The center is located in a plaza with FREE PARKING. Parking is super convenient, entrance is on Hudson! Continue to have a large collection of language classes. Most languages are online classes on zoom. They have English speaking classes and Spanish classes online. There's no pressure to complete the homework or even attend class. But you will get more out of the classes and lessons if you do your homework. I attend Spanish classes. And supplement my learning at home with DreamingSpanish videos. read more

I had a wonderful experience with PLC. I took beginner's Italian with Alex, and it was incredible! Each lesson is clear, engaging, and tailored to the students' pace, making even tricky grammar concepts feel approachable. Alex did a wonderful job at explaining the language in a way that feels natural and conversational, while also giving students the structure we need to build a solid foundation. I love how practical the lessons are -- every class left me feeling more confident about speaking, reading, and understanding Italian. What makes Alex stand out is the perfect balance of professionalism, patience, and enthusiasm. He brings Italian to life with cultural insights, everyday expressions, and plenty of encouragement. I genuinely look forward to every session and can already see major progress in my vocabulary and fluency. If you're serious about learning Italian (and having fun while doing it), I can't recommend PLC highly enough. PS -- Grazie mille, Alex. read more

I had started a level three Spanish course at a local community college, but I realized it was too advanced for me. I need more time hearing the language at a slower pace and reinforcing what I learned in level 2 at the college. Anyway, I'm in a PLC (otherwise known as Santa Monica Language center) and the teacher is lovely. HOWEVER, I've no idea how some of the other students reached the level I'm in. They don't have much of a foundation of even basic conjugation or pronunciation. It makes for a painfully tedious class where the teacher has to correct everything some say and then praise them. I need to be challenged within a group of people who weren't moved up to the next level just because they were in the prior one. I don't look forward to the next level with this same group, so I will look elsewhere. read more

I took the four week Spanish immersion course. The office is located in Old Town Pasadena near inexpensive parking. The teacher was patient and kind. My classmates were intelligent and motivated. The staff is helpful and responsive to inquiries. The language center teaches both children and adults. I would recommend the Pasadena Language Center to anyone. read more

Decided I needed to know what my wife was yelling at me in Korean so I looked up language courses in Pasadena and gave these guys a shot. From the reviews, it's not very informative but here's my take: worth it. First, they are located above Patagonia on Union street so look for the elevator to the second floor. It's tucked away past conference rooms and other small offices and feels like it's in a hotel hallway. Inside it's wall to wall classrooms with a small checkout desk in front. There are language books lining the wall too. I signed up and bought the necessary books to learn Korean and met up with the group class on Tuesday night. My Korean teacher was very patient and thoughtful in explaining sounds and pronouncements for me. I fully enjoyed the 1.5 hr class and look forward to keeping it up so I can finally understand my wife when she's mad at me. Highly recommend this school. read more

Tldr; Decent for a short time if you just need a language refresher. Not a fan of their customer service, disorganization and defensiveness considering the high cost. I understand that business during COVID is difficult, but I'm happier taking classes elsewhere given that this type of schooling is a luxury for me. Learning languages is awesome and everyone should do it! If you have the means and the patience, PLC is a great place to start. I have done 6 different sessions here and I consider myself generally easygoing so have been through my fair share of rescheduling, instructors changing, cancellations and no-shows. I've sat in rooms when instructors haven't shown or other ones have been completely unprepared. Prior to this I've studied in many other places so I know how difficult it can be to get things right. Also to be fair, sometimes other students are also unrealistic and annoying so I definitely feel for the teachers and the organizers as sometimes things are beyond their control. Like other reviewers said, Paola seemed like an amazing teacher (she dropped the same time I started) and Alex is also great, I had a private with him as a makeup class once. I think your individual experience can vary a lot depending on who your instructor is and I've had excellent ones as well as ones who barely made it seem worthwhile. They are also willing to pro-rate classes if you have a pre determined conflict, so that can help going in. I think this center is also great if you're starting as a total beginner, you can learn so much! If my rating were to be based upon the level of instruction you will receive, it would be a solid 3.5 stars. It's not bad, some hiccups, generally positive. However the reason I am posting this review with 2 stars is based on the value of the relationship I have with the school, which is unremarkable. Being a longtime student, paying thousands of dollars previously, I note that I have had better service from other language schools and feel genuine warmth when I think of those places, unlike Pasadena. The communication and defensiveness of things not being "their fault" is just too much for me. After enduring it for years, I've finally lost my taste for it. Check out the Spanish school Proyecto Linguistico Quetzeltenago in Guatemala, highly recommended if you're doing remote classes anyway. It's too bad PLC is so inflexible and stingy, because they are one of the only places that offers instruction in languages like Arabic and Farsi in LA. But they have really failed to engender a sense of loyalty or community within their center. read more

