SAMY AYARI (Adult Classes and Private Classes)
Samy Ayari has been on the Alliance Française teaching staff since 1995. Born in Tunisia and raised in Paris, he graduated from the prestigious High School Lycée Henri IV in Paris. He also graduated from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Paris (HEC) and holds an MBA Assistant Professor at the Université Paris-Sceaux where he taught bilingual programs (French and English). He is currently a lecturer of French at UCLA and Mount St Mary College. In addition to teaching, he was a professional drummer in various Rock bands in France and in New York. He has a keen interest in literature and cinema.
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PATRICIA DELAERE (Child Classes)
Patricia was born in France near Lille. Happy mother of two beautiful children, she holds a degree in Psychology and had her own practice as a Life Coach. After the 2004 Tsunami, she spent 3 months in India helping the MEG Foundation care for the orphan children. This experience was a turning point in her life. She discovered she loves to be with small children and decided that she wanted to work with them. She then worked for 2 years at Ecole Clairefontaine, a bilingual preschool in Venice, as a school coordinator. In addition to her great experience with kids, she is also a fantastic cook and a nutritionist. She holds 2 certifications as a health specialist and a nutritionist and is a chef in a rehab center for teenagers, in Malibu.
She loves to watch independent and foreign movies. She likes to travel the world, walk on the beach, and get together with friends to share food. ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ is her motto!
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ANN HERSTADT (English Classes and Private Lessons)
Growing up just outside of Seattle, Ann wanted more from life than rain and Starbucks. Hence, at the ripe old age of 18, she embarked on what would be a delightful journey. After studying French and Film at Chapman University in Orange County, California, and a blissful year living in Grenoble, France, Ann decided to make her home in sunny Los Angeles. Here she pursues her acting/singing career, teaches English and French, and loves to bake.
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BETH HIRSCH (Bébé Musique)
Beth Hirsch is an American singer-songwriter who graduated from Boston University with a B.F.A. in Theatre. Having moved to Paris two years later as a jeune fille au pair and to work with British Theatre groups, she discovered singing and music, eventually working with some of the most popular musical artists in France today, including AIR, Marc Collin of Nouvelle Vague and Senegalese Artist Wasis Diop with whom she co–wrote and sang the song “Everything… is Never Quite Enough” featured on the original soundtrack of “The Thomas Crowne Affair”. Beth is fluent in French and is a lover of French culture. Each Saturday morning, she gets to combine three of her greatest loves; Music, French and Children for the Bebe Musique class.
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MELISSA LAVABRE (Child Classes)
Melissa Lavabre was born and grew up in idyllic Provence. After completing her Baccalauréat in Liberal Arts in France, she moved to Los Angeles where she obtained a Bachelor's degree from Loyola Marymount University and started tutoring French as a Foreign Language. She has worked as a private tutor for the Learning Resource Center at Santa Monica College; with the French immersion pre-school ECF for over a year and participated at Walgrove elementary school where she taught the Kindergarten class French songs which they performed at the end of the school year.
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RENE JOSE LLAVE (Adults Classes and Private Classes)
René was born in Lyon. His parents are from Spain. He holds a French Masters Degree in French as a Foreign Language. He taught in several high schools around Paris before he moved to Los Angeles about 11 years ago.
René has been teaching Spanish and French for many years in language institutes, high schools and private classes.
Passionate about grammar, he started to teach our Grammar Refresher class a year ago at the Alliance Française and since then it has been a huge success.
When not teaching, our grammar specialist enjoys watching movies and collecting stamps. He is also fond of politics, history and news.
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MARYLENE LIZER (Adult Classes and Private Lessons)
Marylène was born and grew up in Paris. She has a BA in English and, besides English and French she also speaks German and Italian, and is currently learning Spanish. She loves languages and wants to learn more. She has been teaching and translating for years. As a language teacher she has eight years of experience teaching and tutoring in the States where she has lived for many years, in France, and in Germany where she lived for three years. Her knowledge of languages and teaching experience are important assets in her teaching work. Marylène loves languages, philosophy, music, singing, traveling, reading and writing. She is also a keen bicycle rider.
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CORINNE MONTORCIER (Adult Classes and Private Classes)
Corinne has been living in the United States since 1996. She grew up in the South of France, in Cagnes, a small town next to Nice. After high school, she specialized in languages (French, English and Spanish) and obtained a Master’s degree in "Langues Etrangères Appliquées" at the University of Nice.
In addition to French, she also teaches Spanish and works occasionally as a translator. She likes outdoor activities, reading and movies. If you ever plan a trip to the Côte d’Azur, she will advise you on great places and fantastic restaurants, as she knows this part of France like the back of her hand.
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SORAYA OUARI (Adult Classes and Private Classes)
Soraya grew up in the South of France. She holds a Masters degree with special honours from Paul Valéry University, in Montpellier. She then started teaching French as a foreign language at Manchester University, England. She stayed there for five years, teaching French privately. She later lived in Paris where she was mainly teaching privately, and occasionally working as a Tour Guide for the National Educational Travel Council. She also travelled with American high school students all over Europe. Soraya has now been living in Los Angeles for three years, teaching French and English as a foreign language, while pursuing a career in acting. Whenever possible, she loves to combine her passion for cinema and acting with teaching!
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JOCELYN SIEGEL (Adult Classes and Private Classes)
Jocelyn did her debut as a French teacher at Berlitz in order to support herself as a college student. She holds a Baccalaureat in Philosophy, a BA in French literature and a certification from the United Nations in interpretation and translation. She has worked at the Alliance for the past 10 years, in addition to teaching, substituting and tutoring in various private and public schools. As a French teacher her approach is to teach the French language in a lively, positive and interactive environment.
She loves sports, outdoors, Jazz, wine and cooking and the French Impressionists such as Vlamick and Gauguin.
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MURIEL SZKOCKI (Adult Classes, Child Classes and Private Classes)
Muriel was born in Paris. She graduated from Ecole du Louvre in Paris with a degree in History of Art and Literature. She also has extensive training in Business and Finance while she was working as a Realtor in Paris. When she arrived in Los Angeles, she obtained a position as French language teacher. She thrived in sharing her love of French language with children and adults as well as the love for poetry, history and French culture. Her hobbies include dancing, painting, history, arts, decoration and cooking. She also practices a lot of sports, such as riding, hiking, running and swimming.
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