French Immersion At Teacher’s In Provence, Avignon, France

After many years of not speaking French, I decided that I wanted to start learning again. I had always been afraid of speaking the language, but found it so beautiful. My aim was/is to slowly start again, to build up confidence.

I came across Julie’s profile and liked the idea of not having a typical classroom setting and having a comfortable solution that would let me combine a week of vacation with a learning experience. I had been to Avignon once before, but only for one day and found the city and region beautiful. Am truly happy that I made the choice to visit Julie in Avignon.

Julie is a delightful & very thoughtful host. I felt very comfortable with her from the very first minute onwards. This gave me the confidence to overcome my fear of speaking and that was the key for me to be able to open up to the language again. She assessed my skills very quickly and tailored my week to meet my goals whilst giving me a glimpse into the French way of life.

Our excursions to the covered market of Les Halles and to Châteauneuf-du-Pape topped off the experience. The apartment is located in the center of Avignon, just steps away from all of the city’s wonders that I was able to encounter during my free time. Our joint excursions to the covered market of Les Halles and to Châteauneuf-du-Pape were very enjoyable.

I truly recommend Julie’s French Immersion Class. It was a wonderful experience!

Julie, thank you very much for showing me the beauty of the French language & culture. It is a week I fondly remember. Hope to be able to come back soon!

In early March, 2020, I spent a wonderful week in Avignon with Julie Gaudin for intensive French language learning.  My wife was along for the ride but not learning French.  It all started when Julie met us at the train station and we walked the short distance to the apartment.  Each day, Julie made us a very nice breakfast after which we dove right in to the daily French lessons.  I was an intermediate learner and the thing I liked the best was that I had A LOT of opportunity to just practice talking, which is what I wanted and needed.  But Julie also did some guided learning as well.  This was at the beginning of our time in France so it was perfect for getting my confidence up.  Our two outings with Julie were nothing short of spectacular.  She drove us to Chateau de Villeneuve les Avignon and on another day, Pont du Gard.  And on the way back from the Chateau, she dropped us at the Musée Calvet, which was very nice.  We also did an afternoon trip to nearby Nimes by ourselves, which was really good.  And of course we had plenty of time to visit the sights in Avignon, of which there are many.  The apartment was very nice, quiet, and secure.  If you are wanting a really unique French learning experience, in a great city, with a really nice person, I encourage you to contact Julie.

I am an “advanced beginner” French speaker, having returned to it 50 years after my last studies in high school. My immersion experience with Julie was excellent.

Julie is an energetic and challenging teacher. She immediately detected what kind of learner I am, and adapted her teaching accordingly. The lessons were full of new material, difficult but not overwhelming. While it remained a struggle for me to converse comfortably in French, we had many interesting conversations on a range of topics and I learned a lot about contemporary France.

Julie’s apartment is charming and comfortable, with a historic feel. The location is great, and my husband and I easily visited all parts of Avignon on foot after morning lessons were over.

I had a wonderful week in Avignon with Julie in early December 2019.
She is a delightful young lady and an outstanding teacher and I was made very welcome.

I am not young, but she was patient and understanding, extremely good company and a good cook.

My French has improved enormously and I have gained confidence in speaking.

I couldn’t recommend a course with Julie more highly. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I just spent an extremely enjoyable and profitable week with Julie. We only spoke French throughout my stay so this enabled Julie to hear and correct the countless little mistakes I still make after so many years.

I’m afraid I will continue to make some of them, but certainly not all since Julie greatly heightened my awareness of some of my “favorite” errors. And she wrote them all down so I can always refresh my memory of our work together! Altogether I would say she pushed me out of my comfort zone, especially with her little games! Beware when she gets out those boxes!

She also gave me many links with exercises as well as tips for good French TV series and films, with enough material on a USB stick to keep me occupied all winter. In short, I received so many “takeaways” that I feel the week didn’t really end when it was over.

One morning we went to Uzès, a delightful village I had never visited. The market was very busy, but the little streets where we walked were quiet with only a few other tourists. It was perfect!!

I stayed with Julie for a week at the end of October.

Julie is a really good teacher, she used different tools to keep the learning fun. I was not ready for immersion type of learning but Julie was very patient with me even though she had to repeat same thing over and over again.

Meal time was always fun. Julie is a very good cook, we enjoyed all her cooked meals and conversation.

We also enjoyed our stay at Julie’s apartment. It’s very spacious and perfectly situated in the middle of the town, walking distance to everywhere. We really loved Avignon, beautiful city.

I would very much like to go back and stayed with Julie when my conversational French is better.

My week with Julie was amazing. I am a serious comparison shopper and have tried all kinds of classes/tutors/immersion programs, and this was by far the best experience.

First of all, you can’t go wrong by being in the charming Avignon, with the history, the wine, the sunshine, and a direct TGV from Paris Charles de Gaulle.

The lessons: Julie tailored to my level of French quickly. We made a plan for each day at the beginning of the week, according to my goal, and everyday was different. We had natural conversations, and some times, used games to work on specific skills.

