I've been taking lessons with Ina once a week for several years. I learned Spanish as a child, but…read morehadn't taken more than beginner lessons. Ina has gently and very patiently helped me to break some bad grammatical habits that I'd previously picked up as a result of not having had much formal training. My comprehension and vocabulary in Spanish have increased through practice speaking to her. I'd still like to work more on my grammar especially verb forms like imperfect subjunctive, but I'm confident that Ina will help me improve in that area as well.

I was excited to find someone who teaches Spanish and offered zoom plus weekends. I contacted Ina…read moreletting her know my availability would be weekends. She proceeded to take my call... before the call I messaged her if it was okay to call her at the time agreed. She said yes, as soon as I called her she was ending a session and was so very rude and dismissive.. she told me that she wouldn't have availability and to call her next month. I told her I am Mexican and pretty much know some and have people around me who speak Spanish.. she rudely rushed me off the phone and said no sorry nothing available and hung up in my face. I think these reviews are paid because my experience off of a 3 minute phone call was unbelievable! So sad, she sounded like she hates what she does. :/

Toastmasters has literally changed the way that I communicate professionally and personally, as…read morewell as enhanced and improved my leadership abilities. I thought that this was just a public speaking club when I finally joined 2 years ago! Little did I know that I would gain the courage to stand up and speak in front of my peers, thanks to the supportive environment in this club, as well as learn how to think quickly on my feet, and become a better leader. This particular club was a great starting point for me, as the people are friendly and nice, the membership base is a younger demographic than other Toastmasters Clubs in the area, and there is no pressure to speak if you do not want to get up in front of a small audience just yet. An added bonus is that I have made friends in the club, as well as recruited my friends outside of the club to join in the fun. Yes, it's FUN to give prepared and impromptu speeches, to give evaluations of other people's speeches, and to become a club officer to collaborate with fellow club members. The new location at The Kensington is stellar! It's no wonder that two other Toastmasters Clubs also meet here. It's clean, well-lit, has lots of seating and tables, a good speaking space, and its own side entrance. I highly recommend Toastmasters as an organization, and this club specifically. Don't wait to gain confidence! If you want to impress hiring managers at job interviews, learn how to respond quickly to questions out-of-the blue, learn how to give presentations at work, or just want to network and socialize while learning new skills, check out Toastmasters!

I have been a part of the Toastmasters community for the last 5 years and it has truly been an…read moreincredible ride. The fact that we have the opportunity to not only improve our communication skills, but also enhance our leadership capabilities makes for a valuable experience. The Walnut Creek Toastmasters club has been around for 10 years, and you can tell by the veteran members who have been with the club since its inception that it will be around for 10 more. These members are the ones who's passion inspires you to improve your communication and leadership skills to eventually meet their level. I agree that this club still has room to grow, but I feel confident in its future and I see a lot of new members coming in with a lot of enthusiasm to improve. I can't wait to see how this year pans out and I am excited for the future of this club! :)

Whether you want to prepare for a vacation in France, tune up your high school/college French, or…read morejust want to start from the beginning, Sève will work with you toward your goals. I began private lessons to dust off my high school French and have since added a conversation class. Because Sève uses an ever changing variety of teaching methods, I look forward to these classes every week. She is dynamic, fun, and, thankfully, very patient. Bonne chance!

Séverine has been my French teacher for almost 3 years. I have been her student in a formal…read moreclassroom setting at a local adult education center for 2 years. I have also participated in both conversation groups and one-to-one tutoring from her own classroom. Because she is from France, she is able to teach you French the way the French speak it currently. We study French grammar, vocabulary, culture, and music, as well as the geography of France in addition to practicing our speaking, listening (comprehension), and reading skills in French. Séverine is very personable with a great sense of humor. She really knows how to make learning fun. She is adept at teaching people of all ages. Whether you want to start learning French or need to brush up on it, Séverine can help you achieve your French language goals. Highly recommend!

Parents, please do not send your poor children here. They take your money and have no…read morequalifications to teach anything. I wouldn't even allow these people to pet sit let along try to educate. I sent my child here for close to a year to learn piano and she learned nothing. Here are my main concerns: 1) teacher showed up 10 minutes late every time for 30 mins session and of course they continued to charge me for the full session 2) they try to teach using technology but their Wi-Fi is down. Therefore the rest of the class they spend trying to figure out how to connect to Wi-Fi which first hand observing, was painful. 3) the place is owned by a clown with the biggest ego. I went in there to watch my child after realizing that the sessions were not helping her at all. The clown that owns this place was fumbling around trying to get tech support to turn his computer on. He refers to himself as a "doctor" which further shows what a narcissistic clown he is. He also was upset that I hadn't been in there before to introduce myself to him. I don't think the moron realizes that parents have to work to pay for extracurricular activities like his clown school. He literally was offended that I didn't come in to introduce myself!? 4) the pianos and other instruments looked like they were picked up at the local dump. I can't sing and I am more tuned than the piano my poor daughter was trying to learn on. 5) the worst part is that I asked them to cancel my daughters sessions. That night I noticed that he had gone in and quickly charged our credit card for next month. What a crook and phony. Horrible place disguised as a teaching institute.

