Our Teachers and Staff

A language professional, offering a wealth of experience in language teaching and translation.

I am bilingual and dual nationality English-French, having learned French from a young age and continued to gain a degree in European Studies specialising in French. After falling in love with France and the Rhône Alpes region, I decided to stay and have been living in the region ever since. For the last 14 years, I have lived in the Morzine area which is a truly beautiful part of France with mountains, lakes, picturesque towns and also close to Switzerland and only an hour from Geneva airport.

Since living in France, I have owned and managed several businesses and have thus gained a knowledge and insight into the French way of life and administrative system.

I started teaching English when I was at university and continued to do so in Morzine when I moved to the area. I also worked at International House language school in Geneva where I gained a wealth of experience about teaching and managing a language school. However, my heart was in the mountains so I returned to Morzine to expand Lost In Translation which has now become Alpine French School. We are now a team of 7 permanent teachers plus we have extra teachers and ‘animateurs’ who we call on when we need extra hands. We all enjoy meeting and teaching our students, who come both from the local area and further afield. They all fall in love with the beautiful scenery and our conversational, interactive style of teaching with small groups so that it doesn’t feel like being back at school! We encourage our students to speak French as much as possible during their lessons and we strive to make our lessons enjoyable as well as effective, by adapting programmes to suit the needs, level, interests and objectives of each group.

I feel like sharing a little of my background first because like most of us, I think it’s nice to know about people’s backgrounds. I did a degree in English at Rouen University and then fell in love with England, where I lived for 8 years. I qualified as a teacher in the UK and taught French both in Norfolk and near Brighton. I’ve always loved making my lessons as fun as possible (not always an easy task if you see what I mean!) and giving back students their responsibility for learning.

I then put my career on hold and travelled for 7 years. I had all the time in the world to explore human nature and reconnect with dancing. I have now created my way of combining well-being and dance and hold weekly sessions in Thonon.

Working for Alpine French School is an ongoing adventure due to the diversity of students’ backgrounds, expectations and learning abilities. The team is like a small family here and our common point is that we like to have a good laugh! My philosophy is that everybody should be taught in a way which makes them feel comfortable and which visibly enhances their progress as much as their confidence.

A business partner in Alpine French School, I manage our French Summer Camp and International Students, I supervise our teachers and the content of our courses and keep up to date with new teaching ideas to keep our courses current and innovative.

This part of the world makes me feel very privileged and I just love seeing the beauty of our mountains everyday. I have a lovely crazy dog who can’t get enough snow balls to catch and a cute happy cat! I have just started sewing (something I have been willing to do for a long time!) and am enjoying coming to grips with needles and thread.

I come from Paris and I’m one of the French tutors here in Morzine. I’ve been living and teaching in this valley since 2010. Previously to that, I lived in the south of England for 12 years where I worked for a French immersion centre for UK schools based in Normandy and I’ve also worked for language summer schools in London. When it comes to my job, I love helping people to communicate better, and giving them the tools they need to understand and be understood. My ‘forté’ is making grammar easy to understand! When things suddenly make sense to them, it’s a real treat and even more rewarding when they become confident making sentences and chatting away.

Living here in the Alps is a real change of scenery and you just don’t get tired of the outdoor lifestyle. And when our students come and see us, they enter a big bubble of fresh air where they can forget everything for a week and embrace the mountain lifestyle, landscape and culture. We look forward to having you over soon!

I am now in charge of reservations so I will probably speak to you when you book your course with us!

I studied law at Sheffield University and then at Nottingham Law School. After working as a solicitor in London for 7 years I decided that I wasn’t ready to settle for life in the fast lane so I took some time off to travel in the mountains of Canada, South America, New Zealand and Nepal. Returning to London a year later I still had itchy feet, so after a short time back working in the law in London and a new baby, my partner and I decided to continue our desire to be in the mountains and moved to Morzine.

That was 8 years ago and we are now firmly settled here with 2 children who attend the local school and are bilingual – lucky them! I am not so lucky, but after taking many group and private lessons with Alpine French School, I am finally finding my way with the language which I love.

I now work as part of the Budgets team at Alpine French School. I love speaking to students about the area and helping them to choose the right course for them. I also get the opportunity to practise French with the teachers around the School which is great fun!

