I am moving to Lausanne in March and want to take an intensive language course to learn French. I have been learning it at home for a month now and can read basic things fairly well. But I can't speak it very fast and have trouble understanding it when spoken. Does anyone know if I should start as a true beginner in the beginner course or would I be considered beginner-intermediate? Thanks!!
After free online courses and living here for almost a year, I was placed in an A1/A2 class. My husband's 4 years of high school classes translated to A2/B1. If your spouse is at EPFL, you can take the courses here at the language center like we did.
Can you give me the contact of language center where I can register for learning French? In lausanne, can we find French course in our community (e.g I live in Bussigny, is there any course for residents living near Bussigny)
I am having lessons at Wessex Academy, I find them pretty good.
If you are yet to move here, you will find that a lot of things (french lessons included) are more expensive than you expect - you will get used to it!
I took french classes for about a year at Ecole Agora in Lausanne. I found it to be quite good. http://www.ecoleagora.ch/
Before that, I took classes at Ecole Migros and was really disappointed by the quality of the professors and the engagement of the other students. Would not recommend.
These are great ways to improve your confidence and get you speaking. I've done them and can recommend both the Tandem programme and the courses. I would advise you to buy a grammar practice book and just go through the exercises at home, that will supplement these courses nicely.
I learnt French by listening and talking. It shows when I write . I could never get the energy to do courses. So kudos to those who do that.
A barrier to understanding everyday french is the huge amount of slang, much more than in English and used in much more everyday contexts. So I recommend completing the grammar lessons with this book:
"Merde!: The Real French You Were Never Taught at School". You certainly should not use all the ruder words straight away, but at least you can work out what people are saying. And there is a Michelin star system with three stars reserved for only the rudest expressions. Very useful for advanced learners .
Does anyone know of affordable French lessons in Lausanne? I just graduated here (and my French is still horrible) and knew there were free French courses as an international student at UNIL/EPFL during the school year. The courses mentioned in this thread are pretty expensive without employment...