Your Investment in Speaking French That French People Understand
Three programmes from €1,900. One-on-one with Bernard, refined over 18 years. 400+ alumni from 30+ countries.
French has 14 distinct vowel sounds. English speakers can naturally hear about 6 of them. The rest are filtered out by your brain before they reach conscious awareness. That is why French people switch to English when you speak. That is why you lose the thread when they talk at normal speed. It is not a vocabulary problem. It is a hearing problem, and it has a precise, individual solution.
WEEKLY GROUP CLASS
~5 min
of personal speaking time per session
≈ 6 years to accumulate 30 hours
REAL FRENCH, ONE WEEK
30 hours
of one-on-one instruction in 5 days
Every minute targeted at your specific ear
Not sure which programme is right for you? Talk to Bernard for 15 minutes, free, no obligation. He’ll demonstrate the method live and tell you honestly which option fits your goals.
How much does Real French cost?
Every Real French programme starts with the 14 Sounds. It is the ear-training foundation that makes everything else possible. The unique problem the method solves: without it, no other spoken-French progress holds. The Full Immersion Week and Breakthrough Immersion build on this foundation across all three pillars. The 14 Sounds Experience offers the foundation as a standalone three-day intensive.
The 14 Sounds Experience
€1,900
all-inclusive
3 days · 18 hours one-on-one
Tuition · Private room · All meals
The piece every other French course leaves out. Until your ear can distinguish all 14 French vowel sounds, no further progress holds. Years of grammar, vocabulary, conversation classes, none of it sticks without this. Three days of one-on-one ear training with Bernard. You arrive unable to hear those sounds. You leave hearing them. The change is physical and permanent. Everything you already know in French finally starts to fit.
You leave able to:
- Distinguish all 14 distinct French vowel sounds, including the ones your ear was filtering out
- Produce each one yourself, with Bernard’s real-time correction
- Carry a permanent, physical change in how you hear French
Indispensable at every level, from complete beginner to advanced. Students who already studied French for years describe these three days as the breakthrough every other course was missing.
Full Immersion Week
€4,500
all-inclusive
5 days · 30 hours one-on-one
Tuition · Private room · All meals · Lamballe transfer
Equivalent to ~6 years of group-class speaking time.
Where you go from hearing French to living in it. Five days of one-on-one work with Bernard. The full 14 Sounds work, plus Oral Comprehension and Oral Interaction. The three pillars together produce actual spoken fluency.
The Week’s core is Oral Comprehension: the skill that decides whether you can actually live in French. Not vocabulary, not grammar. The ability to follow native speakers at full speed in fluid, normal French. We work on how everyday spoken French actually works, the rhythm and the elisions native speakers really use. Not slang, not regional shortcuts. Normal French, spoken the way the French actually speak it.
You cannot learn this from books, apps, online classes, or even from living in France without a teacher pointing out what you keep missing. The Week is the only programme in the world built around it.
Most students leave the Week able to:
- Hear all 14 distinct French vowel sounds and produce them yourself
- Follow native speakers at full speed, in normal everyday French
- Hold sustained conversations in French without rehearsing in your head
Targets are calibrated to your starting level. Bernard sets your specific outcomes with you on the first morning.
For students who came back from France frustrated, expats stuck after years on the ground, and professionals whose careers depend on real spoken French.
Breakthrough Immersion
€8,500
all-inclusive
2 weeks · 60 hours one-on-one
Tuition · Private room · All meals · Lamballe transfer
Past students include UN officials, diplomats, and senior executives.
For students who need drastic progress in compressed time. The Week, doubled. The same thorough work across all three pillars, with twice the time to consolidate. Week one establishes the foundation and starts the conversation work. Week two integrates everything into operational French.
Most students leave the Breakthrough able to:
- Follow a French team meeting without losing the thread
- Make a phone call to a French supplier without rehearsing what to say
- Sit through a working dinner without bracing for the moment you stop following
Targets are calibrated to your starting level. Bernard sets your specific outcomes with you on the first morning.
For diplomats, executives, and anyone moving to France for a role where being misunderstood carries professional cost.
Mentioned prices exclude taxes (VAT). The applicable VAT rate depends on your nationality and VAT status (details below).
What about VAT?
Most students pay the advertised price. Tuition VAT (20%) only applies if you book strictly as a private individual. Accommodation VAT (10%) is already included in every price by French law and applies to everyone.
