking levels. I would definitely recommend her in the future to anyone. Hopefully I get to take Level 3 with her! read more

I have had three Spanish teachers at Fluent City that were both excellent! They made the classes interesting and fun and I can honestly say that I learned a lot from all of the classes that I have taken. However, I have had two teachers now that were non-native Spanish speakers. In these classes, English was spoken frequently and the pace of the classes were very slow and boring. The teachers seemed to just read from the text that we were given. They weren't bad teachers at all, but I prefer to take Spanish classes from a native Spanish speaker...just a personal preference. As such, I think I will try iTalki or some other language learning platform. With Fluent City, the experience that you will get seems to be luck of the draw; If I were basing my rating solely on the two teachers I had previously, I would have given Fluent City 5 stars hands down. Also, Fluent City, at times the staff in NYC were non-responsive. When I have managed to get ahold of them, the staff was friendly and very helpful. The locations - one near Dupont Circle and the other near Thomas Circle - were also great. Metro accessible, spacious, really, no complaints. read more

Love working with my teacher Catalina for private tutoring sessions. I have been working with her to improve my medical spanish for my job and she specifically tailors her lessons to what I need. She is reliable and so nurturing about helping me improve. When I run into problems on homework and self study, I text her and she answers my questions outside of our tutoring sessions!!! Amazing! read more

Serena is great! Lesson plans are always on point and I definitely learned more than when I started

After trying to learn French on my own for years, I signed up for a Fluent City course in February and I couldn't be more pleased. I have a much firmer grasp on grammar and context, and I love how relevant the vocabulary is. Serena is the best - she's so knowledgeable and engaging, and I've really loved being in her class! read more

Me encanta Fluent City! This is my second class with Catalina and I've enjoyed every moment of it. She is fun, upbeat and allows us to choose the topics we want to talk about. In our Spanish 6/7 class, we have gone to a few restaurants, played trivia, and participated in tons of other fun activities. This is a great class if you want to practice your Spanish in real life situations and not just on an app or through a textbook. I'd also like to give Michael a shoutout, who joyfully welcomes me at the front desk every class, and the customer service team. They constantly check in on me to make sure I am loving my experience. Muchas gracias Fluent City y Catalina! read more

I'm currently taking Arabic Level 1 and I've already signed up for the Level 2 class. My class instructor, Rouaa, is AMAZING!!! Such a great teacher! She makes sure everyone participates, gives just the right amount of encouragement, and also lights a fire under our butts to do the homework and practice on our own. Learning a new language AND writing system takes time when you're working from the ground up. Fluent City was very specific in the Arabic 1 class description of what we would and wouldn't be able to do by the end of the class - but that's a good thing! Keeps the expectations realistic and I feel like I'm getting a great foundation. We're charging through a lot of material but I'm keeping up and I can already spell and sound out a bunch of Arabic words (even though I don't always know what they mean), but it's still damn cool and I'm excited to keep my Arabic studies moving. The biggest thing is you have to put in the time outside of class. 2 hours once a week of class time will only get you so far. I've downloaded flashcard apps to make my own and use those to study. All-in-all it's a great program! read more

I had a really great experience learning from Catalina Campos during the Spring Teacher workshop. She shared a lot of new ideas for how to incorporate games into our teaching that will help students retain their knowledge, and have a lot of fun along the way. I will absolutely be using Catalina's techniques and tricks with my classes! It is exciting to learn from a network of teachers who truly care about getting their students engaged and on their feet when learning a new language. read more

I am currently taking French I through Fluent City. My professor is wonderful and I'm really enjoying the classes. Our professor is patient, meticulous about pronunciation (such a help for those of us starting at square one), and creative. The workbook they provide you with as part of the class has all of the lessons in it. The only thing you need to buy on your own is a dictionary (just download a free app!). The best thing about the classes is that they pushes us to speak. This can be daunting to beginners, but they create a welcoming learning environment. The one thing I can think of that would make the class even better would be if the professor (or someone else) could record the pronunciation of words from the workbook. I find I often forget from class and my phonetic notes aren't quite doing the trick. I mentioned this to the FluentCity team and they were immediately responsive and are looking into for future classes. Off to sign up for French II! read more

So far I've taken two classes with Fluent City and have really enjoyed both of them. The professor is great and attentive. The classes are challenging and welcoming. I highly recommend them! read more

