My daughter and I are taking a trip to Paris in October and wanted to know some French so we can be…read morerespectful visitors. We found Miss Valerie with wonderful reviews and gave LB Lingual a try. What a treat! Miss Valerie is so awesome and went above and beyond our expectations. She was super accommodating with our schedules and had an online class that made it even easier! She is friendly and engaging and so enthusiastic! She was like a friend we met every week for a chat. She went out of her way to find what was relevant to us and geared our classes toward those experiences. We learned words, phrases and conversational French that will be current and up to date for today's Paris. I would love to continue learning with her. She is welcome to join us any Sunday at Renoud's :-) We can't recommend her more highly!

Miss Valerie is simply amazing! She's joyful, effervescent and imaginative, all of which shines…read morethrough her teaching technique, worksheets and the educational materials she creates and uses in teaching her students. She's knowledgeable and responsive, always going above and beyond what's called for to give her students a full experience in not only the French language, but the experience of what it is to be in France. I highly recommend her. If you're looking for a great language teacher, you'll find her in Miss Valerie.

I liked the experience at ALCI. I gained many good friends during I'm learning English. The…read moreactivities were nice!! We went to Long Beach Aquarium and Kayak on the water as field trip. I also enjoyed my time there because all the staff and teachers were very understanding, friendly, and helpful. Thank you for everything!

From the owner: ESL, College preparation, English language learning, language schools, F-1 visaread more

I just finished my first free demo class for beginner Spanish. It was amazing that we were…read moreconversing in Spanish the whole time. It really is a successful approach to be able to naturally speak a new language. The location was easy to find - just past Carson going on Bellflower and then just past the CVS. It is on the left onto Viking and just upstairs! I had my class with Director Patty and she was so energetic & fun! I'm looking forward to the adult group classes and getting fluent in Spanish!

I had a great first class! I'm revisiting my Spanish studies after a 20 year break and to say I'm…read morerusty is an understatement! Patty was encouraging and patient dispite my apprehensions about speaking incorrectly. The classes are designed to have you speaking Spanish from the very 1st class and I'm super excited about jumping back into learning the language again. Highly recommended!

For over 8 years I have again and again loved the fun and engaging way Valerie has helped me with…read moremy personal goals in learning the French language. I have greatly benefited from both her tailor made private classes and the super cool group classes she offers. My comprehension, pronunciation, and level of French have greatly improved! She makes learning a joy because her lessons and teaching style are always very interesting. She brings a sparkle to her already enchanting French flair. Thanks to her fun and stellar lessons, my vocabulary and conversational skills are strong and my confidence has grown by leaps and bounds. She is extremely professional, prepared and flexible.

From the owner: The emphasis is given on creating a safe and fun place for children to learn French in a non…read morecompetitive and friendly environment.

Having taught in universities and colleges for over 35 years, I had the pleasure of observing my…read moreyoung grandson learning to speak French under the instruction of Shantal Harzig. What a pleasure it was to sit and observe the many skills and techniques of Ms. Shantal. The instruction was paying off, for the students were learning how to speak French in an encouraging, exciting and individualized environment. What made the work especially unique was Ms. Chantal's energy and enthusiasm, her multi-faceted approach to the work, her patience and teaching skill level that enabled her adjust her approach to meet the individual needs of those in attendance. No second was wasted. The variety of ways in which Ms. Shantal was able to approach the work was masterful. Those kinds of skills would be effective at all age and skill levels for those wanting to learn French and, in time, to speak it with distinction. May her work continue to benefit many.

Best French classes for children. My kids have been with Mrs. Chantal for 3 years and loved her and…read moreher classes. The learned good French and are now Able to navigate life in Paris. Highly recommend her!!!