★ Most students
If you have a business or a VAT number
Non-EU buyers (US, UK, Swiss, etc.) qualify by providing a business name and invoicing address. EU buyers need a valid VAT number.
You pay the advertised price. No tuition VAT.
You pay
- 14 Sounds Experience: €1,900
- Full Immersion Week: €4,500
- Breakthrough Immersion: €8,500
If you book as a private individual
Add 20% tuition VAT on top of the advertised price.
You pay
- 14 Sounds Experience: ≈ €2,220
- Full Immersion Week: ≈ €5,200
- Breakthrough Immersion: ≈ €9,820
Bernard confirms your exact total during your free 15-minute discovery call. No surprises.
What is included in the all-inclusive price?
No surprise charges. Everything you need to live, study, and progress in French while you are with us.
✓
Tuition
Up to 6 hours daily of one-on-one instruction with Bernard. Adjusted to your level and goals during your discovery call.
✓
Private room
Your own bedroom in the Henusse family home, an 18th-century longère in Kerfiac, Brittany.
✓
All meals
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner prepared by Véronique using local Breton produce. Bernard joins you for lunch and dinner.
✓
Lamballe transfer
Pickup from Lamballe TGV station. Included in the Full Immersion Week and Breakthrough Immersion. Optional add-on for the 14 Sounds Experience.
What about arrival, departure, and travel?
Sunday night arrival and the Lamballe TGV pickup are already included in the Full Immersion Week and Breakthrough Immersion. The 14 Sounds Experience covers your stay during the 3 days only. If your travel plans need flexibility, the following add-ons are available:
€110
Sunday night arrival
Already included in the Full Immersion Week and Breakthrough Immersion. Optional add-on for the 14 Sounds Experience. Early check-in from 18:00 on Sunday.
€110
Saturday night departure
Optional add-on for any programme. Late check-out, 8:00 to 10:00 on Saturday. Useful if Friday-evening travel from Lamballe is awkward.
€120
Lamballe TGV pickup
Already included in the Full Immersion Week and Breakthrough Immersion. Optional add-on for the 14 Sounds Experience.
Travel to Lamballe is your own arrangement. We recommend the TGV from Paris (around 2.5 hours).
What Students Say
400+ students from 30+ countries since 2008, including UN officials, diplomats, and Alliance Française teachers.
“I actually progressed a lot in French that can be applied in real life, simply because of the focus on speaking and phonetics. Bernard is an excellent teacher and the course is tailored to your needs and adjusted along the way. Left with a progression I didn’t expect to be possible.”
🇳🇱 Maup Van de Kerkhof, Diplomat, Netherlands
“My week exceeded all of my expectations. I hadn’t taken French in years so I was feeling nervous. By the time my stay was over, my pronunciation improved dramatically. The most difficult thing for me was listening comprehension, and within a few days I understood more spoken French than ever before.”
🇺🇸 Ciara Tuzon, Nurse, United States
“After reviewing all the FLE immersion courses available in France, I selected Real French. Bernard tailored a course specifically structured to my needs. The areas where I was weakest at the beginning showed the greatest improvement. I am pleased and amazed at the overall result.”
🇺🇸 Beth N., United States
Frequently asked questions
Is the immersion week worth the cost?
Yes, if the problem you are trying to solve is that French people don’t understand you, or you can’t follow spoken French at normal speed. The week costs what it costs because it is 30 hours of private instruction calibrated entirely to you. No other format delivers that. Alumni who tried apps, group classes, and years of living in France before coming here consistently say one week achieved more than everything else combined.
I’ve already spent money on French lessons. Why would Real French be different?
Because previous lessons did not address the root cause. If your ear cannot distinguish French vowel sounds from their English equivalents, no amount of vocabulary drilling or grammar study will make you understood by French speakers. Real French starts with the ear: Bernard diagnoses your specific hearing gaps on day one, then every session targets exactly those gaps. Students who arrive unable to follow a basic conversation leave holding sustained discussions in French, not because of a magic trick, but because the foundation was finally in place.
Can I do something shorter than a full immersion week?
Yes. The 14 Sounds Experience is a 3-day intensive built around Pillar 1, the foundational ear training. It is the shortest path into the method and produces a permanent change in how you hear French. For the full programme covering all three pillars, including Oral Comprehension, the Monday-to-Friday Immersion Week is the minimum format that delivers integrated results.
