French Immersion Homestay At Teacher’s Near Carcassone

I’ve just gotten back from a week homestay with Éliane and family and couldn’t be more satisfied. I chose Option 1, which was 3 hours of lessons per day (Monday through Friday) and two afternoon excursions. In addition, Option 1 included breakfast and lunch with Éliane, with an opportunity for more conversation during mealtimes. We had agreed, going into that week, that the main focus would be French conversation; Éliane made clear that she can tailor her courses to the perceived need and the preference of her students . I loved having the opportunity for so much French conversation. Éliane is a patient teacher, humble, and very genuine. Not least, she’s a skillful teacher who will not only guide your steps, but also make you feel very comfortable. It was a joy to meet the rest of the family; the accommodations were comfortable; and I got to discover Carcassonne and its environs. My only regret is that the week went by too fast! Thank you sincerely, Éliane, for having welcomed me into your home ; for having made me feel so comfortable ; and for having guided my progress (with a hand as gentle as it was skillful) towards the goals I had assigned for myself.

Traduction de Nicholas en français : 

Je viens d’effectuer un séjour linguistique d’une semaine chez Éliane et sa famille, dont je suis bien content. J’avais choisi ce qu’on appelle « la première option,” celle qui comprenait trois heures de leçons quotidiennement (soit du lundi au vendredi) et, de surcroît , deux excursions spéciales pendant l’après-midi. Le fait d’avoir sélectionné cette première option m’avait aussi donné droit à deux repas par jour auprès d’ Éliane, pendant lesquels l’on pouvait continuer à causer ensemble à table . C’était convenu en avance que, pendant cette semaine, on se focaliserait principalement sur la conversation — c’est-à-dire sur la compréhension et l’expression orale. Cependant, Éliane m’avait expliqué que, effectivement, c’est toujours à l’étudiant de lui faire savoir les compétences précises auxquelles l’on voudrait se consacrer. Moi, j’ai adoré l’opportunité d’avoir eu tellement d’occasion de m’exercer à l’oral. Éliane, elle, dégageait de la patience, de l’humilité, et était très « authentique « , sincère, en tant qu’individu. En plus, c’est une enseignante très habile qui guidera vos pas, tout en tenant à ce que vous vous sentiez encouragé et à l’aise. J’étais ravi d’avoir fait la connaissaunce du reste de sa famille à elle (tous étaient des gens délicieux); les accommodations qu’on m’a offertes étaient bien confortables ; et j’ai aussi profité d’une découverte de Carcassonne et de ses alentours. Mon seul regret — seul « bémol, » comme le diraient les francophones — était que cette semaine-là se soit passée beaucoup trop vite. Je te remercie, Éliane, de m’avoir accueilli si chaleureusement à ton chez toi; de m’avoir rendu tellement à l’aise ; d’avoir guidé mes progrès — aussi gentiment qu’habilement — par rapport aux objectifs que je m’étais fixés. Mille remerciements.

I have just spent 2 amazing weeks with Éliane and her delightful family, at their beautiful house in Pezens. 

Éliane provides 2 choices for her students, and I went for Option 2, so enjoyed full board and lots of trips. It worked really well for me!

I wanted to take a French immersion course in France, to improve my conversation skills and my understanding of the spoken language.

This has been one of the best experiences of my life. Éliane is so clever and so kind – a truly excellent teacher and a wonderful companion. It has been a real treat to get to know her and her family,  to eat and chat with them, and to visit plenty of charming places in the local area with them. So much more than I expected!

I’ve felt relaxed and comfortable in the private accommodation downstairs, and had plenty of time to read French books and watch French TV. 

There’s a little shop nearby, a boulangerie, a pharmacy – everything you need is a short stroll away. 

I highly recommend this whole experience, whatever your level of French.

Thank you so very much, Éliane, for everything!

Xx

My week with Éliane and her family in Pezens was the highlight of my entire four weeks in Europe! It was such an honor to be welcomed into her home! Had Option 2 been available when I booked with Éliane I would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with her. The apartment is very comfortable, private, and spacious and I thoroughly enjoyed our outings to the winery of Pennautier and village of Montolieu. I also greatly enjoyed the flexibility to cook in a well-equipped kitchen – and the many pleasures of seeking out French ingredients like a local. I also highly recommend the walk/bike trail along the Canal du Midi between Pezens and Carcassonne for quiet beauty and thinking time.