Laura is a wonderful and amazing teacher! I am an elementary school teacher; I decided to take…read moreSpanish classes with Laura because I wanted to be able to communicate effectively with my students' parents at school. I took three years of Spanish in high school but didn't continue my studies after high school. Due to not studying Spanish for several years, I lost many foundational skills as well as my confidence in conversational speaking. Prior to the lessons, I was only able to speak several words and phrases, but now I'm able to have a basic conversation. After taking several sessions with Laura I have gained confidence with basic conversational skills in Spanish. The weekly Skype classes worked perfect with my schedule. She is very accommodating and flexible when it comes to scheduling classes. The classes are full immersion; she encourages you to only speak Spanish throughout the entire session. The classes and homework were tailored to my individual needs as a student. Laura is extremely patient and makes each class challenging yet engaging. I highly recommend her services!

I've been taking remote lessons with Laura for 1 year and in that time I've been able to…read moresignificantly advance Spanish language skills. I can now converse fluently in everyday scenarios, and I have an intermediate business vocabulary with an 80% comprehension of my Spanish-speaking professional colleagues (enough to ask the right questions!). I run an international tech start-up that requires frequent travel to Mexico City. I wanted to build on the four years of Spanish I took high school so that I could get around the city while traveling, as well as communicate more effectively with the staff and vendors that were not fluent in English. My work hours tended to be long and unpredictable, so the Skype sessions with Laura were actually a huge selling point for me - I don't think I could have improved my Spanish any other way as physical classroom lessons were out of the question for me. Because I wasn't practicing Spanish regularly, I was VERY rusty. Prior to my first lesson, Laura gave me a placement test so she could assess where I should begin. Every session is 100% Spanish, so I wasn't sure how we were going to pull this off. I am not going to lie - my Spanish was stilted, jarring and filled with "umm" and "hmm" during the first lesson, almost like I never learned a thing in school! Rest assured, Laura was an intuitive instructor and adapted the topics to help me feel more comfortable in the first couple of sessions. During lessons, we used the Skype chat function to help translate or conjugate words I needed to learn, so that was very useful - and I was able to go back and review her feedback afterward. While Skype has been a great communication tool, it only works because there's a seasoned educator behind it. One of Laura's strengths is her ability to adapt and contextualize the lessons to my specific needs. The first couple of months I had homework prior to each lesson, which refreshed me on the basics. Later, the lessons became more conversational and we ran through some business related topics so I could learn vocabulary I was most likely to use. After 3 weeks, I stopped stumbling over my words; after 3 months, I was able to travel solo in Mexico without a lick of English; after 6 months, I was able to understand about 50% of professional Spanish speakers; and after 1 year, I read, write, and speak Spanish daily - informally and professionally. My Spanish is not always perfect, but it's very good and I feel confident speaking to others. I'm still taking lessons to keep improving. I've recommended Laura to other friends and peers because she's helped me so much. If you are serious about learning, give a few lessons a try. Si está considerando las lecciones de Laura, no lo dude. En un mes regrese y lea esta reseña y le prometo que estará de acuerdo conmigo. Buena suerte!

The Chinese language has always intrigued me. My mom is half Chinese but she never learned the…read morelanguage and neither did my sister and I. Fast forward a million years later, I decided to finally take some language lessons. I went to another school prior to meeting Feng Laoshi but I'm so glad I met her. She's very nice and pushes you to learn. It's not boring learning because you interact with her. It's not all book reading and memorization. Of course you need to memorize stuff but you do it with full understanding. No mindless repetition over here. And she notices when my eyes start to glaze so she gives me a break then. Haha! She teaches all levels of mandarin. She also used to teach math at Kunming University in China, and she paints, too!! You have the option to meet face to face with her for your classes or you do it on Skype. I do the latter since I don't wanna drive after a long day of work. I highly recommend her classes.

