Your family's personal French teacher

I'll teach your whole family French.
Then I'll help you navigate France when you get here.

I'm Allison Nolen,

an American French teacher with twenty years in the classroom,a former international boarding school director,and a mom who has moved her own family abroad twice.I start working with your family months before you move, and I'm still in your corner after you land.

There is no such thing as a soft landing.

But there is a prepared one.Maybe you've dreamed about this for years, or maybe just since last summer. Either way, the plan is real now. The visa is in motion and your French is somewhere between bonjour and "I took it in high school. Years ago."An iPhone app won't get you prepared for life in France.I'll close the gap for you, your partner, and your kids.

The paperwork has a team.
Daily life doesn't.

Your immigration lawyer gets you the visa. Your immobilier gets you an apartment. Your relocation service gets you through the prefecture. Once the paperwork is complete, they're done.That's the day the real questions start. A message from your doctor's office. An e-mail from your child's school. A pharmacy trip, a confusing conversation with your landlord, a phone call you've been putting off for a week. The life you dreamed about can feel like an exam you didn't study for.The day will come when Google Translate fails you.I prepare you for that day, and I'm there to help you through what comes after it.

How it works

Before you go

French lessons for the whole family

Roughly six months of live online lessons with me, built around your family. Couples at the same level learn together. A teenager or a partner who needs their own pace gets their own sessions. Culture, history, and how France actually works are part of every lesson.

When you land

Family Landing Support

For your first months in France, I'm a text message away. Send me the email you don't understand. Ask me how something works. Tell me about the conversation that went sideways. We'll schedule check-in calls, and I'll help you put your French to work in real life.

The Extras

Ongoing and Personalized Support

Keep your weekly lessons going as your new life brings new vocabulary.Or bring me in person—to meet your landlord, to visit a school, or to help you navigate whatever situation has you stressed.

Moving with kids?

School is often the biggest worry, and the hardest system to understand from the outside. I've worked as a teacher and school director in the US, and I've enrolled my own son in schools in two European countries, including French public school.I'll explain how French schools work, help you weigh public, private, and international options, prepare you and your kids for starting French school, and help you contact schools in French.

Why work with me

  • I teach French to English speakers. Twenty years of it, from first-day beginners to Advanced Placement students. I know where Americans get stuck because I grew up an American learner and I've helped American students go from zero to National French Contest / Grand Concours gold medalists.

  • I know schools from the inside. I've been a teacher, middle school director, international boarding school academic director, and school accreditation evaluator.

  • I've done this kind of move. I've been an adult who didn't speak Dutch in the Netherlands, so I know what the cultural and linguistic deep end feels like. I built Finally in France to be what I wish my family had then.

"I consistently left her classes feeling more confident and capable than I had the day before." — Megan Guilliams

Schedule a Call
with Allison

Start with a free conversation about your move, your timeline, your family, and whether we're a good fit.

Prepared Landing

French for your whole family, and a guide when you arrive.

Every family starts with the same foundation: roughly six months of lessons with me, then three months of Family Landing Support once you're in France. From there, we add what your family needs.Every household is different, so we build your plan together.

The Foundation

  • 6 months of live French lessons with me, typically weekly, or accelerated to fit your level and timeline

  • A Learning Portal for each member of the household

  • Cultural preparation woven into every lesson

  • School preparation for families with school-age kids

  • 3 months of Family Landing Support from the day you arrive

  • Family packages starting at €4000

Live Lessons, Built Around Your Family

We meet by video, and we start wherever you are: learning bonjour, or dusting off years of school French. Couples at similar levels can learn together. A teenager, or a partner who needs a different pace, gets their own sessions.And yes, there will be homework. Learning a language takes real effort. I'll make sure you know exactly how to practice between sessions, and I'm always available for questions.

The Learning Portal

Each person in your household gets their own Learning Portal: one place for session notes, homework, references, and review material. I have nearly twenty years of teaching materials I've developed, and this is where I share them with you.

Cultural Preparation

Every lesson includes context on French society, history, and daily life: what's the political landscape today, how French values and identity will shape your life here, and why you'd better do your grocery shopping on Saturday. This isn't trivia, it will help you settle in faster, and much of it will turn up on the French civics exam.