I highly recommend Fluent City. I took Spanish II with them and am planning on taking Spanish III in the next couple of months. The teacher is knowledgeable, the class is taught all in Spanish, and the course did not feel like the waste of time that it was in college: I felt like I was actually learning something. When something came up in my scheduling after signing up for Spanish III (but before their 7 day window), they were great at immediately canceling and refunding my class and the tutoring catch up session I had scheduled. I've never had any bad experiences with them. The things that knock off a star: It is it hard to go to class in the second half of the sessions. This is largely because no one else shows up, and there's something kind of depressing about sitting in a room with three other people. I've also experienced mixed things with their substitute teachers and I would also incorporate more games or dedicated periods of time for just practice and review. There's not a lot of review in these classes - it's just full speed ahead. And sometimes it doesn't feel like it's sunk in at all before you have to move onto the next thing. read more

I rarely leave reviews, but my Fluent City experience has been so terrible that I genuinely want to save others the hassle that I've been through. I decided to get a Spanish tutor to brush up on my Spanish skills in advance of an interview for a job in which I would need to speak Spanish. Since I only got notification about the interview 1 week in advance, I contacted Fluent City (and a few other language tutoring services) online to see if they could accommodate me for 5-7 days of daily lessons in advance of my interview. FC was the first to get back to me, which they did by phone first thing in the morning the day after . Over the phone, I explained in detail my immediate need, and I was assured that I'd be matched with a tutor that day (last Wednesday) and could start lessons 2 days later, on Friday. Thursday was Thanksgiving, and I was assured that despite the holidays, there would be no issues whatsoever getting me a tutor. During the call, I felt like the salesman, James, was a slightly pushy, but I was also under a time crunch to find a tutor, so I decided to go ahead with Fluent City. I pre-paid for 12 hours of one-on-one Spanish tutoring, and they charged the full amount my card right away ($860 since I was able to take advantage of a $100 discount they were offering). By Wednesday evening, I still hadn't received my tutor match, so I emailed their main address asking for the name and contact info of my tutor. By noon Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), I still hadn't received any further details by phone or email. I emailed again (never got a response), and I called -- the person I spoke to sounded like he was in an echo-y warehouse. He said he was just the admin guy but that he would call both his boss and James, the FC employee who set me up with my 12-hour package and promised he would call right back. I never received a call back from anyone at FC. Meanwhile, many other of the other tutoring services I had reached out to had written back to me, so I had to go with a different tutor, since I was under a time crunch with my upcoming interview in Spanish. On Sunday, I still hadn't heard back from anyone at FC, so I sent another email expressing my dissatisfaction and stating that I would need a refund since they didn't match me with a tutor. I finally got a call back mid-morning on Monday from James, the guy who originally sold me the package. He gave me a handful of disjointed, inconsistent excuses as to why he didn't match me with a tutor as promised and why nobody had bothered to call or email me back before then. He neither offered to match me with a tutor nor offered a refund or anything; just presented the various excuses. I explained that I'd already gotten a different tutor and would now need a refund. He sounded reluctant but said okay, and I asked repeatedly for email confirmation that they would be processing my refund. He said that he would send email confirmation right away. That was Monday. Today, 3 days later, I still haven't received email confirmation. I know that it takes 7-10 days for a refund to show up in my account, but I also know it takes hardly any time or effort to send an email confirmation. This is NOT a company that cares about delivering its service to its clientele. I just hope that I do actually get my refund. I would give Fluent City zero stars if that was an option. read more

I'm taking the Spanish 2 course, after taking Spanish courses in middle through high school. I started off enrolled in Spanish 3, but after the first course I decided to ask la profesora to move down, since the courses are taught completey in Spanish and I realized I needed a review of the fundamentals and common vocab, which I had by then forgotten for the most part. It was easy to move down and better for me to build on the basics. I like that la profesora is fluent in Spanish and (although it's challenging) uses only Spanish as she teaches us. It helps to train the ear and I never once second guessed her knowledge. I don't think this is a criticism about la profesora in particular, but it is difficult to make sure every student in the class is on the same page and really understands. Some are more advanced than others, and it would be nice to find some way to better help everyone progress. I think this has a lot to do with being forced to speak aloud in Spanish as much as possible, which we could do more of imo. I am learning a lot, mostly by training my ear to listen to only Spanish. My FAVORITE day was when we played a game in class. The game was in 100% Spanish and it was interactive and fun. The concept was the different "tener que' idioms and the game required one person to sit in front of the board "blind' to which idiom was written in a sentence. The rest of the class had to give the person clues (in Spanish) until they figured out what the saying was. This combined all my favorite elements: Spanish listening and speaking, and interactive learning. read more