Took Japanese and German at Pasadena Language Center before the pandemic began. The location of the language center is great given proximity to work, I could go to class right across the street after work! They offer many different language classes, however the quality of the class highly depends on the quality of the instructor. Classes tend to move very slowly when there are students that needed more time to practice/grasp a topic. Some instructors are consistently late to class. I think taking a first class from them is helpful to get started on a language you have never touched before, but once you get the hang of it, it may be easier to do self-study at your own pace rather than relying on the entire series of classes offered at the language center. read more

This semester I am taking a beginner level ASL course and love that it is via zoom at the comfort at my home. I was not able to make one session and was worried that I would be falling behind, but when I called the office, Mey was very accommodating and allowed me to take it on another time so I wouldn't miss instruction. Very appreciative about that. read more

Instructor Paola disappeared without so much as a by your leave after more than a year of study. Oh well, on to community college to continue Spanish instruction at a cheaper rate! read more

TAKE SPANISH WITH PAOLA!!!! I started my Spanish adventure in June with a one-month immersion class (M-F 9-12:45pm) and learned SO much -- in a great way. My Spanish speaking friends and colleagues were impressed by how much I had learned in 4 weeks. Of course, I make mistakes still and it's still mental gymnastics to conjugate in my head when speaking, but Paola's class facilitates conversation practice. She's very patient when explaining concepts, and always uses the BEST voices, gestures, and expressions to accompany her Spanish instruction so you can also fine-tune your Spanish-listening-ears. If you're thinking about the one-month immersion, prepare to be mentally exhausted. It's a lot to learn back to back, but I feel like it gave me a very solid foundation to build upon. Now I'm continuing with the once a week classes. If you're interested in the latter, know that it requires you to study at home to really make the most of your language class/learning investment. Paola is a fantastic teacher, and that's the first step, but the rest is up to you. read more

I have loved taking classes at the Pasadena Language Center! I enrolled in fall of 2019, started classes in person and have continued online during the pandemic. I wanted to write a review because I have received exceptional service from the administration, and I stayed mainly because of how wonderful my teacher (Elena) is! She's helpful, kind, firm when she needs to be, and fun. So lucky I found this school! Muchas gracias! read more

Very weak. The only thing I liked was the location. Make sure you go to the best instructor

Pasadena Language Center is a great place to not only learn a language, but also to meet kind and compassionate teachers and office staff who create individualized lessons that are relevant to your life. When I started lessons there, I had just found out I was pregnant. I was taking one on one Spanish classes with Elena. She was so kind, asking me all about the baby and working it into our Spanish conversation. She even got me a baby memory book in Spanish so I could continue to practice while taking a break to be with the baby! Juliet the receptionist was also so sweet, sharing stories of her own baby while I waited for class, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in English with me when I couldn't understand. I always felt valued and welcomed at Pasadena Language Center. read more

I'm taking the weekend Spanish immersion class (4 hours on Saturdays for 4 consecutive weeks), my last day is this Saturday. I have to admit that I might be a little spoiled from the one-on-one classes I've taken in Guatemala for 5 hours/day five times a week (at plqe.org that I highly recommend.) but with that said, I still think there's better out there... Positives: the class size is great with only two other students. Good for students looking to learn basic conversational Spanish for traveling or just a refresher on grammar. Negatives: -$400 (including 2 books and registration fee.) is too expensive! - my instructor will assignment homework but forget to go over them the next week. -One of the two books we had to buy, we used only once for ten minutes! -It's in Old Town Pasadena (Smith Alley) and it's very hard to find free parking for 4 hours. Problem: I'm taking classes because I need it for work, hoping to have more time to practice speaking and while we do practice speaking, it lacks the kind of depth that would allow someone to have real conversations with native Spanish speakers. I think the class would be fine for those interested in learning just enough to travel. Solution: I am looking into taking one-on-one classes with Strommen Tutoring (http://www.strommentutoring.com/info_classes.html) which seems to have raving reviews (5 stars) on yelp! read more

