Newdeal Institut de Français - KLF - Bordeaux

Review summary:

Engaging B2 classes with private options and great staff

Review:

"Spent two weeks at NewDeal to take B2 classes, afternoon workshops + private classes (intensive option). I was able to talk to Loralyn via email and videocall beforehand. She was responsive to making sure all my accommodations & enrolment were processed well before arriving. Very impressed by the professionalism of all the staff and the lessons prepared. You get a useful journal with grammar concepts when you start. Each class begins with the teacher giving you a worksheet that you will go over in the morning. Concepts are relevant and useful and teachers are happy to answer any questions. They typically send you a pdf version with the corrections and topics discussed in class via email which is helpful too. I also enjoyed the wine tasting workshop (a 6€ extra or something like that) where we got to combine bordeaux’s wine culture & learn vocab along the way. I met new people casually in between breaks and lunch time but I wish there were more social events to speak french to each other with folks from different levels. Maybe it would’ve helped me speak more french outside of class! Shout out to Pauline (b2), Nirina (b2 workshop), Amandine (b2 workshop) & Emmanuelle (my private tutor) for being great professors. If you have them as profs, you are in for a great time! Great experience. Highly recommend!"

Review summary:

Excellent teacher and modern school, but an industrial location

Review:

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"I very much enjoyed my time at KLF Bordeaux. Our teacher Noémie was excellent, her classes were very enjoyable and I learned a lot. Our class was a mix of young people and adults and it worked very well. Thanks Noémie! All staff were very helpful and friendly, especially Loralyn. The school itself is very new and modern with state of the art resources. I did not particularly like its location in an industrial estate. However it was very easily reached by tram so it was not inconvenient. I am happy to recommend KLF Bordeaux."

"I very much enjoyed my time at KLF Bordeaux. Our teacher Noémie was excellent, her classes were very enjoyable and I learned a lot. Our class was a mix of young people and adults and it worked very well. Thanks Noémie! All staff were very helpful and friendly, especially Loralyn. The school itself is very new and modern with state of the art resources. I did not particularly like its location in an industrial estate. However it was very easily reached by tram so it was not inconvenient . I am happy to recommend KLF Bordeaux."

Review summary:

Exceptional professors and dynamic intensive classes

Review:

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"The quality of the professors is exceptional (Noemí was just excellent!). I took the intensive course for a week, and the classes were so dynamic that I did not feel the four hours. I liked the availability of resources, and the staff was extremely kind and responsive. I would highly recommend it."

"The quality of the professors is exceptional (Noemí, was just excellent!) Took the intensive course for a week and the classes were so dynamic that I didn’t feel the 4 hours. I like the availability of resources and the staff is extremely kind and responsive! I would highly recommend it."

Review summary:

Excellent teacher, friendly staff, but disappointing facilities

Rented apartment with air conditioning

Review:

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"I have mixed feelings about the experience at Newdeal in Bordeaux, but am giving a 5-star rating because my teacher, Amandine, was so good and the staff, in general, were all friendly and helpful. First, the location of the school is in a rather glum industrial-looking area (I understand it was recently redeveloped and used to be worse!). It is, however, just a couple long blocks from a tram stop (Carle Vernet) for the lines C and D. Newdeal shares an office-type building with art and cinema classes, but I think all the languages classes were on two floors. Our spaces were brightly decorated and there were several small seating areas where students could gather. The cafeteria is not what I expected at all. In fact, it's just a large room with three vending machines and a kitchen area where you can assemble or microwave something yourself. (Apparently, some students live on the floors above, as there is also a small laundry room and workout room adjacent to the cafeteria.) If you have afternoon classes, you're stuck with bringing your own lunch, eating from the vending machine or rushing out to find a restaurant. (There are none very close.) All in all, not my idea of a cafeteria! There were ten people in my class, level A2. I'm 73 years old and, believe it or not, was not the oldest one there. It was a good mix of ages and people with interesting reasons for attending. Each week, a couple people would leave and others would join. Each Monday, during the morning break, all the students could gather with the admin for free coffee and pastries. They tried to make it convivial and inclusive and even organized a school-wide competition to see who would win World Cup games the first week. On the first day, you arrive early for orientation in the auditorium. Each person has to tell about themselves in French (after already taking an online placement test) so that the admin can make sure they put you in the correct class. That was more than a little intimidating for someone like me who hadn't spoken French in 50 years, but everyone was nice and nonjudgmental. I loved our teacher. She spoke clearly and always in French, except when she absolutely had to translate something to English. She typed on her keyboard and everything was projected on a large screen. She also sent a link for all our exercises and handouts online and was nice enough to print out the entire week's worth of stuff for me each Friday. I also had a private lesson for 90 minutes twice a week. I wanted to focus on conversation and it seemed that I led the discussion more than the teacher did. She was nice, but not as helpful as I had hoped. As I understand it, she was an outside contractor. As for the extra activities, I signed up for them but ended up not going. They didn't start until 3:30 and I didn't want to hang around for three hours after my class. I heard mixed reviews. As for housing, I was lucky to have rented an apartment with AC. All of the people in my class who lived with families were suffering from the heatwave and lack of sleep due to no AC. I would strongly suggest you keep that in mind, as well as the fact that, as another reviewer said, many of them lived far away. All in all, my experience was great because of the quality of instruction and the personnel. There were just a few things that were different from what I had envisioned based on the KLF and Newdeal websites."