I signed up for Arabic 1 & 2 with Fluent City. I really enjoyed the first course, but the second one was significantly harder. Arabic isn't an easy language to learn though, and my difficulties with the course are more a reflection of the language itself and not necessarily Fluent City and/or its teachers. With that said, however, when you're not fully immersed in the language, it's really difficult to become fluent in it. The course only meets for two hours once a week in the evenings for about ten weeks, and are taught in a group setting. You'll need to carefully plan ahead, as Fluent City has a crappy return policy. You pay ahead for the whole ten weeks, and if for whatever reason you're unable to complete the course, they won't refund you any money for the classes remaining. As an alternative, they'll offer you private tutoring to get you caught up (or to make up for any classes you'll miss), but this is often an additional expense. Sometimes they'll also offer discounts on courses which is nice. I was able to get 50% off for Arabic 1 because one of my friends teachers for Fluent City, and 10% off for Arabic 2 for continuing on. I haven't taken any other language courses in DC, so I'm not sure how Fluent City compares, but it's certainly better than learning from Rosetta Stone. The courses are taught by native (or near native) speakers which is also helpful. I don't think I'll continue with Arabic, but I'd consider learning (or relearning) another foreign language with Fluent City. read more

Loved fluent city! I am signing up for the next round of classes. I totally recommend this program.

Zero stars, truthfully. Particularly given the DC location, both the instructor and Fluent City's oversight and management have been unacceptable. The instructor is completely unprepared, overly frantic, and not terribly nice. Worse, Fluent City has not even attempted to provide even the most basic oversight that could have corrected these concerns. Also, Fluent City will assign you a text but the professor does not have to use it and in my experience, relied exclusively on other texts that she would just pull out in the middle of class. read more

I signed up for a Spanish I class with Fluent City. After the first class, I found out that an unforeseen work obligation was going to prevent me from making it to classes. I contacted Fluent City and was told I could drop this class and sign up for a different class in the next 6 months. I couldn't do that because of the work issue. So, basically I paid $320 for one, 2-hour Spanish class. I get that this is a business and they need to have rules in place that allow them to profit. But, come on Fluent City, your cancellation/refund terms are incredibly inflexible. Unexpected things happen, but Fluent City will only work with you if the unexpected happens 7 days before the class starts. read more

My friend and I tried to register for the Sip and Slang event at WeWork Chinatown, but only I could register...we did it at the same time. I could register, but when she tried, it said it was sold out. Now normally, with other WeWork houses Events, you can rsvp for at most 2 people. Not time! We called, left an actual voicemail, Facebook messaged, emailed, and posted on the public Facebook page to no avail. Decided to take a chance because companies generally feel like "the more the merrier," but we sadly mistaken. Got up to the Reg desk and was told the cap was 100, even though 100 people who actually RSVPd will not show up, due to life's circumstances. We were told "NO, I'm sorry!" I'm sill wondering how they will meet their desired capacity when their minus registrant. I will never ever ever solicit their business to learn a language (that's may get me more money in Job one day), when they don't even know how to run a business. Statistics say ppl who have a bad experience are 10x more likely to spread the word, than those who have a good experience. Guess what, I've told 100 people already, and all my friends have friends. I'm gunna blast you on Facebook (bc you don't know how to answer your messages), instagram, snapchat, Twitter, Black twitter, YouTube, periscope, etc. I might write a letter, and send I thru USPS. Batter business practices are I ordered if you want to survive in this customer oriented economy. Julio told us no! Don't depend on him, he's no dependable read more

I'm half way through my first Fluent City class and I have only good things to say about it! My Spanish teacher, Kasey, always has a fun and engaging activity for us to do each week. For example, we played Simon Says in Spanish to test how well we know las partes del cuerpo yesterday. So much fun! I highly recommend Fluent City for anyone who wants to learn a new language or is looking to brush up on one. read more

I highly recommend anyone to take Spanish classes from Fluent City. My instructor Drew Bahr made our session lively, fun as well as interesting. He has a lot of patience and will guide you through the course read more

Great choice. The classes are primarily taught with situation and immersive techniques and the instructor I had was excellent with handling a lot of students with varying ability. read more