Not very professional. I took two quarters of ASL and one quarter of Spanish. Issues with professors canceling and rescheduling class meetings. Ordered and paid for the book three weeks in advance and was told to pick it up on first day of class. first day of class, no book... Back ordered. Can't study, can't do homework. Turns out they sold the copy I had bought and they were supposed to be holding for me to another student. Update: my Spanish instructor from the first two classes disappeared and we got a new one (who was also flakey). She wasn't very organized and didn't seem to have a plan, curriculum, anything for teaching us a new language. No foundations, no practice, nothing. Week one, conjugating verbs. Are you kidding me? Shouldn't I learn some words before I start conjugating them? The exercises assigned assumed we already had Spanish vocabularies. I mean, I know this is LA and I should already know Spanish, but I don't. Two people in the class quit, one was a high school student struggling with Spanish class at school and needed help to keep up. This place did not help her at all. Overall, this place sucks. read more

I personally am really enjoying my beginner Japanese class. The reason has a lot to do with class size -- only 1 other student! Which means I get a lot of personalized, customized attention, almost like having a tutor. After the first "registration fee" of $35 (which I'm personally not a fan of: it's a bit like paying a cover charge or tax to give someone your business, isn't it?), courses are $205 if I pay early. This breaks down to $205 early pay / 8 sessions (90 min. each!) = $25 a lesson. That's a good bargain. (Again, first-time students pay a $35 fee, so it's a bit less of a bargain, but still not bad. I was going to remove 1 star for the fee, but since I don't know the economics of it on their end, and they're all friendly, I'll give them the benefit of my doubt.) Of course, you have to buy a book, but I got mine cheaper at Amazon. The other thing I like is, hey, this is Old Town Pasadena: it's a nice place to go anytime, and the school itself is very, very charming to visit. It feels like a little modern building in Europe. Our teacher is low-key, but very nice, and she gives me extra work since I'm doing well. Love that! read more

Pasadena Language Center is a waste of money - I DON'T recommend it to anyone. My experience was as follows: First of all, as others have mentioned, their registration process is incredibly disorganized. I took 6 years of French in HS and college but have since stopped practicing. In preparation from some traveling next year I wanted to take a class to brush up on my French, so after reading (mostly) positive reviews about this place, I signed up for a French class that was scheduled for Thursday nights 7-9, starting August 31, according to the website. Keep in mind I am a working professional, not a student, so I thought this would be a good option. Anyway, I showed up and it was a ghost town - turns out, I was the only one who had registered for that class, and the instructor never showed up! I only found this out after sitting and waiting for 20 minutes in an empty room. Finally I asked one of the young women at the front what the deal was and she called the instructor, who didn't answer. Ummm??? She then told me that since I signed up for a class where I was the only registrant, my payment would be transferred into five 1-hr private classes (the price equivalent to one term's worth of 2 hour group classes, apparently). OK, fine. So she finally got in touch with the instructor who wanted to meet me Tuesday for my first private lesson, because apparently she couldn't meet on Thursdays. Um okay but the class was scheduled for Thursday nights? Whatever. I agreed. I showed up the following Tuesday and had my first private lesson. That was fine, but the instructor asked ME to tell PLC that we were now meeting on Tuesdays. First of all, I signed up for Thursdays. Secondly, isn't that HER job to take care of the scheduling? I said I wanted to meet on Thursdays. She made it seem like this was inconvenient and difficult for her since she was coming from somewhere far and would always be late. Not only did I find this to be a little rude, but it also didn't make sense to me since the class was originally supposed to be at 7! She acted like I had requested private classes, which I did not. Ultimately, though, we agreed that since it was an hour private lesson (instead of a 2 hour group class), we would meet 7:30-8:30 for the remaining 4 private classes. Again, she asked me to tell PLC that this was our schedule. I didn't, because that is NOT MY JOB. The following Thursday, I showed up at 7:30 and was told that I was 30 minutes late for the class! Apparently, 2 other people had registered and now it was back to a group class, Thursdays from 7-9. NO ONE INFORMED ME OF THIS. I walked in the classroom and there was the same instructor, essentially re-teaching what we had gone over that previous Tuesday. As if the disorganized registration wasn't bad enough, the instruction was just bad. We read from a book and were then told multiple times to watch French videos on Youtube!!! I can do that myself without paying hundreds of dollars! In retrospect, I should have. The instructor even made a joke that Youtube will put her out of a job. Um, yeah. Ha. Freaking. Ha. Also, the instructor spent a lot of the class vocalizing her political views which I found to be incredibly inappropriate. What a waste of money. I felt sorry for the other people in the class because they had clearly never learned a word of French before and (because of my past experience learning French the right way), I could tell they were being given poor instruction. It was painful to sit there, and I was just way too experienced with the language to bear it. So, I emailed and called PLC several times asking if I could transfer to a different class, either a more advanced French class or another language entirely, because I was unhappy with the instruction in my current French class. Well, I never received a response from PLC. What BS. I stopped going. There's over 200 dollars down the drain. STAY AWAY from this place if you want quality instruction. I recommend PCC or any other reputable college instead. read more

