Learn French with us!
We have 4 sessions per year, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.
Some classes are all year long like the Cned.
We offer a friendly and stimulating environment to help you gain confidence in speaking French. All classes are conducted in French with an emphasis on communication. You will learn grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, pronunciation and more, through active participation and conversation.
Our Instructors
Estela Baptista
Instructor
Of Portuguese origin, Estela was born and raised in France. She also lived in Portugal, where she studied modern Languages and Literature (French and German studies), and where she has taught children, children with special needs, teenagers, and adults. She also worked as the Head of an Adult Education Program for five years and as the Coordinator of a School Library. She has been certified in DELF since December 2020 and in TEF since December 2021.
She moved to the United States in September 2016 and joined the Alliance Française/French Institute in New York in November 2017. She moved to California in August 2021, where she joined the Alliance Française of San Diego.
Annie Bergman
Instructor | Educational Director
Annie grew up in the French Alps, then traveled around the world with a master’s degree in computer science in her bag and the desire to meet native people and discover new cultures.
During her time abroad, she worked in Computer Science. She shared her French culture and language by privately tutoring French and teaching as a TA French Business in the MBA program at the University of Texas at Austin.
In 2017, she settled in San Diego and started teaching French as a Foreign Language to different publics, in face-to-face or online, private or group classes (Cavilam Certification – Alliance Française de Vichy).
“Because every student and every class is different, I am very flexible, and I know how to adapt to different person’s goals, interests, and levels. Teaching is an exciting and fulfilling experience in which I learn as much from my students as they learn from me.”
She tries to enjoy every bit of life: dancing, practicing yoga, oil painting, playing music, and sharing her passions and time with friends and family!
Elizabeth Bergman
Instructor
Elisabeth Bergman grew up in Brittany, France, and graduated in French Studies, Linguistics, and Translations at the French Portuguese Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. Elisabeth has taught at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and privately tutored students in the French Language. She has been teaching at Alliance Française San Diego since its opening and is currently the Outreach Director, assisting AFSD alumni in language and cultural development. Elisabeth has a Project Management Certificate (PMP) and is certified in DELF – DALF A1 to C2 from the International Center of Pedagogical Studies of Sèvres, France. She is currently an examiner of the French Evaluation Test of Oral Expression (eTEF) of the Paris-Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce.
Carrie Blanton
Instructor
Carrie Blanton has taught both English and French as foreign languages and recently relocated to San Diego after completing her master’s degree in Didactique des Langues Étrangères et Tice at the Université Lumière Lyon 2. Fulfilling her dream of living in France, she spent the past four years teaching English to students of all ages in Lyon: first, as an assistante de langue in the TAPIF program, then as a lectrice d’anglais at Université Lyon 2, and finally as an English teacher at Gaming Campus Lyon (a university focused on gaming careers). A passionate Francophile, she is even more enamored with the French language than when she began studying it in the fourth grade and appreciates how every exchange, whether in French, English, or any other language, is ultimately about communication and building connections with those around us.
Benedicte Bonaventure
Instructor
Bénédicte Bonaventure grew up in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium. She holds a nursing degree with an emphasis in Tropical Medicine and an early childhood and development certificate. She participates to regular workshops by the Association of French Teachers and is certified as an eTEF examinator. She started teaching for the Alliance Française de San Diego at its opening in 2009.
When Benedicte is not teaching, she is drawing and painting or spending time with her husband and their two daughters.
Amélie Chappaz
Instructor
Amélie Chappaz was born and raised in the French Alps. Previously living in England, she was the school’s headteacher at Les Petits Caméléons for French bilingual children. Amelie has her Baccalauréat L diploma in the humanities from Lycee Mme de Stael – St-Julien-en-Genevois, France. Amélie also obtained a Degree in French as a Foreign Language (DAEFLE) from National Centre for Distance Education (CNED) and Alliance Française of Paris. She was recently nominated as the New Teacher of the Year by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF). Amélie is the current Educational Director of the Alliance Française San Diego. She is dedicated to developing the skills and abilities of her pupils so that they have the opportunity to achieve to the best of their potential both in the written and spoken fields of the French language.
Lili Chow-Cany
Instructor
My name is Lili, I was born in Hong Kong and raised in Paris and Meaux, where the famous cheese “Brie de Meaux” was created.
I graduated from the hotel & catering management school Savoie-Léman at Thonon-les Bains in France. In 2005, I moved to New York with my family, where I created French classes for after-school programs.
I’ve taught French for more than 15 years in New York, Montréal, and San Diego in public schools and community centers for children and adults. I am specialized in “Ludopédagogie”. It means learning languages through specific social games. It’s engaging and fun, and it forces you to think outside the box.
Here I am, offering you a new experience to help you learn French without fear of making mistakes. It can be “simple comme bonjour!”= (French expression for simple like hello)
I am also pleased to present our special “Learning French through cooking” workshop. I will guide you to read French recipes, learn vocabulary, and, of course, we will taste our creations!
Alors, à très bientôt!
Senami Craft
Instructor
Senami loves teaching French in nature and with hands-on experiences along with local French-speaking entrepreneurs, in addition to exploring local beaches, parks, museums, and workshops with her sons. She holds 12 credits in early childhood education from Los Angeles City College and Mira Costa College, with a focus on infants and toddlers.
She is also a lawyer and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and Masters from Sciences Po Paris and the Sorbonne. She is half French, half Beninese, and she grew up by the beach in the countryside in Vendée, France.
Laurence de Valmy
Instructor | Cultural Coordinator
Laurence de Valmy was born in Africa and raised in France. She also lived in London and moved to the United States in 2013. She joined the Alliance Française of San Diego in 2022 after living on the East coast for quite some years.