Don't send your kids here. Angry owner in attack mode:…read more I had an appointment in the building of 99 Brookwood Rd, Orinda, CA 94563. The person I had an appointment with told me that I could park in the ATMA/ALMA spaces. My dad dropped me off and wanted to wait for me, so I told him to park in one of the ATMA/ALMA spaces since he would be waiting for an hour and could take a nap if he wanted.  When I was done with my appointment, I walked to my dad's car and we got ready to leave. We saw a car stopped on the street and thought the driver was waiting for the space. After we pulled out of the parking space, that driver waved my dad down and got out of his car. I thought, "oh, maybe we didn't close all the doors in our car and he was trying to be nice." Not the case. This man, while blocking traffic, walked towards my dad and took a photo, then started yelling that we can't park there and that we were disturbing the businesses. My dad doesn't speak fluent English, so he told me to explain to the man what we were doing there. I got out of the car to tell the man that I was here for an appointment in the building and was told that I could park in one of those spaces. That man did not stop yelling to hear my explanation. He continued to yell that it was his spot. There was no point to this, so my dad and I got back in our car and drove off. I called the person I had an appointment with and found out that the man who yelled at us was the landlord of the building. He received a complaint from a tenant, SaraBella (florist), who described my dad as a creepy man walking around. My dad was stretching and admiring the scenery outside of his car while waiting for me, nowhere near the florist, minding his own business. No one, not the florist nor the landlord, talked to us and just assumed that we did not belong. We were judged by our appearance and treated unfairly. What happened to my dad and me happens to many people and I'm not going to be silent about it. His name is Dr. James Fiatarone, aka Dr. Jim. He is a landlord and a music teacher at the Academy of Language & Music Arts (ALMA), located in that same building. Stated on his webpage, "James is a Bay Area native who holds a Ph.D. in language and literature from the University of California, Berkeley". I expect better language and understanding from someone with such esteemed credentials, at the very least a common decency to speak maturely. Instead of introducing himself as the landlord and seeking to understand, Dr. Jim chose to block traffic and cause a scene in order to exercise his own judgment and bias. I want to get my message out and let him know that the way he conducted himself is not okay, especially in a place of business.

The beginner flower arranging class I signed up to take was very disappointing. I stopped after one…read moreclass for these and other reasons. The instructor used a pre-recorded YouTube video to show us how to make our arrangement! And she didn't even make sure the flowers/supplies she provided to us , at an inflated cost, matched on the ones in the video (she admitted the greens in her video were wrong). The flowers/supplies she made us purchase from her were much cheaper (e.g., carnations vs. roses). I don't know why she didn't provide a live demonstration and do so with the right flowers, etc. That's why we signed up for the class! I knew something was very wrong when she began the class by reading her written course description out loud, even referring to herself in the third person (e.g., "Supplies and tools are available from your instructor"). The class is for beginners, but the arrangements in her "textbook" are SOO pedestrian (see photos). She could show students much more appealing arrangements to make. Another problem was that the class had a combination of new students and returning students (those who wanted a flower arrangement certificate). The returning students had their own projects, so there were two classes going on at the same time, which made it hard to focus. The school district's unfair policy is that refunds are available only before first day of class, so be aware before you register!

Great teachers, great curriculum, nice environment, safe, learning lots, meeting people all over…read morethe world!

This is my child's second year with EFBA in Alameda. She loves her Francophone teacher, Angelique,…read moreand her French skills have improved even beyond my expectation. The teacher to student ratio is very excellent, and the other children are good classmates. I highly recommend these French classes.

Christine is amazing!! So happy we decided to hire her to tutor our 6 year old with his reading. We…read moremoved to Lafayette over the summer and received feedback from my son's 1st grade teacher that his reading was below grade level. We is a young 1st grader, a middle child, and had been in a french school environment, so it was not a surprise for anyone. The teacher didn't think we needed to seek outside help just yet, but I decided to see how a session with Christine went anyways. We got into a routine and have been seeing her weekly for the past 6 months. My son LOVES Christine days!! And.. he is now beyond 1st grade reading level. More importantly, he is confident with his reading and really enjoys it. Thank you Christine!!

Christine is a wonderful, patient and helpful teacher. She has helped my son tremendously in…read morebuilding his confidence with his reading and vocabulary. My son started with Christine, knowing only a few sight words, and was very shy to express what he knew. What seemed to be a quiet journey for learning, reading, my little boy is now bursting and craving to express his new found love for reading! All thanks to Christine and her commitment to giving the individual attention to each child at a time. I highly recommend any child for learning to read to Ms. Christine.

Cometa's summer camp is truly one of a kind and we are so glad we got to be part of the very first…read moregroup of campers. Our son, age 7, did a one-week summer camp session and loved it. Like LOVED IT. I am writing this at the end of the week because my son was demanding I cancel next week's camp somewhere else so he can go back to Cometa. They have great hours, well-planned days with lots of opportunities to learn and practice Spanish, daily outings using their vans (the outings were very fun for our kiddo), and home cooked meals and snacks. Our kid did the "cooking" week and he was truly transformed by it. I think the staff did a great job choosing simple recipes that were delicious too and were very patient and caring during the lesson. Everyday they made something new and that was super fun. We are so happy with the staff, they were very professional and child-centered, and exuded warmth and a sense of belonging for the little ones. We plan to come back next summer and for other camps during the school year. They do aftercare too, but we're based in San Leandro so that doesn't work for us. Nevertheless, their afterschool program sounds really wonderful too.

My kid has been in this program since it first opened, and we're so glad we gave it a shot. After…read moreswitching schools, we needed a new after-school option and found out about this new bilingual program. It's been great! We speak both English and Spanish at home, but my kid wasn't really picking up much Spanish until she joined. Since then, her Spanish vocabulary has grown tremendously. She really loves going and always looks forward to it. Plus, the school pick-up has been super easy with no problems at all. We also participated in their summer program and loved that the kids were getting exposed to different settings like a ranch and my child loved seeing chickens and horses. I'd definitely recommend this program to other families!