Great location, great teacher! Spanish with Alex is awesome! He is able to answer questions, stay on task and have fun while teaching Spanish. He is smart and knows which words are used where, so you can learn local flavor or how they speak in Spain. There's only 3 people in my class so we learn a lot and learn it well! I highly recommend this program and they teach something like 30 languages! This is not your high school Spanish. Thank God! read more

I have completed two intensives and am beginning my second one on one tutoring session in Spanish at PLC. I have learned so much in a short amount of time, and have had such a positive experience at this school. My teacher, Alex, is wonderful. His wife, Gina, runs the front desk and is so kind and wonderful to communicate with. On top of the amazing education I have received, I love supporting a small family-owned business. The location is also wonderful. Parking is easy in the garage on Fair Oaks (first hour is free so it generally only costs me a dollar). When I started at PLC, I had only what I could remember from taking Spanish in highschool. (Basically, I could only speak in the present tense). Now, in a very short amount of time, I know almost all of the tenses. I feel confident that, little by little (poco a poco), with more practice, I will be able to communicate when traveling and with my Spanish-speaking clients and neighbors. I also like that PLC has connections to immersion classes in Mexico that they can refer you to, which I hope to take advantage of in the future. As a person who works hourly herself, I feel their hourly rates are extremely fair for tutoring. While a community college might have been less, I appreciate the value of one-on-one attention, as well as being able to begin from whatever level you are at. Highly recommended. read more

I love Pasadena Language Center!!! This is the reason I have been able to maintain my spanish speaking skills. I was born in the States to Mexican immigrants. My parents never spoke to me in spanish after I was 6. But I grew up hearing it whenever I was with our extended family. For this reason, I understood it but could not speak it back. I took 3 years in high school and 1 in college, and it was so easy but never developed conversation skills. I went to immersion school in Mexico twice for a month each time, and this last time, I told myself I needed to find a place I could go to maintain my skills in the States on a weekly basis. That's when I found PLC!!!! And I am so happy I did. I have continued to maintain my speaking skills, enhance my vocabulary and grammar as well as comprehension. You may think the prices are high, however, if you think about it they are reasonable. Classes are small. You get a ton of individual attention even when you don't want it. LOL! Additionally, classes are an hour and a half long! Alex, Nielsa, and Maria are some of the spanish teachers and they are amazing. Love it! My husband also now attends classes and he enjoys them too. read more