As we spoke, Julie took notes for me (yes SHE’s the one taking notes), so my mistakes/quirks were properly and thoroughly noted. This was a new thing in my French learning experience and it saved so much time, so I can focus on learning. By day two, I was forgetting English.

Julie planned an outing to a winery and an outing to a local farmers market. She also showed me around the city, pointing me to the local places not typically for tourists, like yoga studios and cat cafe. :)

When it was not the ”official” class time, Julie continued to correct me, and gave me tips. Since we spent breakfast and lunch together everyday, the lessons are actually 5 hours long.

Not only is Julie an amazing teacher, she’s also a wonderful cook. I thoroughly enjoyed her home-made yogurt, jam, tomato sauce – the list goes on.

Julie was a wonderful host and excellent french teacher.

I’m closer to beginner and my spouse is closer to intermediate. She was very patient and flexible to our differing needs.

She gave us her whole apartment to ourselves which is conveniently located in the middle of old Avignon. It’s a bright, airy space with high ceilings and a fully equipped kitchen.

Julie took us on some fabulous outings to some medieval villages and to Chateau Neuf de Pape for a very memorable wine tasting in an ancient cellar. I can’t recommend her highly enough.

Julie is also a gourmet cook and made us many delightful meals with foods from the local area. Every morning we would have chocolate croissants, coffee, her homemade yogurt, and fruit. She was also very accommodating to our dietary requests.

She is an extremely warm and engaging personality and we immediately felt at home with her. We stayed for two weeks and were glad we did as our language skills improved and she was so enjoyable to be around.

This experience prepared us for the rest of our month long vacation in France. We couldn’t have made a better choice.

We cannot recommend Julie too highly!

We spent a week with her in September 2019. Our goals were to improve our French, and to have fun. We succeeded in both goals.

Julie is a terrific teacher. She is patient, clear, organised, and encouraging.

Our days started with breakfast, prepared by Julie. The mornings were taken up with our lessons – the three hours flew by. She emphasises fluency in French as it is spoken today. She gently corrects pronounciation. And she is keen for her pupils to expand their vocabulary.

After lunch – prepared by Julie – we were free to explore Avignon. On one afternoon she took us to Arles, and on another afternoon we visited some heritage buildings in Avignon which are normally closed to the public but which were open during the annual Heritage Days which co-incided with our stay in Avignon.

Julie’s apartment is delightful and is located within the medieval centre of Avignon, close to shops, restaurants, museums, and the famous Palace of the Popes.

Avignon is a charming city – the perfect location for a week of study, and full of history, art and fine architecture. And it is close to Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and the vineyards of the Southern Rhône.

We enjoyed our experience with Julie so much that we plan to return for a further intensive course in the summer of 2020.

My husband Richard and I spent 6 days in Avignon with Julie to study and improve our French. We loved working with Julie and spending time with her in Avignon and on special excursions.

Her apartment in Avignon is lovely and is located right in the heart of the action in Avignon. Although we had very warm temperatures the when we visited June 30 – July 6, 2019, with the apartment’s large windows open at night, the sleeping temperature were fine. Julie is very organized in how she presents the French lessons, and she easily assessed the material we needed to study.

After wonderful breakfasts which included fabulous French croissants, eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt and coffee or tea, we spent 1 ½ to 2 hours on the French lessons. We felt that she did an excellent job of helping us with the verbs, from present regular to irregular conjugations to the passé compose and the imparfait. We had work books to do homework in and then went over these lessons together. She was very helpful with pronunciation and there were times we played some games which required us to use our new found skills in French. She always had us progress at our own pace and comfort level.

We enjoyed shopping with her for lunch or dinner foods in the shops near her apartment. She introduced us to the Bio (organic) foods in the local farmers’ market.

She was good at being willing to accommodate our wishes to travel some during the day, and we would have French lessons sometimes in the late afternoon before dinner. We always spent a total of 3 hours on our French lessons.

We took two special excursions with her during our week. The first one was to one of the wineries in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region. We had a private wine tasting which was great and drove around the area to see some of the other sights.

Our second excursion was to canoe on the Gard River to go under the spectacular Roman aqueduct the Pont du Gard. We enjoyed the canoeing and had a wonderful sighting of a beaver as well as cooling breezes and temperatures. On a small island in the river with a picturesque view of the Pont du Gard, we had a picnic dinner with wine that Julie prepared and packed for us. Then as it was getting dark, we paddled under the Pont du Gard and noticed people gathered up in a viewing area near the Pont du Gard. Then we were surprised by a sound and light show on the Pont! It was truly a once in a lifetime experience!

Julie was always a wonderful hostess and especially a very dedicated teacher. She was always engaging and enthusiastic! I was excited because she made me feel that I could really learn to speak French with a little more work on my part.

It was encouraging for both Richard and me, and we have decided to continue our French lessons in St. Louis.

My two-week class with Julie was a complete success, in fact, it way surpassed my expectations.