Éliane is an outstanding teacher, gracious host – and an excellent cook! She met me where I was – on a good day level B2 – and in addition to speaking/oral comprehension work, some of my favorite lessons involved phonetics and how to actually make French words “sound” French when spoken by me. 😀

She has a remarkable ability to take complex/advanced grammatical rules I have always struggled with and simplify them into easy to digest principles. She also provided me with excellent resources and notes to take home. 

Perhaps one of Éliane’s greatest strengths when working with me was putting me at ease (not an easy thing to do) with patience and a sense of humor that is infectious. When I returned to London I could still hear her as I was still speaking French in my head! She also accomplished something I never thought I would ever see … I became comfortable calling a taxi on the telephone and riding French trains without panicking! I left not only with a newfound confidence in my French but more importantly renewed self-confidence. Can’t wait to return!

When I told friends and family that I was going to spend a week in an immersion program in France with a French teacher and her family, many asked if I wasn’t afraid to stay with someone I didn’t know. I told them that only someone with a warm and generous heart would choose to open her home and share her life and family with students from around the globe. I was not mistaken. Eliane is kind and welcoming and immediately put me at ease even though I am not confident speaking French.
My goal was to spend the week practicing conversation, and that is how we passed the time. We spent long mornings at the table sharing stories over coffee and croissants, and some days we continued our conversations while walking along the Canal du Midi or a nearby lake. As the week went on, speaking French became easier, and I was pleased to find that I understood everything.
Practicing your French language skills in a home stay in France is truly the best way to improve! My only regret is that I only spent a week- the time passed too quickly!
I enjoyed getting to know Eliane‘s family: her partner Benjamin who was so welcoming , her brother-in-law William who was so kind to give me rides, adorable Elena who was always content, and Okami- the dog, who would gaze at me with hopeful eyes during each meal.
The meals were delicious and the conversation flowed easily. Eliane is skilled at asking questions and sharing stories about her life. She also took the time to get me to and from the airport,  and often would drop me off in Carcassonne in the afternoons during my free time.
I loved exploring Carcassonne on my own, both La Bastide with its shops, cafés, art museum, and cathedral and especially La Cité Médiévale with it’s winding streets and amazing château and ramparts. I enjoyed shopping in the boutiques and eating ice cream there on more than one occasion!
I had an excursion with Eliane to the Château where she explained everything like an expert guide. I also enjoyed a winery tour and tasting with her which was a pleasant evening full of laughter.
The student apartment was spacious and each evening I was very comfortable there in my home away from home.
Overall, it was a wonderful experience that I would definitely recommend. I am very grateful to Eliane and her family for sharing their life with me for the week in such a welcoming manner, and I appreciate Eliane for helping me gain confidence speaking French.
Merci mille fois!!

Lennart : 
Thank you for the time with you and your family. Thank you for hosting me and my wife in your home. You had the patience to help me with my French. Previous group courses in France have not made me advance in being able to form my own French phrases. You had the patience to help me and to find the words needed to form a sentence. Thank you for all the service and all the good food. My wife and I really felt at home. 

Siv : 
Ton concept, ton accueil d’étudiants dans ta maison et dans ta famille est très réussi. Pour moi et je pense aussi pour mon mari la semaine dernière à Pezens était un cadeau qui vaut plus que bien d’autres choses.Merci Éliane !Mon cœur a parlé.

I’ve taken many French classes over several years. Although I’ve made progress (especially in reading and writing), I was frustrated at my inability to have meaningful conversations beyond the rudimentary level.
Friends who have achieved fluency in French have always advised me to try a good immersion program. Unfortunately, I didn’t heed their suggestion until last week. But now that I have, I’m convinced it’s the best way to achieving real proficiency.
The key is finding a good program and Eliane’s is absolutely great. In addition to 3 hours of daily private lessons tailored to your language goals and needs, during most days you’re involved in the daily routine of her lovely, warm, and welcoming family. This isn’t just learning textbook French; it’s all about applying it—continually, exclusively, and naturally.
The comfortable, private, and spacious accommodations were another big plus. I enjoyed the breakfasts and lunches so much, I decided to add dinners as well. The almost daily excursions to explore this beautiful region of France enriched my understanding of the culture while providing opportunities to speak with many locals.
Now that I’m home, I’ll continue with conventional classes—but with a noticeable improvement in my ability and confidence. 
Un grand merci, Eliane! J’espère revenir une autre semaine l’année prochaine.