I am revising my review after being reached out by James Rohrbach, CEO of Fluent City, Jessica Churgin, who helped with my refund process and Danielle who reached out a few weeks afterwards to make sure that I was satisfied with the way things were handled. After taking some time to think about the whole experience, I can say that I feel more positive about my experience than negative and I changed my review from one star to 3 since I didn't actually attend the class. The sales team called me on New Years Eve. The salesman was friendly and personable and very persistent in making a sale, However, he did help me out with a deal that actually cut the cost of the whole class in half. But at the time I agreed to pay for the class I had expressed to the gentleman on the phone that I wasn't comfortable with paying that amount of money at that time but that I was still very interested and perhaps in a few months I would have gladly signed up for a class. I do feel that I would have enjoyed the class and it is still something I am interested in. But persisting still, he convinced me that it would be a great investment that day and that the deal was only available if I signed up during the call so after some thought, knowing it was something I wanted to do eventually I agreed. I still asked before I agreed and gave my payment info if I could cancel and get a full refund. He assured me yes, that even if I called the next day I could get the refund and as long as I call a week before the class begins, the full refund would still be available to me. So I signed up with the assurance of a full refund if anything came up as a comfort in the back of my mind. I didn't realize that something would come up so quickly when I signed up and remembered that it was the actual reason I had told the salesman why I was uncomfortable with signing up at that time. This part was actually the most frustrating part of the experience. I was told that I could call the same number that the salesman called to speak to someone about the refund. I called that number, no answer. Only an option to leave a voicemail. I left a voicemail and received no response. I called again, the number on the website. I received the same automated message and only the option to leave a voicemail. After waiting a day, no one had gotten back to me. I emailed using the chat feature on the website because that was the only other option besides a phone call. At this time in my mind the company was unreachable which put me into a level of panic which in turn initially drove me to write a negative review here on Yelp. After posting my negative review and I believe from the multiple messages I left in voicemails and email, someone reached out informing me of receiving a full refund and that they would be available if I had any questions. A few days later, I received an email from James Rohrbach, CEO of Fluent City extending an apology and offering limited time offer of a 50% discount on any course (which I was unable to use unfortunately). And again after that email, Danielle, offered another discount as well and if I had questions or was still interested in taking courses that she was available to help. Overall, I think the timing wasn't right for me and my initial experience trying to reach someone at the company caused me some frustration but this experience has not totally turned me off from this company. I would strongly consider taking courses from them in the future, but I will make sure that everything on my end is in order before taking on one of their courses. I hope from this experience, Fluent City takes it into consideration in handling future customers and grows accordingly. read more

I've taken Spanish 1 at Fluent City. The first few classes were fun and easy to follow. But then the course packs way too much in for the rest of the weeks. It goes by way too fast. Was completely lost the last few weeks and retained very little. read more

I started at Fluent City March of 2017 for French class. Kyriakos is an excellent teacher. I learned so much under him. His has a lot of patience and really knows the language well. I didn't think I would learn this much in such a short time. At 44 years old, I wasn't sure if I would remember the basics or have the capacity to grasp the language now. Kyriakos is a model teacher. He not only has the patience and wisdom to teach, but he also understand the pitfalls and challenges that come with learning a new language and re-learning what speakers lost years ago. I come from a French-Canadian family. My mother's family stopped speaking French when my grandfather's generation died. Now, by speaking French again, I feel more connected to my heritage. I may even get my mom to remember it now. She does like to hear about the lessons! I also perform better at work, since at my job I catalog books, and I was able to knock out our long-standing French book backlog. My plan now is to work through French 3 and possible 4 at the Fluent City classroom, and then another private lesson to improve my conversational French. I must say i truly love learning the language. There is a large French community in New England, and when I go home I can communicate better in French and that's just awesome. Since my spare time is spent in both New England and Louisiana French is strengthening my community ties. Thanks again for such an awesome school, FC, and for hiring the best teachers. Thanks again, Fluent City! You now have a continuing student eager to become bilingual! Sincerely, Al Tyas read more

I am finishing my first course with Fluent City and I have had a very positive experience. In fact, next week I start my second class with the same organization. I have been very pleased and satisfied with my learning, interactions and experience so far. Keep up the great work! read more

Fluent City isn't always the most organized with things like sharing a course syllabus in advance, and the classrooms aren't pretty. But that doesn't matter to me because they hire awesome teachers who are genuinely committed to helping you pursue fluency in a foreign language. I've been taking Italian for a year and my progress has been fantastic, due in large part to Fluent City. The courses are comparatively inexpensive--which explains why the classrooms are a little run down--but the learning environment is a lot of fun and my skills have been developing quickly. I also appreciate that the people administering the program are pleasant and responsive. There are always going to be tradeoffs with something like this--and almost all of the ways that the programs could be better would likely entail substantially higher costs. The low tuition makes it easy to stick with the language learning through a series of courses, one after the other. Not only am I satisfied with Fluent City, I've made friends through my class and I look forward to the evening when I meet with them. This school has been a really pleasant surprise--I highly recommend them! :) read more

My experience with the teachers and staff at Fluent City has been absolutely positive. My teachers Trey and Yuliya were always prepared, patient, engaging and enthusiastic, and conveyed interest in us not only as students but as individuals. After completing a Level 1 Spanish class, I was able to communicate fairly well when I vacationed in Mexico, and I have continued to take further classes, learning so much more because of the two excellent teachers I have been fortunate to know. On the few occasions when I contacted the New York office, I spoke with two of the friendliest and most helpful staff, Lauren and Andy, who not only answered all of my questions and called me back to follow up and make sure all was well, but also took time to engage in conversation, a nice back and forth allowing me to learn a little bit about them and they about me. I'm very impressed with these four individuals who have made learning Spanish a wonderful experience. read more