She holds an MBA in Economics and Marketing from Paris Dauphine University. Passionate about art, she has studied painting, working with watercolors, oils, and later acrylics, which is now her primary medium and art history. Her art classes combine painting techniques and an art history background.
Coming from a family of teachers, she's passionate about education and sharing her passion.
She teaches art classes for children and adults in a private studio and at the Alliance Francaise and Beginners French classes.
Frank Finch
Instructor | Educational Coordinator
Frank Finch has studied French from a young age, both in academic settings and through immersion. He completed his MA in Etudes francophones at Virginia Tech, where he was an instructor of undergraduate French. Frank has also studied at the Université Lille III and recently moved to San Diego from Montréal, QC. He has worked as a legal translator from French to English. As an instructor, he uses a communicative and task-based approach, preparing students for authentic contexts. He is particularly interested in linguistic diversity in the Francophone world. In addition to leading group courses and tutoring one-on-one at the Alliance Française, Frank teaches undergraduate French at the University of San Diego.
Garance Gay
Instructor
Garance was born and raised in Paris. She studied Educational Sciences and Psychology in the city of Nantes, and after she got her diploma, she went back to Paris to learn Japanese and art. She left France to move to Japan in 2008, where she lived and taught French for many years. Since then, she has been teaching French as a foreign language and loves it.
You can find her perfecting dessert recipes or horseback riding when she is not teaching.
À bientôt !
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Layla Ghalié
Instructor
Layla Ghalié always loved the French language. So she began tutoring French at 15 and didn't stop since. First, she obtained her Master's in economics in Lebanon, where she taught French for five years. Then she moved to France, where she lived for 17 years and volunteered to teach French to immigrants of all nationalities and ages. She is currently teaching in San Diego at a language center and the Alliance Française, and also has her sole proprietorship for tutoring.
"Good teachers share knowledge. Great ones make an impression that stays in their students' hearts forever." She hopes to be a good and great teacher for you.
Valérie Guitton
Instructor
Valérie Guitton is French, and grew up in Paris suburbs and Brittany. She holds an Honors B.A. in Translation from York University in Toronto, Canada, a M.A. in French Studies from San Diego State University and a Certificate in Translation and Interpretation also from SDSU. She has taught lower and upper-division French courses at SDSU, UCSD and USD. Prior to studying languages, translation, and interpretation, Valérie worked in the business world in the U.K. and the U.S. after completing a Graduate Business Executive degree from ESC Brest in France.
She has her own Interpreting and Translation business (acculingual.com), and works for various companies among which are not-for-profit organizations, such as The Alliance for African Assistance in San Diego. Valérie also has a passion for acting and dancing. She has trained in drama schools in France and England (stage training) and in the US (screen training), and performed in English-speaking and French-speaking plays. She enjoys classical dance as well, and is currently learning two classical dance forms from India: Odissi and Kathak. Valérie is very happy to have joined the team at L’Alliance française de San Diego!
Christelle Losat
Instructor
Christelle was born and raised south of Paris and moved to California in 2021. Having always had an affinity for cultures and languages, she studied at the Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle, where she got her Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages - English and German with an Emphasis on International Business. As she worked for 15 years in Luxury Retail, she always found herself in roles related to Customer Relations, Event Planning, and Personal Shopping, where she could always engage with others. Throughout the years, her passion for languages continued as she studied up to 7 different languages, and then she started tutoring in French as a Foreign Language. Christelle began working with the Alliance Française of San Diego in September 2022.
Jean-Louis Morhange
Instructor
Jean-Louis Morhange was born in Sèvres, a small town between Paris and Versailles. He has taught at the Berlitz Schools; the Alliance Française/French Institute in New York City; National University; USD; and UCSD, where he obtained his Ph.D. as a part-time lecturer of French literature and French instructor (Literature and Linguistics Departments). He is also a translator. He has done research work on narrative theory and on comic books. He enjoys teaching adult classes because of the personal motivation shown by independent persons who have freely chosen to study. He uses interactive methods, emphasizing role-playing and conversation meant to simulate real-life situations.
Perrine Dellicour
Instructor | Certification Coordinator
Perrine was born in Liège, which is located in the French-speaking part of Belgium. She always loved traveling, learning new languages, and sharing her culture while discovering new ones. These passions are the reason why she decided to work abroad as a French teacher.
She holds a Master's degree in French as a Foreign Language from the University of Brussels and she has been teaching French since 2014 to children, teenagers, and adults, from beginners to advanced speakers. She enjoyed teaching in a warm, interactive, and dynamic atmosphere.
She already had the chance to work in Mexico, New York, Paris, and in Belgium, and now teaching in California. Her goal by sharing her knowledge, her Belgian culture, and her mother tongue, French, is to have a positive impact on the lives of my students.
She is also certified for the DELF/DALF and TCF exams.
She is looking forward to meeting you!
Éva Rodriguez
Instructor
Éva Rodriguez grew up in Lausanne, in the French-speaking region of Switzerland. Eva has instructed students from Le Lycée Français in Sydney and at Papalote, a Spanish Language school. Eva obtained a Degree in French as a Foreign Language (DAEFLE) and has been teaching French for over 12 years. She is currently an instructor at San Diego French American School and the Alliance Française San Diego, where she adapts her teaching styles to adult and children classes. Eva is a certified Adult Educator (AE).
Claudine Stone
Instructor
Bonjour my name is Claudine
Originally from the South West of France, I lived in England for several years and then relocated many years ago to San Diego where my husband and I raised our children. I have always been impressed by the French community and culture here ; this has motivated me to pursue my studies in Education and start teaching.
I have been teaching for more than 10 years and thoroughly enjoy it.
In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, art, and gastronomy.