FAQ

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My name is Erica Hunt, aka "Detective Erica, always looking for clues and explanations". 

I am a native French speaker from Paris. I was born in Paris and have lived there all my life, until I moved to beautiful England with my British husband. 

I am passionate about teaching French. I have been a face to face and online French tutor for eleven years, teaching not only my mother tongue to non French speakers of all ages, but also English to children and teenagers when I was still living in Paris. 

I have helped many students progress and achieve their objectives. 

I started teaching online during the first covid lockdown with the students I already knew, as it was not possible to see them face to face anymore, and absolutely loved to teach from home with modern technologies. 

This is why I have created Learn French Step by Step in May 2022, and I now offer French lessons online for students in all countries* and all backgrounds, and for all levels: from A1.1 to C2 (absolute beginners, beginners, intermediate, upper intermediate, advanced, very advanced). Please note that I do not teach professional French. 

I am an expert in teaching languages. I went to University in the heart of Paris, in the "Quartier Latin" (the Latin Quarter), first studying English and obtaining a Master's degree, and then studying a few years later French as a Foreign Language (Français Langue Etrangère = FLE) and linguistics. I obtained a Master's degree in FLE, followed by a "DEA"** of Teaching Languages and Cultures, option FLE. 

I do not teach groups of students, because I believe that you learn much better when the teacher is entirely at your disposal during the lesson, and has prepared a lesson which is designed specially for you and your needs. This is why I have chosen from the beginning of my language teaching career to teach only on the basis of private individual tutoring, and not in language schools or other forms of institutions. 

I am also passionate about history, antiques, arts and sciences. I love reading, watching movies, listening to music, cooking, taking photos and painting. 

By choosing to learn French with me, you will benefit from exceptional quality one-to-one only online lessons at a very affordable price. You are sure to make progress in your language skills, and have fun learning at the same time.

*Please contact me if you are not based in Europe and the opening hours in my agenda do not match your availabilities. I will  do my utmost to assist you.    

**DEA, meaning Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies, was a degree between the Master's and the Doctorate, which was renamed in the second half of the 2000s. 

This site's blog is not just about publishing lessons. It is also about sharing French culture, which is so rich and interesting, or any other subject I think a reader might be interested in. 

Absolute beginners do not have a sufficient level of knowledge to be able to understand a blog article, or a lesson, which has been written entirely in French. 

In consequence, these people are usually excluded.

What is the point in publishing an article in French about, let's say, the history of Paris if only intermediate or advanced learners are able to read it?

English is spoken and understood by millions of people everywhere in the world, even if it is not their mother tongue. It was logical to write this website in English.

Because I wish all learners of French language, from absolute beginners to advanced learners, to be able to enjoy the lessons and articles published on this website (but also read the description of the services offered) I decided to write lessons for A1.1 to A2 learners in English, and lessons for learners B1 and above in French. Most articles, especially cultural articles, are in English, unless they are written to be used as lessons. However, all podcasts, the newsletter, and the News ("Actualités de la langue et de la culture") are in French. 

Please see all tariffs on this site's homepage. Tariffs may be subject to yearly modifications.

You can pay with your Paypal account if you own one, by card through Paypal, by card through Stripe, or by card through Squareup. Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Google Pay and many other cards and payment solutions accepted by Stripe and/or Squareup.

 

To be able to book a lesson, workshop or free introductory interview, you need to open an account on the agenda's website. You can not checkout as a guest. Opening an account allows you to view your full booking history, cancel or reschedule your bookings easily, subscribe to optional Telegram notifications directly from your account, unsubscribe from email or sms notifications, and request or modify your data easily. It also allows you to leave a review about your lessons on this website.

To open an account, or connect into your account, please click on the grey button at the top right of the agenda:

To know how to use the agenda, scroll down the site's homepage and read the agenda FAQ. 

Any other questions? Any problem? Please feel free to contact me. I am here to help.

Please read this article if you have a Telegram account and wish to receive optional Telegram lessons booking notifications.

Workshops last for an hour. Lessons last for an hour or half an hour, depending on what you have booked. If a one hour lesson is not finished when time is up, I always propose an extension of 15 minutes (at no extra cost) to complete this particular lesson. Exceptionally, I may propose, if needed, a 30 mns extention (at no extra cost) instead of a 15 mns extention. This policy does not apply to 30 minutes lesson.

- Most of the time, students book a regular lesson corresponding to their level of language. A regular lesson is integrated in a progression, that is to say a programme elaborated to help the student make regular progress in the acquisition of language competences. This programme follows the recommendations of the CEFR.

- "Themed lessons" are not part in a progression. They are intended to work on one particular notion, theme, situation of communication or competence only, and this is why they are offered at a reduced price. 

Although they are more adapted to students with a level from A1 to B1, they can be booked by any student at any stage of their learning process. They can also be booked if the student wishes to have a revision of that particular notion or competence.

Duration: one hour. 

Students who are taking regular (progressive) lessons can book the "themed lessons" instead of a regular lesson when they have reached the point in their progression when this theme will be introduced. The teacher will always warn them of this possibility.

Students who have bought a pack of 10 lessons at a regular price and need a "themed lesson" will receive a refund corresponding to: 

(price of one hour in their pack) - (price of the "themed lesson") = amount of their refund.

To read the full list of themed lesson, please click here.

All you need is your enthusiasm, a desktop computer or a laptop, a good internet connexion, of course a camera, a microphone, some headphones or speakers and a scroll wheel on your mouse.

You may also wish to have a few optional apps on your telephone:

- A QR code reader for some brainstorming activities, games... (if you prefer to work from your telephone)

- A voice recording app for reading exercises (if you prefer to record yourself with your telephone. Recording yourself is optional.). 

You do not need to download Zoom on your computer. You can follow the lesson on your browser.

Credits

Each booking you make rewards you with loyalty points. The exact number of points is specified on the booking agenda (please scroll down to the end of the site's homepage to see the agenda).

Once you have earned a certain number of points, you win a badge (called a belt, like Karate belts) and a permanent coupon code is sent to you. Each badge has a certain value in loyalty points. 

The more badges you win, the less you pay for your lessons or workshops (ps: not to the point that my services end up being free of course 😉)

The lowest badge rewards you with a permanent 10% coupon code, and the highest one allows you to carry on with your learning journey with a permanent 40% coupon code! 

For full details about the number of points you need for each belt and coupon code, please refer to this article.

Please note that if you cancel a lesson, you lose the loyalty points corresponding to the unattended lesson. If you cancel a 10 hour pack before finishing it, you lose the loyalty points corresponding to the unattended lessons. Also, the loyalty points you keep will correspond to the number of points you would have earned if you had bought each attended lesson individually.

Coupon codes are personal and cannot be transferred to another student.

Any other question? Please feel free to contact me. I am here to help. The answer will be published here.