If you are looking for a French course in France, you must be wondering : how can I find the perfect French course for me ?

Let us help you !

We are a French school in Nice, founded in 1993 and we have taught more than 25 000 students over the past 25 years.

To help you choose your French course we will need you to answer a few questions :

What are your learning goals ?

We all have different agendas regarding our motivation to study French.

Let’s take some examples.

• If you are a student, in your high school’s years, most likely you will want to study for your exams.
  Correct ?
  In that case, we would strongly advise you to choose a « Exam Preparation » Course. We offer them in April and during the summer. You can choose the duration of your course : 1, 2 weeks and even longer.

• If you are in college and plan on doing a year abroad, in a French University for example you might need to take the DELF Exam level B2 before being accepted. In that case, we encourage you to choose our Delf Preparation Course. It lasts 4 weeks and at the end, you will take the exam near Nice and have the result pretty quickly. At alpha.b French school we have a very high success rate of 95%.

• You have children under 15 and you would like to come in Nice and study French with them. In July and August, you can join our Family Course.

• If you are an adult, you might not want to be in a classroom with young students. You would prefer to share commun interests with your classmates. From the end of May until the beginning of September, we offer a 30+ course for adults students. You can choose an intensive or only-mornings course.

• If you are a senior and you are deeply interested in French culture and French language, we offer a 50+ course 3 times a year where you will be able to mix both goals.

What kind of teaching method do you want ?

At alpha.b we have a communicative approach which allows an immediate and solid application of your knowledge of the French language:

• Teamwork to write speeches, role play, debates in French, simulations, going around the table, recordings, real-life situations, videos, games…
• A engaging approach to French grammar developed in le Livre de l’Etudiant (given on arrival) and regularly updated original documents (newspapers, stories, song lyrics, TV programmes, French radio, exercises…)

If you want to see if it’s the perfect French course for you, please watch one of our video course on our Youtube Channel :

When do you plan on learning French ?

Alpha.b French school is open all year round so you can feel free to come at any time you wish.

But some months of the year have their own specificities.

• February : The perfect month to come if you wish to see the Carnaval de Nice and « La Fête des Citrons » in Menton. It’s a great time to come to Nice and discover a different side of the city, during low season.
• April : Join our A-Level Preparation course for 1 week or enjoy your Easter Break to study French.
• May : You can join our 50+ 2 weeks program to discover Nice and learn French culture at the same time.
• June : Looking for a Leaving Certificate preparation Course ? Each year we welcome many Irish students for 2,3 or even 4 weeks.
• Summer Time : Enjoy summer in Nice, long evening on the beach, visit of cities nearby while improving your French and making friends from all over the world. All our courses are available : General courses, Family course, French for teachers, A-Level, 30+, 50+ …
• September & October : Enjoy Fall time with our general and 50+ French courses.

Have you found your perfect French course yet ?? Get a free quotation right now !

If not, don’t hesitate to contact our administration team who will gladly help and advise you !

You are a A-Level student getting ready for your final exam this year ?

And you might be a little bit worried about your written or oral test.

Every year, alpha.b French school in Nice offers the possibility to our students to prepare for this exam twice a year.

It is an intensive course for 1 or 2 weeks, with afternoon lessons focused on the exam preparation.

In 2020 you can choose  :

– Summer session : from 20 of July until 21 of August 2020.

The Summer session would be the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in a French environnement just before your final weeks of school and your exam.

How can I join the A-level preparation course at alpha.b ?

If you have studied French at school for (at least) 4 years,  you are eligible. Here is a brief overview of the A-Level course…

• Duration: 1 or 2 weeks
• Total 30 lessons per week which equates to 22h30 hours of teaching

Morning Programme:

• 20 lessons per week which equates to 15 hours of teaching
• the lessons are from 9:00-10:40 and 11:00-12:20 (20-minute break) Monday-Friday

Afternoon Programme:

• 10 lessons per week which equates to 7h30 hours of teaching
• lessons are 13:15-15:45, 3 afternoons per week (usually, Tuesday-Thursday)

Who is teaching this course ?

Alpha.b has been teaching the A-Level preparation course for many years now and our teachers are specialized in this course.

All our teachers of French are university graduates. They speak several languages ​​and many of them have achieved a university diploma in a second field, giving them a wide range of skills.

Rebecca, a former intern, was part of a course during the afternoon and here is her testimonials :

I spent an afternoon lesson with a group of students preparing for their A-Level exams. This particular lesson was led by Sandrine, who was engaging, encouraging and energetic, and focused on the use of opinion phrases. Expressing your opinion is an essential skill for French A-Level in order to prove to the examiner that you are able to eloquently express your personal views. As you may already know, depending on the opinion phrase used, it is sometimes necessary to use the subjunctive mood instead of the indicative and so, there was also a discussion around this fundamental area of grammar.

One of the students in the class had already mastered this topic and was alternatively set a challenging reading comprehension exercise to do. The differentiation within the class ensured that each individual was properly stimulated, and it was great to see a variety of skills, necessary to master the language, (i.e. reading/listening/writing/speaking) within the same classroom.