"I have mixed feelings about the experience at Newdeal in Bordeaux, but am giving a 5-star rating because my teacher, Amandine, was so good and the staff, in general, were all friendly and helpful. First, the location of the school is in a rather glum industrial-looking area (I understand it was recently redeveloped and used to be worse!). It is, however, just a couple long blocks from a tram stop (Carle Vernet) for the lines C and D. Newdeal shares an office-type building with art and cinema classes, but I think all the languages classes were on two floors. Our spaces were brightly decorated and there were several small seating areas where students could gather. The cafeteria is not what I expected at all. In fact, it's just a large room with three vending machines and a kitchen area where you can assemble or microwave something yourself. (Apparently, some students live on the floors above, as there is also a small laundry room and workout room adjacent to the cafeteria.) If you have afternoon classes, you're stuck with bringing your own lunch, eating from the vending machine or rushing out to find a restaurant. (There are none very close.) All in all, not my idea of a cafeteria! There were ten people in my class - level A2. I'm 73 years old and, believe it or not, was not the oldest one there. It was a good mix of ages and people with interesting reasons for attending. Each week, a couple people would leave and others would join. Each Monday, during the morning break, all the students could gather with the admin for free coffee and pastries. They tried to make it convivial and inclusive and even organized a school-wide competition to see who would win World Cup games the first week. On the first day, you arrive early for orientation in the auditorium. Each person has to tell about themselves in French (after already taking an online placement test) so that the admin can make sure they put you in the correct class. That was more than a little intimidating for someone like me who hadn't spoken French in 50 years, but everyone was nice and nonjudgmental. I loved our teacher. She spoke clearly and always in French, except when she absolutely had to translate something to English. She typed on her keyboard and everything was projected on a large screen. She also sent a link for all our exercises and handouts online and was nice enough to print out the entire week's worth of stuff for me each Friday. I also had a private lesson for 90 minutes twice a week. I wanted to focus on conversation and it seemed that I lead the discussion more than the teacher did. She was nice, but not as helpful as I had hoped. As I understand it, she was an outside contractor. As for the extra activities, I signed up for them but ended up not going. They didn't start until 3:30 and I didn't want to hang around for three hours after my class. I heard mixed reviews. As for housing, I was lucky to have rented an apt. with AC. All of the people in my class who lived with families were suffering from the heatwave and lack of sleep due to no AC. I would strongly suggest you keep that in mind, as well was the fact that, as another reviewer said, many of them lived far away. All in all, my experience was great because of the quality of instruction and the personnel. There were just a few things that were different from what I had envisioned based on the KLF and Newdeal websites."

Review summary:

Fantastic instructors and a welcoming French class

Review:

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"I only had a short time in my schedule to work on improving my French speaking and listening comprehension. My week at KLF did just what I needed! I could not have been more pleased with the way I was welcomed into the class and group. The instructors were fantastic, especially Jeremie! I hope I can plan to do this again someday!"

"I only had a short time in my schedule to work on improving my french speaking and listening comprehension. My week at KLF did just what I needed! I could not have been more pleased with the way I was welcomed into the class and group. The instructors were fantastic, especially Jeremie! I hope I can plan to do this again someday!"

Review summary:

Excellent teachers and well organized lessons in Bordeaux

Review:

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"Attended Newdeal for two weeks in A1 level. My teacher (Pauline) was excellent. Activities were well organized and very interesting. Classes were very well structured and enjoyable. All students were more than willing to help you and everyone enjoyed their time at Newdeal. Transportation in Bordeaux is the best. My host was the very accommodating. Acommodation was perfect and easy to get to the local tram. This is my second time at Newdeal and I have always had a fantastic time. Highly recommended."

"Attended Newdeal for two weeks in A1 level. My teacher (Pauline) was excellent. Activities were well organized and very interesting. Classes were very well structured and enjoyable. All students were more than willing to help you and everyone enjoyed their time at Newdeal. Transportation in Bordeaux is the best. My host was the very accommodating. Acommodation was perfect and easy to get to the local tram. This is my second time at Newdeal and I have always had a fantastic time. Highly recommended."