Qui est Sandrine de Paris? Who is Sandrine de Paris?

Bonjour!

Who I am :
- I am a professional French teacher from Paris currently living and working in San Francisco, CA
- Sorbonne educated
- postgraduate degree in French as a Foreign Language
- trilingual (French, English, Spanish)
- 16 years teaching French to Foreigners in France and in the US
- 8 years working at one of the most acclaimed language schools in Paris
- tutoring adult students of all ages and needs at every level, from advanced University French to introductory French
- tutoring students of French who face academic challenges
- raised in the Loire Valley (i.e. standard French accent!)

My job as a teacher :
→ I teach real-life French, and provide my students with cultural, grammatical, lexical tools to help them achieve their goals.

→ I am patient, gentle, efficient, enthusiastic, and dedicated to teaching my native language in a way that helps build confidence.

→ I like to consider my approach as that of a personal trainer, encouraging my students to improve and build up strength and skills through a personalized, progressive -and pleasant- approach.

→ I provide first-class tutoring for students with high standards.

My students :
- francophiles with a passion for the French language and culture, and a strong motivation to learn and speak French
- adults of all ages who are planning on making the most of their next trip to France
- students/professors with specific academic needs.

A little more about my private teaching :
- Each curriculum is custom-made. The content of my lessons depends essentially on my students' needs and wants, strengths and weaknesses and learning strategies.
- I start the lesson with conversation, correction of homework, or some interesting document as a warm-up, and make it the basis of the lesson.
- I always include grammar because it's the backbone of a language (but always in context, as a tool to be used in situation)
- Throughout the lesson, I take notes and write down *everything* we do/talk about/work on (vocabulary, grammar, phonetics). This written document is then given to my student at the end of the class for further personal practice. This way, nothing is lost.
- I am gentle, but I *do* correct mistakes! (In a positive and encouraging way.)
- I don't work from a textbook (I often find them confusing and not in touch with reality! And they have an odd approach of progression...) I prefer a more personalized curriculum. I have my own documents, which I created. I can also recommend an excellent grammar book.
- I can give homework to students who wish to practice in between lessons (*highly* recommended!).
- I have worked for many years as a French teacher, which means that I am very flexible in my teaching (i.e. I can adapt to my students' ways of learning). I can address a question from different angles. I know what works, I have my tricks, and can explain things that don't seem to make sense. I am also used to teaching anglophones, and am very familiar with common mistakes and challenges.

For an idea about my work, please browse my blog!

I teach face to face or via Skype.
Contact me!  
sandrine {at} sandrinedeparis {dot} com

What they say about me :
"I've been going to France for visits regularly since the 70s, so I speak some French and have a number of French friends. But I hadn't visited for a while, and I needed help getting my tongue and mind working again before going back, so I called Sandrine. She was the perfect teacher. She tailored her lessons to my needs and to my level, she gave me challenging and entertaining assignments, and she made detailed notes of all the phrases I had trouble with so I could review them later. After a few lessons, I noticed I was speaking with more fluency and more confidence. Sandrine is an exceptional guide to the French language. I have had several tutors over the years, and Sandrine is by far the most rigorous instructor and her sessions the most engaging. I recommend her whole-heartedly. I look forward to my next lesson!"
Jeffrey F.

"If you are searching for a French instructor and have found Sandrine, congratulations your search is over!
From my experience, if you are serious about learning French you need both a native speaker AND a teacher.
Sandrine is both. Her ability to teach and what that means for the student can't be over-emphasized.
For example, Sandrine would let topics come naturally, she had a flexible agenda. If we happened to be talking about "my brothers",
she would have a lesson ready right there to talk about possessive pronouns. If we were talking about the coming weekend,
she was ready to teach about the future tense. She has a flexible schedule, was able to meet with short notice and is very organized.
From my first lesson with Sandrine where we bumped into a number of her students, I knew I had found someone great.
I'm off to a French speaking country thanks to Sandrine and I'll absolutely be continuing with her when I get back."
Joshua B., MD

