Before we started, what was your main challenge when speaking French?
Before we started, my biggest challenge was speaking French spontaneously. I had been taking a French class focused mostly on grammar and vocabulary, but when it came to speaking, I would overthink, freeze, and forget all my French vocabulary—even simple words like greetings. I would worry about making mistakes and lose confidence. Overall, I was getting frustrated with myself, and learning was becoming hard.
Pronunciation and sounding natural were also areas I really struggled with. I knew more French than I was actually able to use when speaking, and that was very frustrating for me.
After one month of coaching, what has changed in the way you speak French?
After just one month of coaching, I can genuinely feel a significant difference. I speak much more freely and with much more confidence. I am less afraid of making mistakes, and I can keep speaking even when I don’t immediately know the exact word I want to use.
I have also become much more aware of my pronunciation, intonation, rhythm, and the way French is actually spoken. I feel that I am starting to hear and reproduce sounds more accurately. Most importantly, I am no longer approaching spoken French with the same fear and hesitation I had before. I actually enjoy speaking it now. I am recording daily audio messages and surprising myself by remembering and using more vocabulary.
The biggest change for me is that I am beginning to trust myself when I speak. I don’t feel that I have to construct every sentence perfectly in my head before opening my mouth. That has made a huge difference to my confidence and fluency. Lastly, I am now enjoying learning French.
How would you describe my approach, my teaching style, and the way I support you?
I would describe your teaching approach as incredibly personalised, thoughtful, encouraging, and effective. You take the time to understand the person: their personality, motivations, interests, preferences, the things they enjoy, and even aspects of their life that might not seem directly connected to language learning.
I think that is what makes your approach so different. It feels less like following a standard course and much more like having a tailor-made French course designed specifically for me.
You also have a very natural way of making me feel comfortable enough to speak without feeling intimidated by speaking to a native French speaker. You correct me without making me feel embarrassed about making mistakes. I also appreciate how much attention you give to pronunciation, natural expressions, fluency, and the way French is actually spoken.
And you make learning genuinely fun.