Enjoy the immersion with a French family.

If you come to Nice to prepare for your final exam, you have to possibility to live with a host family.

This summer we only offer single room, half-board for the students.

Our host families are carefully selected and according to the Charte de Qualité by Label Qualité FLE, Eaquals and IALC.

Our host families live at maximum 30 min from school but usually 10-15 minutes.

They all have a lot of experience with foreign students and welcome them all year long.

If you have a special diet (vegetarian, vegan, gluten free) it is not a problem easier as discussed in this article.

How much will it cost?

For more information about prices, visit our website: https://www.alpha-b.fr/en/prices/

Visit our website for more information on our A-Level Course: https://www.alpha-b.fr/en/preparing-for-french-exams-to-finish/

On our website, you will also be able to send an email to our office, should you have any more enquiries.

You really want to do a langage stay in Nice to learn French ?

You dream of discovering the French culture, enjoy the sun of the French Riviera, discover the local gastronomy, share moments with a French family ?

But you are worried : your diet is different.

You are a vegetarian, vegan, you don’t eat gluten or you are lactose intolerant.

And you heard that France is not a very welcoming place for people with a different diet.

I won’t lie to you, of course France is a lot behind compare to Germany, UK or Switzerland regarding the vegan food but rest assured, you will still live a great experience if you come to Nice and especially at alpha.b !

Why choose alpha.b if you are a vegan / vegetarian or any other « special diet » ?

For many years, alpha.b team is very involved in giving the best experience possible to our vegan/vegetarian students.

First of all, regarding your accommodation :

If you want to live with a host family, alpha.b team has selected for you families that are completely open to this type of diet and they will gladly good for you vegan, vegetarian or gluten free meals for you.
We even have some host families that are vegetarian.

And to help our host families to welcome you in the best possible conditions, alpha.b is the only school in Nice that organised awarness meeting about special diets.

We also offer to all our families a PDF book with all information about each diet + recipes.

The help is offered by Emeline, who has been working at the school for 10 years and has been a vegan for the last 5 years. She is always available for the host families or the students who would have questions or problems about this subject.

We are also very glad to have received last summer several testimonials of vegan/vegetarian students who were really happy about the host family like this one :

I’m really happy with my stay at alpha.b and I am really pleasantly surprised that my family cooks vegan food very well for me ! They asked me what I ate or not and they really did their best.

If you don’t want to live in a host family but rather at a hotel or in a residence, you just need to come to the office and we would give you a list of all the stores and restaurants which offer vegan, vegetarian or gluten free food in Nice.

Regarding the activities :

When our guide Pacôme offers activities such as food tasting or restaurant, he always makes sure there will be a vegan, vegetarian or gluten free option for the students.

In addition, for the last 4 years, our school boycotts all activities that use animal exploitation such as Marineland, circus, zoo…

The directors of the school Pascal and Anja are very invested in animal welfare and are completely supportive of these initiatives.

Niçoise gastronomy is very plant-based

Another important thing when you do a langage stay is to discover the local gastronomy. And sometimes you can feel frustrated if as a vegan or a vegetarian you can not taste anything !

Rest assured, Niçoise gastronomy has a very strong plant-based influence.

We are in the South of France and we have a lot of vegetables, olive oil, chick peas … and they play an important part in our gastronomy. Niçoise cuisine is very simple, with a few products, nothing fancy because for a long time, Nice was very poor.

Here are some specialities you can taste while you are in Nice and that are 100% plant-based.

– La Socca : chick pea flour + olive oil + water – It is Nice’s speciality and it is 100% vegan

– La pissaladière : a bread dough with caramelized onions.

– La pichade mentonaise : a very simple pizza with tomato sauce, onions and italian seasonning.

– La ratatouille : lots of veggies cooked with olive oil

– Les beignets de fleurs de courgette (vegetarian)

– La tourte aux blettes salées et sucrées (vegetarian)

– La panisse : another speciality with chick pea 100% vegan

– La tapenade : olive paste

Vegan restaurants in Nice ?

Nice is getting more and more vegan friendly and you can eat in a lot of restaurants with vegan options or 100% vegan.

Here are some choices :

• Koko Green
• Vegan Gorilla
• Copper Branch
• Paper Plane
• Pâtisserie Amour
• Utopia
• Pekin
• ….

So don’t worry if you have a vegan, vegetarian, gluten or lactose free diet, do not give up the idea of a langage stay in Nice to learn French !

The city of Nice and alpha.b French school are waiting for you so you can enjoy your stay fully !

Vous avez vraiment envie de partir faire un séjour linguistique pour apprendre la langue française ?

Vous rêvez de découvrir la culture française, de profiter du soleil de la Côte d’Azur, de découvrir la gastronomie locale, de partager des moments avec une famille française ?

Mais vous avez une inquiétude : votre régime alimentaire est différent.