Family Landing Support

Your immigration lawyer's job ends the day you arrive. Mine doesn't.For your first three months in France, I'm a message away, wherever you've landed. Family Landing Support is for all the moments no one else is there for:

  • Send me the email you don't understand. From the bank, the landlord, the school. Google Translate is going to fail you in the midst of French bureaucracy.

  • Ask me how something works. The school cantine, the pharmacy, the recycling bins, the parent-teacher meeting.

  • Tell me about the conversation that went sideways. I'll help you understand what happened, and what to say next time.

  • Practice before the call you've been dreading. We'll rehearse it together first.

You can message me anytime, and we'll schedule regular check-in calls to keep your French moving as your new life fills up with new vocabulary.

Kids & French School

For families with kids, school is often the biggest question, and the hardest system to read from the outside. I know it from both sides. In the US, I taught French and English in public and private schools, and served as a Middle School Director and as Academic Director of an international boarding school. In Europe, I've been a parent at a Dutch international school, and now my son attends French public school.School preparation is part of every family plan.How French school works French school runs from maternelle through élémentaire, collège, and lycée. The grade names are confusing, children are placed by birth year rather than a September cutoff, and the school week, the lunch break, and the role of the brevet and the bac all look completely foreign to what you're used to. I'll walk you through it, so you know where your child will land and what their days will look like.Public, private, or international The differences between a public and private education in France don’t exactly align to how we think about it in the US. And depending on where you are moving, there are international schools and international sections inside public schools. Each has its pros and cons, each has its own admissions process and language support. I'll help you understand the trade-offs and what will be the best fit for your individual child and your family's long-term goals.Arriving without much French French public schools have a process for children who arrive without French. I'll explain how the registration process works and what to expect on the day of your child's school placement assessment as well as what to expect from the French as a Foreign Language class they will start out in.Reaching out to schools Writing a letter of interest to a private school in French, scheduling a visit, understanding what they're asking for: I'll help you handle it.Classroom French Your child won't walk into their first day of French school knowing zero French. Lessons for kids focus on the French they'll actually need on day one: how to ask the teacher a question, how to introduce themselves, what to expect from the school day, at recess or in the cantine.

Add Ons

Ongoing Lessons

Your French doesn't stop when you land. It's really just the beginning.Once you're settled in and ready, we can pick up our weekly lessons so the vocabulary of your actual life (the school, the doctor, the neighbors) becomes integrated into the curriculum.When you're ready for a change, I'll help you plan your next step: continuing with me, moving to an in-person French teacher, or signing up for group classes to meet people.

Bring Me In Person

Some families want someone beside them, not just on the phone. These can be added to any plan.Landing Week I meet you in France for your first week. We go to the market together, meet your new landlord, meet with school admissions: anywhere you'd like a French speaker by your side. Landing Weeks can be in Paris, Bordeaux, the Dordogne, and beyond.Scouting Week Still deciding between cities? Join me for a week earlier in your journey to explore your candidates. You do the part only you can do, deciding where your family will be happy, and I take care of the language and the cultural questions while you're still learning. We can include school visits.

Extended Landing Support

Want me a message away for longer than three months? We can extend Family Landing Support for as long as you need it.

Schedule a Call
with Allison

Get started with a free initial chat about your relocation plan, goals, timing, and how Finally In France might fit.

Already Landed

You made the move. Now let’s get your French caught up with your life.

Maybe the move happened fast. Maybe immersion classes were too much, or group classes didn't provide the individual touch you were hoping for. However you arrived, you’re far from the only one, and it’s not too late to get your French on track.I keep a handful of morning slots open for people already living in France who want one-on-one or couples lessons with me.

What’s Included:

  • Live one-on-one French lessons with me, typically weekly, scheduled in the morning

  • Your own Learning Portal for session notes, homework, references, and review material

  • Your new French life woven into every lesson. Bring your questions, the situations you have encountered over the past week, and we will make time for them each lesson.

  • 3 Month Packages start at €1200 for individuals and couples

French for the Life You’re Already Living

You already know where French is failing you: the pharmacy, the school office, the neighbor who keeps saying something you nod along to.That’s where we start. We meet by video and begin wherever you are, whether that’s bonjour or a lot of half-remembered school French. We build a plan that is customized to what you need.And yes, there will be homework. Learning a language takes real effort. I’ll make sure you know exactly how to practice between sessions, and I’m always available for questions.