I have taken numerous courses over the last several years at PLC: first in Spanish and then in Portuguese. When I first began, I was unable to do much more than pronounce words in either language. My goal was to become fluent enough to assist my work in both languages because I travel consistently throughout Latin America for my job. For Spanish, I was able to take classes directly with Alex (the owner) who is a great teacher. Because he has spent time in various Spanish-speaking countries, he was able to teach nuances in pronunciation and vocabulary between countries. This was very important to me because of my work travel to many different Spanish-speaking countries. Based on my schedule I was sometimes able to take small intimate classes with only 2-3 students, or at certain times when I could dedicate more time, 1-on-1 courses focusing on subject matter more relevant for work. After several terms, I built up a solid foundation enough for me to conduct meetings overseas fully in Spanish. For Portuguese, I had a wonderful instructor named Marcia, who is originally from Sao Paulo, and extremely patient as I learned to mentally separate Portuguese from Spanish. Once again, I took small class courses often with only 1 or 2 other students, and could progress faster than any large class. I also augmented with 1-on-1 sessions immediately before trips to Brazil for an extra boost. In just 1-2 years, I was able to participate in work meetings fully in Portuguese on my business trips to Brazil. I only took weekday morning or evening courses as I did not have time to do intensive full-day Saturday programs. Also, PLC was quite flexible in allowing for customized numbers of classes per term since I knew way in advance when there would be times I was traveling so could not attend. This was really essential and complemented my work schedule. The course materials used were not expensive and readily available for sale at PLC or through Amazon (only a slight savings). We also progressed to using newspaper/magazine articles and other literature that were prepared by the instructors or that I selected. Prior to starting with PLC, I compared prices and programs between PLC, PCC, PCC Extension, ELAC, SMCC, CSULA, Berlitz, and online courses. Many were only once per week which is not sufficient to get anywhere with a foreign language, and most were large classes meaning very slow progress. Also, almost all of them cost more per hour than PLC, especially compared to super-expensive Berlitz, which I have used in the past when prior employers footed the bill. I found out that many of the instructors at PLC also teach for Berlitz and other private language schools, so their credentials are the same. For the online courses, it was difficult to stop group classes mid-session for lots of questions. To me, PLC was the ideal language school and truly helped me to learn Spanish and Portuguese. I just wish I had more time now to go back and take advanced classes. read more

My husband and I have been taking Chinese- Mandarin for almost a year and have enjoyed the teachers and classes. The class size is small, usually just my husband and I and the Center is pretty flexible about start dates and changes if needed. If you have something in mind, tell your teacher and ask if you can choose the book you would like to use. We have found that the student has quite a bit of control over learning outcomes and format if you simply ask. The location is great and and the office building is clean and comfortable. We would definitely recommend. read more

Decent enough school - though very small offices. In a great location for coffee and lunch - but parking is terrible for a 2-hour class. My Italian instructor is very nice and is very accessible. Also, the staff are extremely friendly and know you by name. read more

I have always wanted to invest the time into learning Spanish, but kept finding excuses to put it off. I am so glad that I finally made the time and booked classes at the Pasadena Language Center. They offer a wide variety of class times that will fit any schedule and the instructers are so friendly. My instructor really creates a positive learning experience and the class size is small. I feel comfortable making mistakes and learning in the classroom environment. read more

This is a FANTASTIC place to learn a new language, or even brush up your skills! I'm currently taking Chinese (Mandarin) classes with them and it's been nothing but enjoyable. My teacher - Sherry, has been really great at helping me understand the language. The learning pace is really good, because they understand that learning a new language takes time and practice. The environment is really conducive and the staff are friendly. Highly recommend anyone to study here and I am considering taking up Spanish next here too! read more

This post is specifically about Mona and the incompetent registration process. 1. Mobile website is not up to date and has different dates and prices for the Medical Spanish classes. I had to call to verify times and dates a couple times before I had signed up. 2. I just got an email saying class was cancelled!! And I drove all the way from Torrance to Pasadena...sat thru traffic and rain for her to only email me 5 minutes before class starts. She says she emailed using Outlook 2 hours ago and there might have been tech issues...ok so yea maybe that was so...but since I'm the only person who signed up for the class, why did she not have the decency to call me to tell me it was cancelled. I am the only one in the class...there was no other person to call besides me. Other than the distance and the major lack of communication, the medical Spanish class is decent. For the price and distance I would not recommend. Unless if you have expendable time and $$, look somewhere else. Because Med Spanish II class is cancelled I have to wait a month. Unfortunately I start a job in a month so I won't have the time anymore. Way to foil my plans/break. At least offer me a discount for this major setback. read more