J’ai passé une bonne semaine avec Eliane et sa famille. C’était une super expérience et mon français s’est beaucoup amélioré.Les choses qui me troublaient avant ma visite, par exemple les pronoms relatifs, sont maintenant tellement claires. Eliane est une enseignante talentueuse. 
Elle était gentille et patiente avec moi quand j’ai plusieurs fois oublié les règles de grammaire. Merci beaucoup Eliane j’ai repris confiance en moi.

Translation:

I spent a lovely week with Eliane and her family. It was a great experience and my French has greatly improved. The things that worried me before my visit for example relative pronouns are now much clearer. Eliane is a very talented teacher. She was kind and patient with me when I forgot the rules of grammar several times. Thanks Eliane my confidence is restored. 

Loretta 

We just spent two wonderful weeks with Eliane and her lovely family. We had our own apartment and were treated as honored guests. She served a wonderful breakfast each morning and lunch was practically a three-course dinner.  Our favorite town to visit was Carcassone, a medieval village with an amazing history, but Eliane drove us someplace new every day, and always with grace and humor.  Her husband even picked us up from a restaurant one night in what was almost a hurricane. As I know almost no French I was intimidated at the thought of speaking incorrectly but Eliane is gentle and I never felt pressured; my experience was so much more pleasant than I hoped.  If you’re interested in learning French you can find no teacher as kind and patient as Eliane. Both my husband and I recommend Eliane very highly.  She is a treasure.  Bob and Dolores Soffientini. 

 Thankyou, I have spent two weeks with Eliane, and have been very welcomed by her and her lovely family. It was well worth spending a two week vacation , immersed in the language, one week would not have felt enough. I have visited many places with Eliane, and although I didn’t have my own transport I managed to visit local villages and events around the area in the free time. Eliane was very generous with her time and offering a lift into the city when needed. I also enjoyed lovely food while staying here and a great insight to french way of life. It has been a great experience and one that I hope I can repeat . It was well worth it., thankyou Eliane . 

 I had the pleasure of staying for a week with Eliane and her lovely family, and it was a truly great experience. Not only did I have the opportunity to improve my French, but I got a taste of being entrenched in true French living. The apartment is comfortable, spacious and well equipped with everything you could need. The village of Pezens where they live is peaceful, interesting and pretty, with the city of Carcassonne being only a ten minute drive away with it’s medieval town and all the things that a city provides. As far as lessons went, I felt that I needed to improve particularly my spoken French, so Eliane tailored the class accordingly, focusing on the particular aspects that I needed to work on. I found her to be an extremely patient and helpful teacher, and I feel that she gave me a much better understanding of how the various language components all fit together. I’m somewhere around a B2 level of French, but I’m sure that Eliane could tailor a class for any level of student. On top of all of that, breakfast and lunch were always delicious. I have no hesitation in highly recommending anyone to come and learn French with Eliane and hope that I will be back again some time soon. 

I would highly recommend Eliane.  This was “full” immersion and there are some many things to mention.  The personalization of her teaching, the interesting outings, the location so close to Carcassonne, getting to know her family and more.  Carcassonne is an amazingly pristine medieval city.  So much history going back 6,000 years with many wonderful restaurants. Eliane also has many recorded phrases for many common situations that I found very helpful.  You won’t be disappointed. Thanks for you hospitality and I enjoyed not only learning from you and about you and Benjamin but learned a lot about your “slice” of the French life.  Thanks for sharing you and your family with me. 

