About

About Insider’s FrenchP7030030

Learning French doesn’t have to be all work and no play. In fact, you often learn better when you’re having fun as you are more receptive and old negative associations with learning are dropped. Michel is particularly gifted at creating a cheerful environment where people feel relaxed and confident. Studying grammar is important and we’ll include some great resources on the site, but the core experience will be increasing your vocabulary and “ear” for French through stories, anecdotes, reviews, and music that you’ll get through the blog, podcast, videos and lessons. Really it’s also about learning French culture and getting a “slice of life” at the same time. You’ll get a good serving of the words and slang used in everyday life as well as in-depth vocabulary on specific subjects such as wine, food, cooking, shopping, pets—you name it and we’ll cover it!

About Michel Liberté

Michel is a native of Chinon, France. Chinon is in the Loire Valley region of France and more specifically, the area called Touraine. The Loire Valley is considered to be the cradle of the french language and the accent spoken here is reputed to be the “purest”.

A quick sketch of Michel’s professional career

  • MA from the Université François Rabelais, Tours, France:
    English and American Language and Civilization. Received teacheing credentials.
  • Taught one year in England.
  • MA from University of California at Berkeley: French and Teaching
  • Teaching assistant at UC Berkeley.
  • Trained in Suggestopedia under the late Charles Schmid and Lynn Dhorothy both former students of Dr. Georgi Lozanov, the creator of Suggestopedia. Taught classes in Suggestopedia at the Learning in New Dimensions (LIND) Institute in San Francisco.
  • Founder of French School of Superlearning in San Francisco, CA
  • French Teacher at San Francisco Unified School District: 24 years
  • Recipient of Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Bordeaux, France.
  • Direction and voice overs for International Contact in San Francisco.

Michel is once again living in the Loire Valley with his American wife, Leslie, their 2 Weimaraners, Ellie and Bella, and Agate the cat. He is an avid sailor, plays guitar and sings and has studied portrait painting. He also likes to explore back roads on his motorcycle and kayak.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter as well for your daily dose of French! (See link at right.)