I walked into this place looking to inquire about possible language learning opportunities. I had some space open up in my schedule for the next couple of months so figured I would take a chance and start a new language. As soon as I walked into the center, I witnessed the owner (Gina, I believe her name is) talk to one of the teachers in a poor manner. She was dismissive and abrasive, speaking to her staff member as if they were a child. That incident was enough for me to realize that I would never want to put my money in a place that treats their staff so horrifically. I walked out immediately and have never looked back since. I am just so relieved that not a cent went to this lady-- I would have felt terrible had I paid then seen her mistreat her staff. read more

I had such a bad experience with this place, I blocked it out of my memory for nearly a year and am only now returning to review it. I signed up for weekend intensive beginning German to try to refresh my memory from a one-semester German class in college. Before I went into the first class session, I had to sign a contract with "no refunds" etc highlighted. That highlighted sentence became a source of misery almost at once. It became clear from the first few minutes of class that the teacher was totally unprepared, even to the point of being unfamiliar with the textbooks we had all just purchased, and seemed to not have a basic sense of what language pedagogy requires, basic strategies for explaining German grammar to English speakers, or how to organize a course of any kind. I missed most of the sessions because the thought of going back just to stumble through exercises in the textbook and play games better suited to elementary school students was too depressing. When I came for the very last meeting, I could still keep up with what was happening, in part because the students remaining seemed equally unmotivated. I may be especially sensitive to all of this because I have been teaching at a university for several years, and also because I had some previous preparation, but, truly, in eight weeks I think this "intensive" class covered less than I learned in the first month of a regular college course, and no one was even really putting sentences together. Over $500 out the window, + textbooks. Because I had missed so many sessions, there was some offer of possible applying what I'd paid to a regular class in the following term. I appreciate this gesture, but at that point I didn't even want to bother coming back. Simply knowing a language does not make one capable of teaching it. Based on previous reviews, I believe that there may be some more experienced/qualified instructors here. Make sure you find out who will be leading your class and what his/her teaching experience is. Otherwise, stay away. read more

Horrible service from the director and his assistants, i would not recommend this center to any friend! read more

I am very pleased with my experience at Pasadena Language Center. For the past three months, I have been taking Spanish at an intermediate level and my grasp of the language has really improved. At first, I tried the once per week class but in order to learn more quickly I signed up for the twice per week intensive classes. In a few short months, we covered the same amount of material it took an entire year to get through in high school Spanish! Our instructor, Alex, is very capable and not only guides us through verb conjugations and grammar, but also encourages us to work on conversational topics that apply directly to real life situations. As a professional who is trying to use Spanish to communicate with clients, even my clients are praising my efforts and improvement in such a short space of time! read more

I attended the beginning French class. I felt as though the teacher was inexperienced and didn't have a proper lesson plan laid out. The course seemed disjointed and was, by the 3rd class, confusing and hard to follow. The teacher was not prepared - not having enough print-outs for students, etc. I left after the 3rd week and didn't bother asking for a refund. The small class size was a plus, but as a whole, didn't really live up to my expectations. It's not a super welcoming environment and everyone seems too busy to deal with you. I never really felt comfortable there. Great location right in Old Town. read more

Intensive, highly effective and efficient--those are the only words in a nutshell I would use to describe the teaching and learning method that I have been experiencing over the past 5 months at the Pasadena Language Center. This is particularly true in learning one of the most difficult languages: Chinese Mandarin in my attempt to further pursue my professional career in international relations. I took French and Italian in high school and during my college years, but Chinese Mandarin is definitely a language that was so foreign to me with its tonal differences (pinyin system), similar sounding words, etymology that comes in phrases and especially characters (hanzi); making it a very difficult language to master unlike any other I have encountered in my life. As a native speaker, the language instructor is an excellent and highly experienced teacher who always comes to every session well prepared with new lessons and homework for me to study at home. She also makes herself available and approachable for any questions I may come up with. Without a doubt, she answers my questions and provides with good explanations. Her teaching method, which is based on the 4 language-learning pillars of listening, reading, speaking and writing, forces me to learn comprehensively from the text books and lessons catered specifically toward my goals. Furthermore, in addition to her deep knowledge in the Chinese cultural notes, linguistic nuances and drawing connections to make learning a language a fun and exciting experience, her regular written and verbal (conversation) tests and quizzes do not only motivate me to learn further from other sources online and offline, and also review Mandarin lessons every day (even weekends), but more importantly also immerse myself in Chinese Mandarin effectively. Learning by practicing and practice makes perfect are definitely the mottos of this course. As a result, as someone who started this learning experience 5 months ago without any background in the Chinese language whatsoever, I'm now capable of speaking Mandarin from anything as simple as ordering food at Chinese restaurants to the more extensive conversational Chinese as introducing myself and talking about my plans and hopes to even talking about some current events in the news. It is still work in progress since as a student you really need to put in your own efforts too with doing homework regularly and doing your extra research about certain features and expressions in the language, but I have seen myself making great improvements in speaking and reading Mandarin. For those of you who are in the need to learn a foreign language for educational purposes or professional growth or simply foreign language enthusiasts, I would highly recommend Pasadena Language Center. Start by calling their phone number or send an e-mail or just drop by. The highly knowledgeable and very friendly Gina will definitely be glad to talk to you about different types of courses and how they would fit in with your goals. read more