The local area is beautiful and there are so many activities for adults and children to do. In the winter, I love to ski and explore the mountains on touring skis. In summer, I enjoy road cycling and swimming in the clear mountain lakes or in Morzine’s beautiful outdoor pool. I have recently taken up hill running which is an excellent way of exploring the local peaks – with endless trials there are always new routes to explore year round. On less energetic days, I enjoy catching up with friends with a coffee on a café terrace soaking up the sun and the magnificent views or taking a gentle walk around the river. There’s always something to do!

I used to live near Paris for 25 years. Mother of 3 children (20, 18 and 14 years old), me and my husband decided to move to Morzine 5 years ago. In the past, I always came for my holidays and enjoyed the rainy, sunny or snowy mountains ! That is the reason why we decided to come to the Alps !

Shared between customer services and human ressources, I always enjoy communicating with people and dealing with their requests, either clients or employees.

If there is something special for you to discover in our lovely mountains, I will be sure to share it with you.

You might enjoy taking part in the opening of the slopes in the sunrise with a pisteur, visiting the snow-making factory or sledging by night in the Winter.  Or if you prefer,  discover the Haut Savoyard culture, hike in a secret place or taste some typical cheeses in one of Morzine’s great restaurants.

Let’s Morzine together !!

Originally from a small seaside town in East Yorkshire, I went on to study English Literature in Liverpool and then travel and work around the world for two years with my partner. My grandma was a teacher and my mum is a teacher, so I always thought I’d work in education in some way or form, but I never knew life would bring me to a ski resort as I had never enjoyed the cold or even tried skiing until I finally gave it a go in my early twenties!

After being persuaded by my boyfriend, I came to Morzine in 2019 to do a ski season and work as a chalet host and chef (very hard work). I quickly realised that I loved everything about the mountains and knew I wanted to return one day, but hopefully in a job that I enjoyed more! As soon as the covid travel restrictions lifted, we moved to the area to try out ‘la belle vie en France’. I first worked for Alpine French School as an English teacher and enjoyed the small, friendly team and welcoming environment, so when a place opened in the administration team I knew this was where I wanted to be and jumped at the opportunity.

I’ve learnt a lot in my first year working with Alpine French School, through a Winter of covid-restricted travel and then helping organising and running our annual Summer Camp, which was our biggest yet as we welcomed over 60 families each week from all over the world. I love communicating with clients new and old and helping each of our students have a fulfilling and enjoyable stay in Morzine. I’m trying very hard to improve my own French, so can really sympathise with students as, after not studying French formally at school, it can be a difficult language to grasp. But working in a language school is the best place to learn as my wonderful and patient colleagues help immerse me in the language everyday and I’m always happy to give it a go and make mistakes (and be corrected!).

In my time outside of work I enjoy hiking, yoga, swimming in the lake and hanging out with my gorgeous rescue dog Aura (who might pop into the office sometimes). Hopefully, if you’re reading this – I’ll speak to you soon and help you book your language course with us in the beautiful French Alps!

When I was young I wasn’t very academic. One day my parents asked what I wanted to do when I was older and I replied ‘be a professional traveller’ which wasn’t a real career in their eyes! However I understood that being able to speak different languages would open up many opportunities to me. So I did a Masters in English and travelled a lot: from Burkina Faso to the USA, via Nepal, Turkey, French Guiana….by foot, bike, bus, horse-back? (no, not yet!). It was only when I left France that I realised how rich our culture is and that I was keen to share it with others. Teaching French just came naturally as a result; teaching includes talking, sharing, asking and answering questions, sometimes tearing your hair out, but also with a lot of laughter and at the end of the day the smile on a student’s face when they suddenly get it is what pushes me to keep teaching and teaching well! I love the challenge of constantly finding the best way of making learning easy, giving confidence to students and accompanying students throughout their learning. When I’m not in class or travelling, I’m in the mountains, on my bike, on my skis or under my paraglider!