Vicky :
My friend Barbara and I just spent a week with Éliane in the immersion program.  It was a dream come true. For me, being in France, staying with a French family, being able to ask questions about culture as well as vocabulary and grammar–that’s exactly what I wanted. Éliane is a wonderful hostess. Her husband and daughter are also charming and friendly.  And Éliane is also an excellent cook!  She prepared delicious food which was also very French.We went together to Limousis Caves and it was fascinating. Even though I didn’t understand everything the guide said, I understood enough, and Éliane was there to clarify. It was a beautiful place to visit. I like to see natural beauty. We also went to the vineyard of Château de Pennautier (the Lorgeril family) for a visit and tasting.  It was a pleasant excursion. We loved the wine and the conversation with the guide.Barbara and I visited Carcassonne twice. Once to the city center, but it was a Monday and there wasn’t much open.  On Friday, we went to the medieval city.  Our days visiting Carcassonne were lovely.  We had rented a car and it was quite easy to get around (thanks to Google Maps) and to find parking.Because Barbara is a pilot, she and I went to the Musée Aeroscopia in Toulouse as well, about an hour’s drive away.  It was worth the visit. We could go inside airplanes and learn of French aviation history. That night, we had reservations at a Michelin-starred restaurant, “PY-r”.  It was a true gastronomic experience.There was a small supermarket near us. We walked there for fresh vegetables. There was also a boulangerie where we bought baguettes.  We also took a few walks in Pezens. It was peaceful to be in the countryside and see vineyards and fields of other crops (wheat?) and a small river or stream. We also walked through an old cemetery–very interesting how families are buried together in a plot.Our accommodations were perfect. We each had our own room. We shared a bathroom but the toilet was in a separate area from the sink and shower so it worked well. The small kitchenette was good for our needs. We preferred to eat bread, cheese, pâté, tomatoes and wine on the terrace for dinner. We were in heaven. Really.Éliane is a good teacher. She is practical and helpful. She is also insightful. She knew what we had to work on and she knew the common mistakes of American English speakers. I had studied in France as a student (oo la la, that was too many years ago! ) and I had kept up with my French as best I could, but I forgot a lot of vocabulary and especially grammar. I make a lot of mistakes. My goal is for people to understand me, even if I prefer to speak perfectly like a Frenchwoman! I am a perfectionist and it was difficult for me to realize how bad my French had become. But it was good for me to keep talking anyway. I learned a lot. I am trying to put all this into practice. I was intrigued to learn how many of his students return each year or so. Maybe I can do that too?–Vicky Dobbs, Texas, USA

Barbara :
Avec une chère amie, j’ai passé une semaine en programme d’immersion chez Éliane et sa famille. Tout était vraiment sympa ! La maison est bien adaptée : nous avions le rez-de-chaussée entier pour nous, avec deux chambres, une petite kitchenette, et une jolie véranda qui donne sur la piscine. Les leçons de français chaque matin étaient très agréables : ni trop facile ni trop difficile. Éliane s’est très bien adaptée à notre niveau de français. Elle nous a beaucoup aidées à mieux comprendre quelques points de grammaire, et elle nous a donné de bons exercices pour les pratiquer. Les repas qu’elle nous a préparés étaient vraiment délicieux. Nous avons fait deux excursions avec Éliane (un tour de la grotte de Limousis, et une dégustation de vins) qui étaient très agréables et intéressantes. Les trois après-midi où nous n’avions pas d’excursions avec elle, nous en avons profité pour visiter quelques endroits dans la région. Tout s’est très bien passé !
Je te remercie ! 😊
Barbara

My week with Eliane was wonderful! She quickly ascertained what type of learner I was, and structured the lessons to my learning style. This both relaxed and motivated me throughout the week. I now have the tools I need to progress from a ‘beginner’ to the next level. 

Eliane and I had 3 fun outings during the week, to the Cite of Carcassone, wine tasting and visiting a local market.

The student accommodation on the ground floor of her home is perfect, with everything you need for privacy, quiet study time and relaxation. 

I hope to return for 2 weeks next year to further my learning adventure.

Merci beaucoup to Eliane, Benjamin and Elena for inviting me into you home for the week. It was a great experience!

I just left Eliane, with whom I stayed for 2 weeks. Eliane was very generous in every way – the lessons, the meals, the excursions. 
When Eliane picked me up at the train Station in Carcassonne (which was very convenient for me), I felt very welcomed. 
The accomodation was very confortable. I liked the room, and I was able to arrange it for my convenience. There was plenty of storage for clothes and Eliane provided all the clothes hangers I needed. I had everything I needed to feel at home. 
The lessons were very thoughtfully planned and presented. Eliane took into account my level of French and my interests. 
Les repas étaient délicieux et préparés avec amour ! 
Everything was perfect ! I had the best of both worlds – the careful attention when it was needed, and also I enjoyed provacy and independence. 
Merci Eliane et Benjamin pour ce merveilleux séjour ! 

 I spent a week with Eliane at the end of April. Eliane and her partner Benjamin are warm, friendly and relaxed. I felt at home as soon as I arrived. 

Eliane structured the classes innovatively based on the level of my French and the subjects that I am interested in, for example, visiting the local market to learn the produce vocabulary and translating some of the information I heard from the audio guide into French to her while we visited the Cite de Carcassonne. 

She was also generous with her time and went the extra mile to make sure I had a great experience in the region. 

I had the whole ground floor of the house to myself and had access to the beautiful veranda and garden. It is a great place to relax and chill. 
Thanks a lot Eliane, Benjamin and adorable Elena for a great week!