"I was referred to Sandrine by a French tutor on Craig's list who was a bit too far away from my neighborhood. I'm so grateful she passed on Sandrine's information because I have no doubt she sent me the best in the business. Weekly for a year and a half, Sandrine met a friend and me in cafés around the city and taught us French lessons from square one. I knew nothing at the onset, and today, I've just returned from a 3-week stay in Paris where I was able to get around, ask questions, make restaurant reservations over the phone and have polite conversation with ease. At one point my husband even said with surprise, "I'm really impressed with your French."
Sandrine's teaching style is conversational, practical, engaging and interesting. We covered the basics like time, place, season and day-to-day items, but we also let the conversation veer into personal updates and plans and ideas, which really expanded our vocabulary and exemplified the sort of speaking we'd be wanting to practice in "real" life. Besides being a fantastic tutor, Sandrine is charming, funny, patient and brilliant. I think she's teaching herself Hebrew now--the fifth of her spoken tongues. This woman has a gift for language and makes learning a new one fun. I can't recommend her highly enough."
Jamie S., Mill Valley, CA

"Sandrine isn’t my first tutor, but she is the best. Her assistance was invaluable and aided me tremendously during my last vacation to France and Paris. She is great for beginners, like me, and for those who are very advanced. / Sandrine n'est pas mon premier précepteur, mais, elle est la meilleure. Son assistance a été inestimable et m’a aidé immensément pendant mes vacances en en France et à Paris. Elle est fabuleuse pour les débutants, comme moi, et pour les très avancés."
Peter B.

“Sandrine first started helping me with my French during my sophomore year at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep, when I was struggling with the language. I had a strict teacher instructing my Honors French class at a fast pace and I was having a hard time keeping up.
Sandrine’s style of teaching was truly a breath of fresh air from the style I was used to with my high school teacher. She took the language and made it something that I wasn’t scared of anymore, and even made it fun! She was skilled at conveying grammatical concepts to me, as that was a major part of my homework that we focused on. She would talk me though the grammar with many examples to make sure I understood it, and if I still was struggling, she would give me an example of the phrase in English. She was always sure to make sure all my questions were answered by the end of the session, never rushing to finish just because our hour was up.
Sandrine really encouraged me to speak with her in French, and while this was hard for me at first, it slowly became easier the more sessions we had together. Sandrine was always on time and reliable when it came to our tutoring sessions.
I can honestly say that Sandrine is the reason why I did well in my high school French classes, which prompted me to continue studying it at college. She encouraged me to not be afraid of making mistakes and made it something I looked forward to learning, rather than something I dreaded. I have continued to study French at Boston University and just got accepted to BU’s Paris Internship program for next fall. Sandrine was one of the first people I wrote to tell that I was accepted, because I do feel that she played a large role in solidifying my love for the French language.”
Tess B.

"Sandrine is absolutely the best French teacher I’ve ever had in all the years that I’ve studied French, and our lessons were always the highlight of my week. With Sandrine, my French speaking abilities and confidence improved dramatically, and she personalized my lessons to fix the specific mistakes I made. She also helped me speak more like a native speaker, versus teaching me “classroom French”. Her custom homework assignments were truly helpful, and I recommend Sandrine to anyone at any level, whether to learn French for the first time or to advance to fluency with confidence. Merci, Sandrine!"
Larissa M.

"Sandrine is a wonderful, experienced, flexible and creative French teacher with an immense background and knowledge in the language. She is also a lovely human being which makes taking lessons from her a joy. She kindly and patiently assesses skill levels and creatively personalizes lessons that best facilitate learning. In the past year, for one hour a week, we have learned and advanced our French tremendously with Sandrine's expert help. We would highly recommend anyone, at any skill level, and any age, interested in learning French, give Sandrine a call. Elle est merveilleuse!"
Marcus and Anne Marie R.