Originally from Laval, in the northwest of France, I studied English at the University of Angers. Like many others, I decided to move to the UK for one year to broaden my knowledge of the English language. I fell in love with England and English people, and I ended up living in Manchester for fifteen years. I taught in a secondary school in Cheshire for thirteen of those years. I started there as a Newly Qualified Teacher and I spent the last five years as the Curriculum Leader for French. I found those years to be extremely precious to me and I am proud of all my accomplishments during that time. Life in Manchester was very happy for me and it holds a huge place in my heart (apparently I have even adopted the Mancunian accent!). My partner and I decided to take a year out to undertake a renovation project in the area and to provide me with an opportunity to complete my Masters in Education. However, after a year spent here in the Portes du Soleil, we decided to make it a permanent move. We feel so at home in this beautiful part of France. I am immensely happy to be part of the Alpine French School team as it allows me to continue working within my profession in fantastic surroundings. I enjoy teaching all ages and levels but my ‘speciality’ would obviously be in preparing pupils for their GCSE, due to my background. My goal as a teacher is to make a difference for each of the students that I teach, whether I improve their grammar, pronunciation or their confidence, and to ensure they feel successful in their language learning endeavours. Ultimately, I want them to fall in love with this beautiful country and its rich culture, just as I did with the U.K.

I grew up here in the Alps, in the “Vallée du Giffre”.

At 19, I moved to London to see what life was like on the other side of the Channel, and ended up staying there for the best part of 10 years. I worked in pubs, admin roles, and finally when my English got good enough, moved into teaching English as a foreign language. I really love the rapport with students, and the instant reward I get when they “get it!” I’ve always liked languages and understanding how they work so this is pretty much the perfect job for me! I came back to France in 2013, after contracting in India for a bit and developing my French teaching, and I’ve now decided to stick around here, re-join with my family, and get back to hobbies I’d left behind like snowboarding, horse-riding and motor biking.

I’m the AFS Samoëns director and I continue to teach French & English.

I’ve been living in Saint-Jean d’Aulps and working in Morzine for 7 months, and it’s my favourite place for now!

Originally from Lyon, I started with an English degree in Lyon. My first very big trip was for my master’s degree when I went to New Zealand for a year. This experience was rich and that’s actually where I started to teach French, to children at the Alliance Française of Dunedin.  After that, I could not come back to Lyon and stay there, I had to move again, see more of France and more of the world. I thus went to Scotland (Glasgow) to teach French in primary and secondary schools for a year, then did the same in Spain for three months.

That’s when I decided to start studying again. I loved teaching French, so much, but I felt like I didn’t have enough tools to do it. So I started a master’s degree in FLE (French as a second language) with the university of Montpellier. This enabled me to question myself about all the different issues to face inside and outside the classroom: how to teach grammar, how to make the students speak, how to make them feel comfortable, how to give them vocab they will use, how to adapt your teaching methods and contents to each of them, how to deal with the level disparities, etc. and so much more!  I teach adults and children and love both for different reasons.

To progress in French, students must feel confident and comfortable so this is the most important thing in my teaching style.  I use a conversational approach to put students at ease and give them the confidence to express themselves in French.  I adapt my lessons to suit my students and I try and teach real-life French that my students will hear in the street.  Students appreciate being given the chance to speak and practice their French in my lessons.

Every day is a new challenge for me, and I keep on learning every time I get a new student. During my degree, I had the chance to discover a little piece of Russia during a 3 months internship. Since I’ve graduated, I’ve worked with internationals in Montpellier, with migrants in Lyon, in many different structures. My thirst of nature and wild spaces got me to Alpine French school, where I’m very happy to work and plan to stay for a little while!

Having always been a bit nerdy, with a love of literature and a keen eye for grammar, it was probably unavoidable that I would go on to study English. In 2005, having graduated from The University of Birmingham with an Honours degree in English Language and Literature, I was slightly bereft at the idea of having to give up studying, and so, I decided that teaching would be the next best thing. I embarked upon the Graduate Teacher Programme in order to qualify as a secondary school English teacher.

From 2007, I worked in UK secondary schools as a teacher of Key stage 3, GCSE, and A Level English Language and Literature, as well as delivering staff training on teaching and learning strategies, and A Level teaching methods. Despite having a real passion for teaching, I was yearning for a change and that change came in the form of my husband: an avid snowboarder with a desire to move to the French Alps. In 2014 I packed up my worldly goods and moved to Morzine in order to embark on a new career path: running a catered chalet with my husband. During my second winter season, I decided that it was essential to try to learn French (having never studied it at school), and so I embarked upon lessons at Alpine French School. The teaching that I received reignited my love of teaching and learning, as well as improving my level of French. After three successful seasons, we decided to close the doors of our chalet and it felt natural for me to return to teaching, albeit in a new context.

