Every big conversation starts with small talk. The weather, the train, the coffee, the barber. We teach the ordinary, so the extraordinary has somewhere to go.
¿Qué tal?
Lovely weather, huh?
Ça va ?
Come va?
Tudo bem?
Wie geht's?
Is this seat taken?
O-genki desu ka?
The syllabusis your Tuesday
Twelve weeks, twelve ordinary situations. You learn what to say at the barber long before anyone mentions the subjunctive.
Week 1
Ordering coffee
“Un cortado, por favor.”
Week 2
The train is late
“C’est bien le quai pour Lyon ?”
Week 3
Haggling at the market
“Quanto costa questo?”
Week 4
Small talk at the barber
“Só um pouco nas pontas.”
Week 5
Dinner with strangers
“Was empfehlen Sie?”
Week 6
Asking the way
“Sumimasen, eki wa doko desu ka?”
Then the doctor, the landlord, a first date, a job interview, a polite complaint and a wedding toast. Pick your language
Six languagesaround one table
Every course runs ten weeks, two hours a week, with eight people at most. From your very first hello to arguing about films.
Spanish
¿Qué tal?
A1 to C1 · Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 pm
French
Ça va ?
A1 to C1 · Mondays and Wednesdays, 6:30 pm
Italian
Come va?
A1 to B2 · Tuesdays, 7 pm · Saturdays, 10 am
Portuguese
Tudo bem?
A1 to B2 · Thursdays, 7 pm
German
Wie geht's?
A1 to B2 · Saturdays, 10 am
Japanese
O-genki?
A1 to B1 · Saturdays, 1 pm
Who’s talking?Our teachers
Native speakers who never run out of things to say, and who still remember ordering the wrong thing in somebody else’s language.
¡Hola!
Mateo Ruiz
Spanish · from Valencia
A former radio host. Teaches you to interrupt politely, which in Spain is a real skill.
Salut !
Amara Diallo
French · from Lyon
Runs the Thursday film night and believes every grammar rule has a better story behind it.
Ciao!
Rosa Bellini
Italian · from Bologna
Thirty years of teaching and a market walk every Saturday. Gestures are part of the syllabus.
Olá!
Rafael Costa
Portuguese · from Porto
Grew up behind his family’s café counter, which is where he learned that every regular has a story.
Jonas teaches German and Emi teaches Japanese, both on Saturdays.
After classWhere’s everyone?
Clubs are free for students and five dollars for friends who just want to listen.
Spanish supper club
Casa Nuno, 2 Example Avenue. Three courses and one rule: no English after the starter.
French film night
At the school. We watch it twice: once with subtitles, once arguing about what happened.
Italian market walk
The Saturday market, 9 am. Buy lunch for the group, ordering only in Italian. Rosa pays for the coffee.
Pub quiz in German
Linden Tavern, 7 pm. Six rounds, one team per table, and points for the best wrong answer.
Overheardin class
Things our students said out loud, written down before they could take them back.
Week four was the barber. I moved to Lisbon and got the best haircut of my life.
Dana K.Portuguese, B1
I came for the grammar and stayed for the Thursday arguments about films.
Marcus T.French, A2
My nonna finally laughed at one of my jokes. In Italian. It took two terms.
Priya S.Italian, A2
Eight people, one table, no slides. I forgot it was a class until I ordered dinner in Spanish.
Ben O.Spanish, B2
Weekends abroadSay it where they say it
Twice a year a teacher takes a small group to practise on the locals. No tour buses, no English menus.
OláLisboa
Lisbon
Portuguese · 4 days in May · from $1,180
Tram 28, a tasca lunch and a fado night where you order without pointing.
SalutLyon
Lyon
French · 3 days in June · from $1,240
Market mornings, long bouchon lunches and a bookseller who corrects your accent.
KonnichiwaOsaka
Osaka
Japanese · 6 days in April · from $2,650
Street food, a night in a ryokan and the nerve to say sumimasen to a stranger.
HolaOaxaca
Oaxaca
Spanish · 5 days in November · from $1,390
A mole class, a mezcal tasting and long evenings of conversation in the zócalo.
Not surewhere to start?
Three small questions. Answer honestly; nobody is listening. Or skip them and come to a free trial: we place everyone in ten minutes.
Feeswith no small print
One price per term, books included. Your first lesson is free, whichever way you choose to learn.
Group term
$420 a term
Ten weeks, two hours a week, eight people at most. Weekday evenings or Saturday mornings.
Duo
$690 a term
You and one other person, ten weeks of ninety minutes, at the pace the two of you set.
One-to-one
$68 an hour
Your schedule and your situations: the wedding speech, the transfer to Lyon, the in-laws.
The small print, at full size
Books and audio are included. Miss a class and join another group that week. Pay in three instalments at no extra cost. Cancel before week two for a full refund. That is all of it.
