Frequently Asked Questions

Certificates are supplied on request, detailing what they are able to do in the target language in accordance with the CECR levels and structure.

For our group courses, we accept students of 18 years of age or older.  Students under 18 years of age must be accompanied by parents.  For our French Summer Camps, we accept students of 5-17 years of age.

We offer free wifi in the school.  We also have a padlet link that teachers use to provide resources and occasional after-lesson activities.

All of our teachers are experienced and native-speakers.  Please see the ‘About Us’ page for more information about our teaching team.

You should bring your personal belongings that you wish to have with you during your stay.  Bed-linen and towels will be provided by your host family.  You will be able to do weekly laundry.  It is a nice idea to bring a small present for your host-family from your country, some photos of your family and where you are from to show them and maybe other information about your home country.

We offer accommodation in host families, hotels, self-catered apartments or chalets, traditional catered chalets and for the teenage summer programme in a study residence centre.  All of our accommodation is located in the town of Morzine and within easy access of our school, usually by foot, or occasionally by a short bus-ride.

Group lessons are booked as a course and no refunds are made for missed lessons.  For private lessons cancelled less than 48 hours in advance, the full amount will be charged.  In the unlikely event that Alpine French School has to cancel a lesson, another lesson will be offered in replacement.

We take payments by Euro cheque, cash, bank transfer (with the fees at your expense) , via our online payment system (Transfermate) and credit cards (Mastercard, Visa).

Alpine French School in partnership with TransferMate, are pleased to offer a new payment option which allows you to pay your college fees without having to pay any additional international bank fees or charges while giving you a competitive foreign exchange rate! To pay using TransferMate just click here and follow the instructions

Fill in the booking form on our website and one of our team will get back to you within 1 working day.  Please note if you would prefer to be contacted by telephone, otherwise we will respond by email.  Alternatively you can telephone us on the number advertised on our website.

We have courses running most weeks, from Monday to Friday.  Please contact us to check that we have a course of your level running when you would like to come.  In the winter, you can choose from 10 hours or 20 hours per week Intensive French Course.  In the summer, our Intensive French courses are 15 hours per week.

We encourage students to book at least 1 month in advance to avoid disappointment if classes are full.  However we do take bookings if spaces are available up until 48 hours before the start of the course.

Please bring a notepad and a pen to take any notes.  We also recommend that students bring a bottle of water as speaking French can make you thirsty!  You will be provided with a personalised course file with learning materials relevant to your course.  You may also wish to bring a dictionary or a way to access an online dictionary if you prefer.

Due to environmental considerations, we do not provide hot coffee/ tea on the school premises. You are more than welcome to bring your own hot drink.

We offer a large range of courses.  For those living and working in the area, we offer courses of 15 hours or more, either in one week or spread over 10 weeks if you are working at the same time.  For international students and people visiting the area, our standard course is 10 hours per week in the winter or 15 hours per week in the summer with additional extras possible if you want to study more intensively.  We recommend at least 60 hours’ study in group lessons to notice a true improvement in your level.

Grammar is also the structure of a language so some grammar is needed to be able to structure a sentence for example.  Our aim is to get you forming phrases and speaking the language, so we teach as much grammar as needed for you to be able to do this.  However you will only be learning as much as you need to speak and then we focus on conversation and practice!

Progress depends on your starting level, the duration of your course, your personal motivation and personal study time in addition to your language learning ability.  We can offer access to online learning or we can add individual lessons to help speed up your progress.

There is no need to buy books unless you wish to (in which case we can recommend suitable books to you).  We provide handouts and a file to keep them in and we also offer online study resources.

Homework is set for most of our courses and this allows students to consolidate what they have learned in class.  How much you choose to do is up to you!

There is no reason to be as everyone in the group will be in the same situation and it’s a great way to get to know people. However if the thought of joining a group is really off-putting for you, then we offer private lessons instead!  Please feel to free to talk to us about your concerns and we will advise you to find the best solution for you :)

In order to speak a language, you need to understand how to form sentences and you need to know enough vocabulary (words!).  However, we try to focus on speaking and listening skills and we cover enough grammar and vocabulary to enable you to start and practice speaking French as much and as soon as possible! If you wish to focus further on your grammar then don’t hesitate to book in some private lessons during your stay!

Lessons are fun, interactive and communicative.  So unlike at school, you get lots of opportunity to speak and try to use the language in a variety of situations.  Our maximum group size is 10 students, so you get more personal attention than in a large class.

We run courses of several different levels simultaneously, so students can swap between groups.  We also evaluate all of our students before they start lessons with us so that we place students in a group that is the right level for them.  If you think that you have been placed in the wrong level, please ask your teacher as soon as possible so that we can look into changing your class if necessary.

Take our online test or contact us for an evaluation.  We evaluate all students prior to them starting a course with us to ensure that you are placed in a group of a suitable level.  We offer courses for all levels (A1.1 – C1) and all of our courses are based on the CECR Levels.

If your stay is less than 90 days, then a visa “court-séjour” (short-stay) or “Schengen” is ok.  If you are staying for longer than 90 days/3 months, then you must first enroll on your course and then apply for your visa with proof of registration.  You should contact the local Campus France office and the French Consulate or Embassy in your country to make the application.    You will need to provide certain documents.  You can find out more information on this website:

//www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/venir-en-france-22365/formalites-d-entree-en-france

Please contact us if you need any help or information.

As long as your stay is less than 90 days, then you do not require a visa if you are visiting from the EU, EEE or one of the countries listed on the following French government web-page:

https://vosdroits.service-public.fr/particuliers/F21921.xhtml

Please email us if you aren’t sure and we will be happy to help!

A government training grant is when a French governmental training budget organisation funds part or all of your language course.  Alpine French School organises the application for you and follows up the entire budget application procedure.