Vous êtes végétarien, vegan (ou végétalien), vous ne mangez pas de gluten ou alors vous êtes intolérant au lactose.

Et vous avez entendu qu’en France ce n’était pas un lieu très accueillant pour ceux qui n’avaient pas un régime alimentaire comme tout le monde.

Alors bien évidemment la France a énormément de retard sur l’alimentation végétale comparée à l’Allemagne, l’Angleterre ou la Suisse mais rassurez-vous, vous vivrez quand même une très bonne expérience si vous venez à Nice et particulièrement chez nous à Alpha.b

Pourquoi choisir alpha.b si vous êtes végétarien/vegan ou autre régime spécial ?

Depuis plusieurs années déjà, les équipes de l’institut linguistique alpha.b sont très impliquées et mettent tout en œuvre sur plusieurs points pour accueillir les étudiants végétarien/vegan.

Tout d’abord au niveau des hébergements :

Si vous souhaitez vivre en famille d’accueil, l’équipe d’alpha.b a sélectionné des familles qui sont complétement ouvertes à ce type d’alimentation et qui cuisinent avec plaisir des repas végétariens ou vegan pour les étudiants. Nous avons même quelques familles végétariennes !

Et pour accompagner au mieux nos familles d’accueil à vous recevoir dans les meilleurs conditions, alpha.b est la seule école qui a organisé des réunions de sensibilisation sur les régimes spéciaux avec les familles d’accueil et qui propose à toutes les familles un PDF avec toutes les informations sur ces régimes + des recettes pour chaque type de régime.

Cet accompagnement est proposé par Emeline, qui travaille à l’école depuis plus de 10 ans et qui est vegan depuis 5 ans. Elle reste d’ailleurs toujours à la disposition des familles d’accueil et des étudiants qui auraient des questions ou qui rencontrent des problèmes à ce sujet là.

Nous avons d’ailleurs été très heureux cet été de recevoir plusieurs témoignages d’étudiants végétarien/vegan très positif sur leur famille d’accueil comme celui-ci

I’m really happy with my stay at alpha.b and I am really pleasantly surprised that my family cooks vegan food very well for me ! They asked me what I ate or not and they really did their best.

Si vous ne voulez pas vivre en famille d’accueil mais plutôt à l’hôtel, en résidence ou chez un hôte français, nous mettons à votre disposition à l’accueil une liste de restaurants et de magasins qui proposent de la nourriture végétarienne, vegan ou sans gluten à Nice.

Ensuite au niveau des activités :

Notre animateur Pacôme, lorsqu’il propose des activités de dégustation ou au restaurant s’assure qu’il y aura toujours une option végétarienne, vegan ou sans gluten pour les étudiants.

De plus, depuis 4 ans, notre école ne propose aucune activité de loisirs qui utilise l’exploitation animale comme Marineland, des cirques, des zoo …

Les directeurs Pascal et Anja sont extrêmement investis pour le bien-être animal et soutiennent totalement ces initiatives.

La gastronomie niçoise est très végétale

Autre chose quand on fait un séjour linguistique est que l’on a très envie de découvrir la gastronomie locale, et parfois on peut se sentir frustrée si en tant que végétarien ou vegan on ne peut rien goûter !

Rassurez-vous, la gastronomie niçoise a une forte influence végétale. Nous sommes dans le Sud de la France et les légumes du soleil, l’huile d’olive, les pois chiches jouent un rôle primordiale dans notre gastronomie.

Alors voici quelques spécialités que vous pourrez goûter lors de votre séjour à Nice qui sont 100% végétales :

– La Socca : farine de pois chiche + eau + huile – C’est la spécialité phare de Nice et elle est 100% vegan !

– La pissaladière : une pâte à pain recouverte d’oignons caramélisés. La majorité des pissaladières sont aujourd’hui sans anchois ce qui en fait une autre spécialité vegan

– La pichade mentonaise : c’est une pizza toute simple recouverte de sauce tomate, d’oignon et d’herbes de Provence

– La ratatouille : un plat de légumes du soleil cuits à l’huile d’olive

– Les beignets de fleurs de courgette (végétarien)

– La tourte aux blettes salées et sucrées (végétarien)

– La panisse : encore une spécialité à base de pois chiches 100% vegan

– La tapenade : il faut choisir une tapenade sans anchois

Des restaurants vegan à Nice ?

Nice est une ville de plus en plus vegan friendly et vous pourrez manger de nombreux restaurants soit 100% vegan soit vegan friendly.

Voici quelques idées de restaurants à Nice :

• Koko Green
• Vegan Gorilla
• Copper Branch
• Paper Plane
• Pâtisserie Amour
• Utopia
• Pekin
• ….

Alors n’ayez plus d’inquiétude si vous avez un régime végétarien, vegan, sans gluten ou sans lactose, ne renoncez surtout pas à faire un séjour linguistique pour apprendre le français.

La ville de Nice et l’école de français alpha.b vous attend pour vous faire passer le meilleur des séjours !