Our students are motivated adults who wish to learn French for their job, their studies or their pleasure. The average age is 34. They are mainly from Europe, North America, Japan or the Gulf States.

Satisfied with their education and the welcome they receive; many students come back over several years. We are even beginning to teach the children of our first students !

CLE was in the New York Times already more than 20 years ago!

See the blog created by a teacher and her students from Charleston, South Carolina. They spent three weeks with us in June 2010.

Testimonials

Helen McDevitt

I spent 2 weeks at CLE in June 2010. As a graduate of French some 30 years ago and not having spoken any French for 10 years I wanted a course which would help me rediscover a degree of fluency and also my enjoyment of the language.

 I enrolled for the standard course of 20 hours of group classes per week plus 3 hours of one to one tuition.The standard of teaching in the group classes was extremely high. Preparation was thorough and content was varied. In addition to general language exercises, poetry, politics and current events also constituted a substantial part of the class content.

I had high hopes of the one to one classes and was again very impressed with the detailed preparation and the way the tutor accurately targeted areas which needed attention. In fact these classes were amazingly good.

Coffee times were filled with conversations with other students about how pleased they were with their classes too!

My hostess was charming and I received a warm welcome. The food was excellent and her cheerful company made my stay complete.

There is a lovely atmosphere at CLE which is easy to recognise but very hard to define. It is an efficient, highly professional language school which still manages to be warmly welcoming and supportive.

Tina Arnold

I am delighted to give CLE in Tours a 5-star rating! I strongly recommend this school to all adults who are serious about improving their knowledge of French. I am a 52-year-old American woman who decided to study in France in May 2009. I chose the city of Tours because I’d heard that the French spoken in the Touraine was very pure. In addition, I knew I would have easy access to the many beautiful chateaux in the Loire Valley. From the moment I had contact with Isabelle and Hervé, I knew CLE was the school for me. Isabelle and Hervé are experienced professionals, and to top it off, they are warm and caring individuals who take a personal interest in each student. Isabelle and Hervé carefully evaluated my level of French and placed me in a class that was perfect for me. I had to work hard, but I enjoyed every minute of it. And at the end of my two-week stay, I noticed a significant improvement in my French. My teacher, Catherine, was outstanding! One more thing: Isabelle and Hervé arranged ideal lodging for me. I stayed in a charming artist’s studio surrounded by a lovely garden, and my landlords, Eric and Sophie, welcomed me with such warmth, I immediately felt at home. I have very happy memories of my time at CLE, and I can’t recommend it strongly enough. Of course, I can’t wait to go back!

Patrick Stokes

I started my 12 weeks Intensive French Language course with some apprehension as it was 38 years ago that I passed my French ‘O’Level in England and more than 30 years since I sat in a classroom to learn anything. Yet here I was, at school again 5 days a week for the next 12 weeks! I had an initial test to verify my capabilities (!) then I was placed in a class at the appropriate level. There was a small turnover of students in my class as individuals came and went but this wasn’t disruptive. There were core members, like me!

After a difficult first week, difficult because I had to get back into the mindset of ‘classroom learning’, the course went well for me. I think that in most weeks I went two steps forward and one step backwards, which was ok because that meant that I was progressing.

Midway through the course, I sensed it was all getting much harder, but I imagined that as students were all progressing and that the teachers were ‘pushing the envelope’ and stretching us, and naturally, the course content was building up.

Both of my teachers varied the content of the weeks quite a lot to avoid to much routine and to prevent the class becoming stale. I think that they got the balance about right and it was certainly ok for me. When necessary, individual help was given without alienating the other classmates. We all had our strengths and weaknesses.

I met some good students in my time at CLE and wish them well in their endeavours.

In summary, I found the course challenging enough without becoming swamped and felt that I had made some real progress when it ended, though I think I shall be back for more.

Sven Bisang
See Sven's pictures of his stay in Tours during summer.
Catherine McCourt
After spending 8 wonderful weeks at CLÉ  I highly recommend the school to anyone who would like to learn French through true immersion. I became a student for 2 months because I wanted to take a break from my job and at the same time improve my French, especially my beginner-level spoken French. I chose CLÉ because of the small class sizes and the opportunity to live with a host family in a city that is steeped in history and situated in the beautiful Loire valley. It was the best decision I've made in a long time! My time at CLÉ and in Tours was a happy and fulfilling experience. The school is well organized and the teachers are supportive, very knowledgeable and dedicated to their work. In turn, the students are expected to do their best - to show up for class, to participate, and to do the homework, which is quite manageable. While CLÉ takes learning seriously, the atmosphere is not serious or dull. Rather, it is lively, fun, and so interesting. My host family, which was warm and hospitable, helped me very much with my French. Through conversations in French at meals and in the evenings I learned a lot about French history, current events, cinema, art, television and other aspects of life in France. I found that during my time at CLÉ and in Tours my ability to understand, speak, write and read French all improved considerably. I learned more of the language than I expected, and I also learned more about myself than I expected.
Aoife O'Dea
As I’m studying French in my university in Ireland, it’s important that I speak and practice French as often as possible and what better way to do this than to do a French course in France! I’ve been to CLE twice now during my Easter holidays and each time, in only two weeks, I’ve noticed a vast improvement in my French, both grammatically and orally. The teachers are really friendly and highly accommodating towards each student’s needs. There is a diverse mix of students, ranging from all ages, so it is great to be able to speak French with your peers and learn about different cultures. CLE is situated at the heart of Tours, amongst numerous bars and restaurants, so you never stuck for choice of what to do at the weekends! CLE pinpointed my weaknesses in French and helped me improve through the wonderful facilities they offer at the school.
David Allard
I have always loved France. Of course, I learnt French when I was a schoolboy in England but in 2001 I decided to go to Tours to learn French at CLE. Nearly every year since then I have been to CLE at Tours to learn French and now I can speak French quite well. During my stay I have always lived with a very agreeable host family. In order to be able to speak French well it is very important to do the homework. The weekend is a good time to visit a museum, a château or a manor house in the country. Saturday is the best day to go somewhere by train.

Are you curious? To see the pictures of our students, read their posts, consult the blog that was created by Derek Worch, an American intern at CLE.
lesetudiantsdecle.blogspot.com/