“I have known Sandrine since 1997. We met when we were both working at the same language school in Paris, France. She was one of the French teachers on the staff and I was in charge of coordinating school programs and the teaching staff. As a French language teacher, Sandrine is one of the most competent and talented colleague I have ever had to work with. Early on in her career, she developed a lively communicative way of teaching French with the basic idea that language teaching is about making people connect in various ways. She is able to make students discover and progressively understand basic and advanced French grammar rules and concepts through an inductive method that we chose to use in the language school where we worked, making the students active in the observation of grammar features, elaboration of subsequent rules and concepts and gradual understanding of various nuances of meaning and use through oral and written training activities.
The way she teaches French is not only based on grammar. It covers all areas of language teaching, helping students to acquire comprehension and production skills in oral and written French, as well as expending lexical knowledge and discovery of various up-to-date cultural elements of the francophone world.
Sandrine has now acquired a wide experience of teaching French to English speakers. It started at the language school in Paris where we welcomed many anglophone students and she has since carried on developing her expertise.
On a professional level, she is a reliable, punctual, trustworthy colleague who has on many occasions proven her sense of independence and self-sufficiency. She is dedicated to her work, her students, creative in many ways (with the French language, when selecting documents to be used for teaching/tutoring, when designing learning activities).
She is also a generous colleague within a staff team, ready to share her ideas on teaching/learning material, activities, techniques, etc.
Sandrine's personal qualities are an asset to her professional skills: she is a delightful fun-to-be with person, at ease with other people and making them feel the same way. She is a great listener and at the same time always enjoys sharing thoughts, making new discoveries etc. She is not afraid of challenges, likes to speak her mind when she needs to. She is honest and straightforward.”
Véronique L., Paris

"What can I say, Sandrine is fabulous!
Punctual, professional, cheerful, patient, my overall experience with her is positive.
When I first began working with Sandrine I was lost in a French 1B class. Sandrine began by working with my text book and homework assignments.
Soon, by using own words and expressions she turned my thoughts into French. French is a marvelously nuanced language, Sandrine provides insight and awareness of this. In addition, she writes down the relevant issues for study and rewriting practice later. Overall, Sandrine provides a very workable, comprehensive and organized approach to studying the French language. "
Paula K.

"Sandrine works at your level and engages you with interesting conversations that makes the learning rewarding and enjoyable. She is very professional and provides a learning style that makes French easy at the level that is meaningful for her new students."
Leo V. Ph.D.

"Sandrine makes learning French fun. She is patient and can customize the lesson to suit your travel needs and lifestyle. We go over reading, writing, grammar, as well as conversation. I look forward to my lesson each week!"
Rykarda P.

"Sandrine worked with my schedule to provide me convenient private French lessons in the comfort of my home. She paid attention to my language goals and tailored the lessons to my specific needs (a visit of Foreign relatives who do not speak English). Her friendly, encouraging teaching style put me at ease to improve my conversational French. She also taught me Spanish, in preparation for a trip to Argentina."
Nikki G.

"I am a busy practicing doctor and recently decided to learn French at the age of 55. I work and vacation in Paris 4-5 times a year and it is essential that I not only speak French, but do so with correct grammar, words, grace, and elegance. I also importantly need a teacher that is accommodating, flexible, kind, experienced, able to work with my schedule, and fully customize our lessons. Sandrine is the best teacher I have ever had as she provides all these and more. In addition, with all my questions about words, grammar, usage, context, and definitions, she has always had the correct and proper answer for me. She also knows well the fine balance between how much to push a student, and how much to let them do what they can. I am now a beginner conversationalist starting from nothing in a language that used to be overwhelming. I am learning French one word at a time and one lesson at a time and am thankful for all of Sandrine's great skills. I look forward to our every class"
Dr. J. Romano, MD

"Sandrine was the first and best teacher I had since going to Paris to study French as a beginner in 1999. She always made the learning fun for me and under her guidance my French improved dramatically. She is patient and fun, and knows her business. Now that she lives in San Francisco, she tutors my 15 year-old granddaughter."
Anne M.

Enjoy my blog!

-Sandrine