From the owner: Hello， My name is Yusi…read more I provide one-on-one teach in person ($35/per hour, in my place) and also provide online one-on-one teach with Skype ($25/per hour). I will give you half hour free trial lesson in my place, or 10minutes free trial lesson on

Great learning opportunity. Culture and language at the same time. Been here for over 70 years.read more

This school is awesome. I came here in September to finally check off a lifelong dream of being…read morevery proficient in Japanese. The school is from 8:45 - 12:30pm on Saturdays, which makes it perfect for adults like me who are studying Japanese after work. There is also a childrens school as well. The instructors are either native Japanese teachers or passionate bi-lingual folks. Each week we go over a different chapter and do many speaking exercises and a program at the end of the year. I am signing up for Level 2 and I feel that I am getting much more than I expected. I can speak back to my parents and family members in nihongo (which is finally giving me legit Asian status), I can read hiragana and katakana (which otherwise look like a random collection of slashes and swoops) and I can converse some. The teachers are really cool and you can tell they really care about teaching the Japanese language and culture. If you had any inkling to learn about Japanese and have a Saturday morning open, I highly recommend this school! You will not regret it. Great for kids!

It's been a bit over a year since I flew off to Barcelona with Adelante. Barcelona is an absolutely…read morebeautiful city. I would go back if I could. Personally, there are two main criticisms from me: 1. The first week was incredibly full of hiccups--to an extent, to be expected. The housing situation that I was initially faced with, however, was truly horrendous. I was placed in an apartment with two other Adelante girls (who are great and I still keep in touch with to this day), but the apartment belonged to a stranger we did not meet until we got there (it would have been nice to know who I was going to live with ahead of time--I don't see why this could not have been arranged sooner for the peace of mind for any intern). The guy that lived with us was nice, but it was a bit unusual to place three girls in their early 20's with a 30 year old male we had never met until we actually arrived. There was supposed to also be another stranger in the apartment not part of Adelante. The apartment itself, although in a good location, was not in good shape. It was very, very dirty (there were roaches in the bathroom) & my bedroom was not an actual bedroom. Someone had put up a fake wall ON A BALCONY and called it a room. The door did not close. You could not fit a person, a bed, & one suitcase all at once. It was a nightmare. The door didn't close--which was also a glass door, there was a curtain rod in front of it for "privacy". The rod also FELL ON ME when I tried to move the curtain. So the room was so small I couldn't fit my suitcases in it, the room was obviously not weather proof, the window was a window looking into the bathroom, it didn't have a real door... I tried emailing our Adelante contact in California about it initially, & I was basically told to "put up with it because of the location" (which was a 10 minute walk from my internship). This is probably the most infuriating part, & I can't stress enough how much of an unfair & dismissive response this was. I consider myself a well-seasoned traveler, I am more than aware of culture shock & how different architecture is in Europe... This was far beyond that. By the end of the week, however, I had already moved. I got in contact with Andrea, who was one of our contacts in Barcelona, is the person who plans housing, and works at the Spanish school that we go to for the first two weeks. She immediately had me look at other apartments. I thank Andrea for taking my concerns seriously & having me relocated so quickly. She understood that my housing situation was unacceptable and unlivable & was more than apologetic for the situation. I am grateful for her responsiveness to the situation. I ended up moving in with a woman who I absolutely loved. It's been a year & I still miss her. 2. Internship contact: While we were in BCN, we were put in contact with the lady who does all the internship coordination for all of Adelante's interns in BCN. Although I did not personally have any issues with her & she is a nice lady overall, I did notice something that I think Adelante should address. On my internship placement, there was another intern from another company also from the US. We were both supervised by the same supervisor at our internship & we had similar "jobs". We worked together a lot of the time. However, her and our supervisor had previously zoomed before the beginning of this internship and were able to talk about the experience that came with the internship, what was expected etc. Why didn't she coordinate a Zoom call like that with me & my supervisor as well? I spoke to my supervisor about it, who said she had attempted to reach out to her multiple times (before the beginning of the internship & throughout as well) & never got a response. I was happy with my internship placement itself & I gained good experience from it. I knew 3 other Adelante interns that were there same time as me. One was happy with their placement, one was unplaced for one month but then liked it once they got one, & one didn't like theirs, ended it early & decided to go back to the Spanish school. Overall consensus: I loved Barcelona sososo much. I cannot truly stress it enough. Were there hiccups? Yes. Were they resolved? Yes. I will say, however, they were resolved because I took the initiative to reach out and make things right for myself. It's a good immersion program, with a fair amount of hiccups. Adelante Abroad is there to set up the basics for you so you can fly off to Barcelona (or whatever location you choose) & do your own thing (which is why it is so much less expensive than most programs). This program is for the independent-traveler. If you have the opportunity to go to a foreign country & immerse yourself in another culture, please do it. However, be mindful that there will be difficulties and that you WILL need to stand up for yourself throughout. It's all part of the process, and it's a learning curve. Trust yourself and you'll be fine.

