Boning up on bon jour

A school in Costa Mesa offers French language instruction for native speakers -- and anyone else who wants to learn.After vacationing in France with her grandmother three years ago, Costa Mesa resident Ashleigh Allione knew she wanted to learn the language and more about the culture.

She started studying French with a private tutor at the French American Academic Center in Costa Mesa the summer before her freshman year at Mater Dei High School. Now a sophomore, Ashleigh, 15, continues to study French and is enrolled in an honors class.

For years, the French American Academic Center has offered a strong French curriculum for the children of French-speaking families. Now that the center’s presence in the local French community is well known, founder Dana Courcelle hopes to reach out to the rest of the population -- people like Ashleigh, who just want to learn another language.

“Ashleigh loves it -- she looks forward to going there,” said her mother, Julie Allione, who discovered the center after seeing a sign reading “French School” while shopping in the Back Bay Center. “I’m impressed by what she’s learning.”

Courcelle, who lives in Fountain Valley with her French-born husband, founded the nonprofit center years ago, after the French private school in Fountain Valley that their son had attended moved out of the area. Courcelle and other parents were looking for a way their children could maintain their French skills while attending local public schools.

“We wanted it to be a nonprofit just to benefit those kids, so they learn about the culture and can keep up with the language,” Courcelle said.

The center started as an in-home tutoring service for groups of French children. After about a year, Courcelle found office space in the Back Bay Center and expanded the program. The school now serves about 65 students, 80% of whom have some sort of French background. The center also offers private and group tutoring and classes at the center and at students’ homes.

One program offered at the center is the French government-approved curriculum. Students follow the French curriculum -- only the French language part, not science and math -- and every month they take oral and written tests, which are sent back to France to be graded. The program is designed for students whose families may return to France at some point, to allow them to enter the French school system without a problem.

“They are speaking French from the moment they walk in the door,” said French teacher and office manager Michelle Lassalas, who lives in Irvine.

Students study at the center for three hours a week, usually broken up into two sessions held before or after school. The classes are kept small, usually no more than five students, so that each student can receive individual attention.

Some student are as young as 4, and the oldest are in 11th grade.

“It’s better to learn a second language when you’re young,” said 12-year-old Antoine Chesnot.

Antoine moved here from France at age 7 after his father received a job transfer. At first, Antoine said, he had great difficulty adjusting and learning English. When he first started school, the only English words he knew were “yes” and “no.” But after being here five years, he now finds English easier to understand than French, even though his family speaks French at home.

“It’s hard to keep up the level of the French curriculum,” said Christine Chesnot, Antoine’s mother, who is also one of the center’s French teachers. She said studying the language for three hours a week is the only way to maintain skills. “Even if you don’t move back, you still want them to communicate with their families.”

Lassalas said that for many students whose families speak French at home, the problem is writing.

“Because we are French, it’s very important they learn how to write,” Lassalas said. “There’s a huge difference between those two points -- the speaking and the writing.”

Lassalas evaluates new students to assess their French proficiency and make sure they’re placed in the right program. She said sometimes students are moved around until the right fit is found.

“It’s a small school, so it’s like a big family,” Lassalas said. “We try to see what is the best place for the students.... They’re very comfortable -- they can talk to us, to the teachers.”

The school also offers classes for those who, like Ashleigh Allione, wish to learn French as a second language.

“We cater classes to whatever people’s needs are,” Courcelle said.

In the past, the center has taught classes for people who need to learn French for business or personal travel. There are also classes for students who are taking French in school and need extra help with homework.

“Everybody needs something different,” Lassalas said.

INFORMATION

* What: French American Academic Center

* Where: 2651 Irvine Ave.

* Prices: $215 per month for basic classes; $42 per hour for private instruction at the center; $52 per hour for private in-home instruction

* Information: (949) 642-6424

* LINDSAY SANDHAM is the news assistant. She can be reached at (714) 966-4625 or lindsay.sandham@latimes.com.

20060116it5sukncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Laurence Leroy, right, an instructor at the French American Academic Center, reviews a lesson with Pierre Chesont, 15, on Saturday morning. 20060116it5svtncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Laurence Leroy, right, an instructor at the French American Academic Center, reviews a lesson with Pierre Chesont, 15, on Saturday morning.