We pride ourselves
on how we teach French at the Bourdil. We believe that you
have to be totally immersed in the language and culture of
a country to make great progress in learning a language.
We also believe that you need to learn about the French, their way of life, their country, their institutions, their history, society and their culture to understand their language. It is best to learn in small groups, never more than six- eight in a class so that each student gets sufficient individual attention and each person's progress can be closely monitored .
On arrival we assess
students so that we can place you as much as possible with
others of a similar level.
These classes are
also limited to morning sessions allowing a great deal of
time to practice what one has learnt outside the classroom
environment. Classes comprise pronunciation, listening
exercises, grammar, spoken and written expression, topical
discussion and presentation of themes relating to French life.
Each course comprises of eighteen hours of formal tuition ( six days of three hours) and twenty four hours of visits per week.
Learning a language is a very personal exercise. This is the reason why we ask you at the beginning of the week what you want to gain from the week's work and where you need most help so that we can make sure that your needs are addressed. We then ask you at the end whether we actually achieved what you wanted during the week.
We are very lucky to have two very experienced teachers, Alexandre et Brigitte, each very different in their methods, complimenting each other. Read about them in our feedback section. Alexandre has a wealth of knowledge to share with us about his country and the Dordogne region, which is after all one of the most beautiful parts of France.
When not in classes
and in visits there are French books and magazines to read,
French TV to watch, films on DVD and CD and scrabble in French
to play, all with the aim of improving your language and in
the comfort of a very lovely home.
The week is a lot
of hard work but its also enormous fun and so rewarding to
see how much progress can be made in such a short period of
time. Do rest assured non participants never feel left out,
they eat and drink with us and come along on the trips. So
please do feel free to bring along your friends and partners
even non French speakers. Who knows they may also be speaking
French by the end of their stay...........