This place is more like a 3.5. I went abroad last summer with Adelante and had a mixed experience…read more ORGANIZATION/SERVICE - 3/5 If you do your internship abroad, the program is divided into two parts. The first two weeks of your program, you are in a school learning the language. I did my program in Spain so I was immersed into an beginner advanced Spanish class. The second part of the internship program is the actual internship. Adelante will do their best to place you in a field that is of your main interests. They do not guarantee it. While you are in America, the service is phenomenal. The Adelante staff answer all of your questions quickly. They give you a lot of information about how your time abroad will be and what to expect. They send many forms and are willing to have many conversations with you. While you are in Spain, the service is poor. There were several times when my roommate and I tried contacting Adelante about the weak internet and the MAJOR ant problem that we had. INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT - 4/5 I really enjoyed my internship. The people were very friendly and were patient with me. They helped me grow in my Spanish speaking abilities. My internship was in fashion marketing. I helped a lot with the social media, taking photos, Photoshop, etc. I would STRONGLY recommend having a high fluency in a language if you will be doing an internship abroad. If you are doing the internship during the summer, confirm with Adelante that the owner of the business will not be closing his practice/store for his vacation. This happened with one of my friends. She had one month of having no internship because the doctor she was working for went on vacation. HOUSING - 2/5 As I mentioned earlier, we had serious issues with ants in our apartment and horrible WIFI. The apartment was pretty decent. Each of my roommates got their own room and we shared the living room. We were right in the center of Madrid on Calle Mayor. At times, it was very noisy outside of our apartment. Overall, it was pretty great living in the center of Madrid. My friend got such a horrible arrangement with her room. The room Adelante gave her was the size of a walk in closet. There was only enough room for a bed and a small closet. There was one window that was right above her bed. It was not suitable to go in her room during the day. It was boiling hot in her room. When she confronted Adelante about it, they did nothing to help her. It was really a disgrace. The worst part of the program was the housing. It was horrendous. FINAL WORDS: Adelante is a great immersion company. I really liked my internship and really grew in my Spanish. There were some negative aspects in regards to housing and customer service. This program really is for the independent traveling soul. You will be immersed in the culture from the beginning! Good luck!

IVA has been a wonderful experience. We are looking forward to our second child also attending. The…read moreentire staff, faculty and admin truly want to be there. The support is unmatched not only academically but also socio-emotionally. The community is diverse and welcoming. My child is challenged academically but not stressed and she loves her school and teachers/staff/faculty/admin. The way the material is presented and discussed is all truly with curiosity, engaging and to develop critical thinkers. We know there is nothing like IVA middle school in the best way possible.

My son is a now a junior in high school, but he remembers IVA fondly and has even volunteered with…read morethe school to give back to the middle school that he loved. What did he like about it? The small discussion-based classes, the kind and caring atmosphere, and the fact that it prepared him academically for a rigorous high school schedule. IVA still holds a special place in our family's heart and we consider ourselves very lucky that our son was able to spend such formative years there.