What is the difference between the 14 Sounds Experience and the Full Immersion Week?
The 14 Sounds Experience is 3 days, focused entirely on retraining your ear to distinguish all 14 distinct French vowel sounds and produce them correctly. It is the foundation every other Real French programme builds on. The Full Immersion Week is 5 days and adds the two pillars that cannot be trained shorter: Oral Comprehension (the ability to follow native speakers in real time) and Oral Interaction (response reflexes, conversational depth, cultural register). Most students who can take a full week off come for the Week, where the 14 Sounds work is covered thoroughly inside the same five days. Students who only have three days take the 14 Sounds Experience, then often return for a Week to build on what their ear has learned.
Can I start with the 14 Sounds Experience and come back for a Full Immersion Week?
Yes. This is a common path. Many students start with the 14 Sounds Experience to lay the foundation and address their hearing gaps, then return for a Full Immersion Week or Breakthrough Immersion to consolidate the work into oral comprehension and conversational fluency. Bernard will recommend the right sequence during your free 15-minute call based on your starting level and goals.
How do you set targets when students arrive at different levels?
Bernard meets you on the first morning, diagnoses your specific gaps, and sets concrete targets calibrated to where you are. A complete beginner and an advanced student follow the same method, but the targets they reach are different. The outcomes listed on each programme describe what most students achieve from a typical starting point. The 14 Sounds work is the exception: the physical change to how your ear processes French vowels happens for everyone, regardless of starting level.
Do you offer online or Zoom sessions?
Yes, but only for graduates of the 14 Sounds Experience, the Full Immersion Week, or the Breakthrough Immersion. Online sessions (45 minutes via Zoom) are designed for maintenance and continued practice on Pillar 3 (Oral Interaction). They cannot replicate the ear training (Pillar 1) or oral comprehension work (Pillar 2) that requires in-person immersion. Pricing is shared with graduates after their stay.
Are there workbooks I should read before coming?
Bernard’s workbooks on conversational French grammar are coming to Amazon. They cover the theoretical foundation of Pillar 3 (Oral Interaction): what Bernard wishes students already knew before arriving. They are not required, but reading them ahead of time means more of your stay can be spent on practice rather than explanation. We will let you know when they are published.
Do you offer group rates or discounts?
No. The programme is one-on-one by design. Every student’s ear is different, every student’s programme is different. Group instruction cannot diagnose individual hearing gaps. The one-on-one format is not a premium add-on; it is the method itself.
Payment & Cancellation
18 years operating. 400+ alumni from 30+ countries. Bernard handles every booking personally.
How payment works
- A 40% deposit on the tuition portion reserves your slot.
- The remaining balance is due 60 days before your start date.
- Bookings made less than 30 days in advance require full payment at booking.
If your plans change
- Your course can be rescheduled without charge for up to 2 years after full payment. Talk to Bernard.
- Deposits are non-refundable. Full payments are non-refundable once made, but rescheduling stays open.
- No compensation for absences or early departures during your stay.
VAT details (for your records)
The “What about VAT?” section above shows your practical totals. The exact rules for your accountant:
Accommodation VAT (10%): Applies to everyone. French law, non-deductible.
Tuition VAT (20%): depends on your status.
- France residents: applies.
- EU residents with valid EU VAT number: exempt (intracommunity supply).
- EU residents without VAT number: applies.
- Non-EU professionals (US, UK, Switzerland, etc.): exempt.
- Non-EU private individuals: applies.
After your immersion
The week is not the end of your French. It is where the foundation gets laid. Two ways to keep going.
Online sessions for graduates
Weekly Zoom sessions (45 minutes each) keep your spoken French alive between visits. Available exclusively to graduates of the 14 Sounds Experience, Full Immersion Week, or Breakthrough Immersion. Bernard shares pricing after your stay.
Bernard’s workbooks (coming soon)
Bernard’s workbooks on conversational French grammar will publish on Amazon. They cover what he wishes every student already knew before arriving: the spoken-grammar foundation that makes immersion time more productive.
Talk to Bernard
15 minutes. Free. No obligation. Bernard will demonstrate the method live and tell you honestly which programme fits your goals. He sees one student at a time, so calendar availability matters.