The Learning Portal

You get your own Learning Portal: one place for session notes, homework, references, and review material. I have nearly twenty years of teaching materials I’ve developed, and this is where I share them with you.

Understanding Where You Live

Every lesson includes time for you to bring your questions and for us to discuss the situations you encounter on a regular basis and how you are adapting to your new life. We will also take time to cover information on French society, values, and history, the kinds of topics that will turn up on the French civics exam.

Morning Slots Only

My afternoons and evenings are reserved for families preparing to move. Mornings are for you. If you’d like one of the open slots, get in touch and we’ll find a time that works.

Schedule a Call
with Allison

Get started with a free initial chat about your relocation plan, goals, timing, and how Finally In France might fit.

About

Hi, I'm Allison Nolen.

I teach French to American families moving to France, and then I help them find their footing once they're here.For twenty years, I taught French to American middle and high school students at every level, from complete beginners to students preparing for the Advanced Placement exam. I've also run schools. Now I live in Bordeaux with my husband and son, and I do the work I wish someone had done for us when we moved abroad.

My Background

French. I'm originally from Louisiana and started learning French in elementary school. I earned a B.A. in French from Centenary College, including a year at La Sorbonne Nouvelle and Paris Nanterre, where I also worked as an au pair for a French family.Teaching. Twenty years in the classroom, teaching English speakers at every stage. I hold an M.S.Ed. in Educational Technology from Johns Hopkins University, and I still develop teaching materials for French teachers in the US.Schools. I've served as Academic Director at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and as Middle School Director of a private K–8 school in Louisiana. I've coordinated continuing education for teachers, moved my faculty online during the 2020 pandemic, served on evaluation teams for US accreditation bodies, and toured schools in three Nordic countries to study how other systems approach education.That's why school preparation is central to what I do. I know what schools look for, and I know what a parent needs to ask.

My Family

We left the United States in 2024. We lived in the Netherlands for two years, and then we finally moved to Bordeaux. My husband is a writer and artist. Our son is a budding artist too. He's now in French public school, and he loves living in Europe.

How This Started

When I first moved to France as a college student in 2002, it was full of challenges. But I'd been studying French for years, and I had the foundation I needed.In the years that followed, every time our family visited France, my husband had a wonderful time, because he had his own personal French teacher at his side: interpreting, teaching him new words, and explaining what was going on around him.Then we moved to the Netherlands with a 200-day Duolingo streak. I signed up for group Dutch classes right after we arrived. And it was hard.For the first time, I was the adult who didn't speak the language, in a new country, with a child starting school. I saw every gap in the moving-abroad experience: the ones no lawyer or relocation agent covers, and the ones an app can't fix.When we decided to make my dream of living in France again come true, I knew what I wanted to build. Finally in France is that personal French teacher at your side, for your whole family, before you move and after you land.

What Students Say

"She has a unique ability to make the language feel approachable, no matter your starting level. Her lessons were always well-structured yet relaxed, creating a space where I felt comfortable making mistakes and learning from them. Beyond grammar and vocabulary, she brings cultural insight and practical context into her teaching, which greatly improved my confidence using French in real-life situations. She is patient, encouraging, and truly invested in her students’ progress, making her an outstanding teacher and a great guide for anyone looking to integrate into life in France."
–Constantine Allen

"Learning a new language can be intimidating, but I consistently left her classes feeling more confident and capable than I had the day before."
–Megan Guilliams

"Several years after I graduated high school, I visited Paris and Normandy. Because of the way I had been taught by Mrs. Nolen, I was able to communicate in French to order food, ask for directions, and connect with locals who did not speak much English."
–Ariana Myers

"I am profoundly grateful for the language skills she imparted, which continue to be invaluable in my life today. Her dedication to teaching and her genuine care for her students set her apart as an outstanding educator. I cannot think of another teacher from my youth whom I would recommend with such enthusiasm."
–Patricia Zhou

"Learning under Allison Nolen was always a pleasure. Her class was one of the highlights of my day."
–Addison DeFatta

Schedule a Call
with Allison

Get started with a free initial chat about your relocation plan, goals, timing, and how Finally In France might fit.

Contact

To get in touch for general business purposes or partnership inquiries, please use this form. Prospective clients should start by scheduling a free consult call.

Schedule a Call with Allison

Get started with a free initial chat about your relocation plan, goals, timing, and how Finally In France might fit.

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