I'm currently taking beginners Farsi class and I'm loving it. The instructor is very friendly and I'm learning a lot. The facility is really nice, clean and in the heart of old town Pasadena. I'd recommend learning a language here. The only down fall is parking. You have to pay about $2-7 each class unless you get lucky and find street parking. read more

I have been taking Spanish with Alex for 15 months now.. He is a great teacher and has taught me a lot. We started with very basic beginner stuff and now we are doing literature and Spanish poetry.. They have medical Spanish, conversation Spanish, grammar, etc.. Highly recommend.. read more

I'm so happy Pasadena Language Center is here!! I've been looking for a place to supplement my 8 year old daughters French education and it fit our needs perfectly. The weekly Saturday courses are perfect. Teacher/Student ratio is low! The French teacher is dedicated and engaging. The class is very interactive. Best part kids are encouraged to participate which makes learning more fun. Only drawback, it's not a super warm and fuzzy environment, a bit serious but not a deal breaker. The location couldn't be any better... In the heart of old town Pasadena. Couldn't be happier with our existence so far. We will be coming here for a long time. read more

Not bad. Small classes are definitely a benefit here. Cheeper then if I were to choose personal classes but expensive to keep on going throughout all the sessions.. read more

Terribly disorganized. I registered my kid for the kids class on Saturdays- I get there and they moved the class to Sundays without telling us in advance AND when I asked if other kids had signed up for the class she'd be the only one! So much for play"group" read more

I have been taking classes here for almost a year now. I walked in without any knowledge of the Spanish language and now I regularly use Spanish in the workplace and can hold a meaningful conversation with people who only speak Spanish. I see that other reviewers have complained about the cost and initially I felt the same "sticker shock" but I also acknowledge that time is money and I am now speaking at a level in less than a year that would probably take decades if I had chosen to go to a community college or a less expensive school with 20 - 30 other students. I have had more than one instructor at this school and they all have been native speakers that are also professional educators. The class sizes are small enough that the students can steer class discussion in order to learn the vocabulary that is most important to their needs (work, travel, hobby, etc). The added advantage of learning from native speakers is that you learn the language as it is really spoken and can learn all of the colloquialisms and slang that makes a language so unique! This last year has been one the best personal and professional investments I have ever made. Put into it what you want to get out of it and I guarantee you will succeed at this school. read more

I am surprised at the negative reviews of PLC. My experience has been wonderful thus far and I find PLC to be very good at making accommodations both with schedules and with instruction. I am taking Spanish on the weekends with Alex. He is a wonderful instructor and is very good at meeting students where they are at...even if there are different levels in a single class. Additionally, if you are ill or can not make a session, there have been options to sit in on other classes throughout the week. The articles and content presented have been informative and helpful. I have taken classes at community college in the past and while those have been fine, the small class size and excellent instruction at PLC is worth spending the extra money. The building itself is centrally located in Old Town and is close to parking garages. I recommend this center to anyone wanting to further their language skills. read more

Instructor was unprepared - leaving class to photocopy exercises from the textbook. In fact, the only thing we did in 1.5 hour class was fill out exercises from a beginner level textbook. The class was supposed to be at an intermediate level but the instructor only spoke to us in English. Didn't bother to go back. You get what you pay for (and no refunds). read more