I now feel as if I have the best of both worlds: pursuing the career and subject for which I have always felt a passion, while getting to live in the most amazing place. When not teaching, I am usually found reading, hiking, running, or touring around Europe sampling all the bread and cheese that I can find.

Initially I did a CELTA course (Cambridge English Language Teaching to Adults) as I wanted to travel after university and be able to pay my way. After teaching in Australia and the Czech Republic I returned to the UK thinking I’d satisfied the travel bug. Five years later, after completing an MSc in Policy Studies and settling down as a social researcher in Edinburgh, I discovered I still had itchy feet… I left Scotland to do a ski season in Savoie, near Bourg St Maurice.

After winter I travelled a while before settling down in Morzine where I discovered snow, mountains, white-water and breath-taking scenery – a year-round, outdoor paradise! I have taught English in Thonon les Bains, Annemasse and Evian les Bains, as well as for English.fr in Morzine. Coming back to English teaching has been wonderful – learning French has opened my eyes to the challenges facing all language learners. It has enabled me to identify far more with students’ confidence issues and comprehension anxieties, as well as empathise with the inevitable feelings of frustration which surface when progress seems slower than we’d hoped for! I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to teach my first language and learn a second one, while living in the most beautiful surroundings I can imagine.

Aged 14, I was quite nervous to move from rural France to London with my parents. Four years later, fully bilingual, at university in Edinburgh I had discovered a passion for community theatre and teaching drama. Later I realized I could use those skills to teach English as a foreign language and completed my CELTA. A twist of fate took me from Edinburgh to Seville where I taught English for the next six years to students of all ages and picked up Spanish. A chance meeting with an English die-hard snowboarder brought me back to France and the Alps. Despite only ever skied at aged 14, I fully embraced the mountain life. It also made sense to use my teaching skills to teach my mother tongue.

I am passionate about taking students on a learning journey and thrive on intercultural exchanges. I am always keen to improve my teaching skills and try to make my classes fun, enjoyable, motivating and relevant. I try to use different media such as music, short films, and animations and encourage conversations and games for all ages.

In my spare time I love skiing and snowboarding in winter, climbing, cycling and hiking in the summer. It’s great to work for the Alpine French School and combine all these passions with my love for teaching.

My wife and I moved to the Alps in 2002 and with our three daughters we have always enojoyed living in a bilingual environment. My kids are now quite grown up and having helped out in their English classes at school over many years it seemed like a natural progression to start teaching. Language is a brilliant thing to teach and whether it is with children or adults I like the emphasis to be on fun.

Outside of the classroom I love spending time in the mountains – ski touring in the Winter, cyling and swimming in the Summer – we live in a fabulous playground.

Ségolène

Hi, my name is Ségolène, I am a qualified French language teacher with experience of teaching French in different countries including in the USA and in Italy as well as in France.

With me, learning is relaxed ?

My strengths are that I listen to my students and adapt to them.  I listen to their objectives and I adapt as much as possible to their level, their interests, the speed they learn at and what they want and need to study (speaking, writing, listening, vocabulary…..).

I am dynamic but also very patient. From grammar to vocabulary, I am happy to repeat as much as necessary for beginners or to push advanced students as much as possible.

To finish my story, I try and bring humour into my lessons so students often laugh during their lessons but we work too! My teaching is essentially based on conversation, my main aim is to put my students at ease with their French so they can express themselves with confidence……firstly by practicing in class with me and then in real life.

Bonjour! I’m Carole, a french native speaker. I am currently living in my hometown in Bordeaux but I enjoy traveling and above all learning about new cultures. I like teaching as much as learning a new language.

After having spent 2 years in London and graduated in English, I decided to challenge myself and learn Spanish living abroad, one year in Spain and then one year in Mexico.

I can also speak a bit of Portuguese.

In France I have taught French to students coming from countries from all over the world and abroad mainly to Spanish speakers. I have had students of all ages, children as well as teenagers and adults. I have learned to teach to group classes as well as one to one techniques. I have been teaching for 5 years now.

What I like the most about teaching is the ability to transmit my language and culture. I really like to work in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere as I think it is the key to making progress. I also love to teach through games.