Julie is an intelligent, responsible, enthusiastic, and friendly teacher. Within a couple of days, she discovered my learning deficiency and difficulties.

Then for the rest of two weeks, she put in her utmost effort to derive special techniques that helped to overcome these difficulties one by one. In the meantime, these techniques improved my fluency in speaking and continued to help me after I returned home.

Julie employed various teaching methods that brought fun to learning French.

Julie went out off her way to prepare delicious breakfast and lunch that satisfied my strict diet – gluten free, dairy free, and soy free. She attended to my sensitivity to pesticides and made sure all food she served or I bought were pesticide free. I was very touched because I know it was not easy to do.

In our exploration of the region, there was always full of excitement and new discovery. I was too early for the lavender, but Julie tried her best for me to see the beautiful fields of poppy and genet, and the interesting medieval towns.

My two-week adventure with Julie was not only in learning the French language but also in discovering French culture and history. It was truly an immersion class.

Avignon was our third séjour linguistique in the last five years. Each has been remarkably pleasant in its own way. And each of our profs has been helpful, thoughtful, and knowledgeable. But there was something special about Julie Gaudin and Avignon.

First, Avignon is a charming city that benefits from a “taille humaine” and, second, Julie is a charming prof with an infectious eagerness and the energy of youth.

Debbie and I had been to Avignon for 48 hours about two years ago prior to touring Provence on a group bicycle trip. We therefore knew some of the city’s charms. Our plan was to study with Julie for a week and then tour the city and the region on our own for ten days. This worked out well.

Julie sent us a questionnaire in advance of our arrival asking us about dietary issues and requests, activities of interest (she supplied a list of suggestions and excursions), and language skill goals. She followed through on that exercise.

An adept cook, Julie whipped up some of my favorite French dishes including sweet breads (ris de veau). She took Debbie to a Pilates class. And, one of our favorite excursions included a kayak trip under the Pont du Gard.

Debbie and I are at two different language skill levels and Julie adjusted accordingly. She also served as a graciously effective umpire when our competitive juices were flowing. Her classes were efficient and fun. She has a pleasant way of drawing people out into challenging conversations.

Finally, her accommodations were excellent. They are spacious, appealing, and well located in town.

Debbie and I are already plotting a return trip.

Julie is a star! N’hésite pas!

We are a family of four taking a year off from life in Canada. For part of this year, we decided to dedicate ourselves to learning/improving our French. We stumbled over French Today and decided on Julie because of the location, the fact that she could accommodate a family, and because she had no cat (my husband is very allergic). We are so glad we did!

Julie is a wonderful teacher, conversationalist, and host. She understood our levels (the kids beginners, parents intermediate) and challenged us while not making it too hard. She played games with the kids, did grammar exercises with the adults. We were the first family she had ever hosted and she did it perfectly. We left being much better at French than when we arrived.

(I should also note that the apartment was perfect for us and Avignon was lovely, which just made things better.)

This was a fabulous vacation for us!  One of our best!  Julie was just a delight!  So easy to communicate with and a great sense of humor.

We spent two wonderful weeks with her in Avignon and would absolutely return for another!  She made our learning fun and interesting and always engaged us in cultural activities.

We believe we came away with a better understanding of French conversation and an improvement in our ability to converse.

If you are interested in improving or just beginning to learn the French language, we definitely recommend this program. Julie will assess your knowledge of the language and develop a plan from there.

The location is great (no car needed) and Julie makes it fun and enjoying going to cafes, playing games and storytelling.

She’s amazing!  So happy we found her!!

I am an intermediate level French speaker and I highly recommend an immersion week in Avignon with Julie!
A friend and I scheduled our week with Julie to enjoy an adventure in France while improving our knowledge of French and French culture.

Avignon is a lovely, walkable city, and Julie was a marvellous tour guide.
On our first day, she shared maps with us, installed us in her lovely apartment, and gave us a walking tour of Avignon Center.

Her language and teaching skills are superb.
She quickly assessed my chronic grammar mistakes, my pronunciation errors, and my overall abilities.
Then, she systematically dedicated each lesson to correcting my abilities in each of my weakest areas.
She uses games, conversation, small videos, handouts, clear notes and homework to keep the lessons interesting and motivating.

One of my French language goals is to pass the B2 DELF exam.
Julie gave me specific areas to study to help me prepare for the test.
I am weakest in oral comprehension, and she gave me specific tips on how to be a better listener.

Julie is a skilled cook.  She loves to share aspects of French culture and cuisine with her students.
Meals (including homemade jam and yogurt, and many fresh foods from the local market) were a delight.
Our excursions out into the Provence countryside were a highlight of our week.
(I wished I could have done more!)

The biggest surprise for me was Julie’s warmth and compassion.
She is a young, well-traveled polyglot, with all the enthusiasms and energy of youth, coupled with maturity and wisdom beyond her years.

Julie was unfailingly patient with all the logistics of our trip, answering questions in advance, helping us with train reservations, and ensuring that we had a safe journey.
I recommend her immersion course without reservation.