Alliance Française de Chicago — Attraction in Chicago

On the plus side, the facilities, such as the library, are very nice and the staff and teachers seem dedicated and competent. I doubt you'd have a bad class here. On the negative, the prices are high, double what it costs to take spanish classes at comparable institutes in the same neighborhood, and higher than goethe or the italian cultural center. No idea why, if this is a non-profit.

Finally, what disappointed me the most was that i joined for the conversation group and it is all but useless. The vibe is snobby, not welcoming. It feels like intruding on a gold coast social club. At first i thought it was me but since attending I've had 5 other people make the same comments to me. And practically speaking, there is no worse way to run a conversation group than to have 20 people go around a circle talking for 2-3 minutes each. Small groups of 3-4 is the obvious solution but i won't be the one to make the suggestion. I've given up and am pursuing online tools that make more economic sense (moneywise...

Love the Alliance!

I'm currently taking two classes here, and my teachers (Geoff and Adam) are great! They both correct me whenever I say something wrong, but are patient enough to let me try to get the whole thing out first. The staff here are great-- Hamid at the front desk is always friendly and courteous, and the whole entire place is so welcoming.

There are tons of events here through out the year, especially in the fall and around holidays-- the tasting events are great value, and I've discovered how amazing Unibroue (Canadian beer) is from attending one of those events. Chef Madelaine teaches the cooking classes here and I've never had better souffles AND duck confit than from what came out of her kitchen-- and my coworkers call me a food snob (only because mediocre is never good enough!).

Definitely stop by to check out the place if you're a francophone (or even if you're not, cuz I definitely wasn't when I first came a year ago at Chicago...

I love the alliance francaise and I have only outstanding compliments to make about the association, the staff and the curriculums. My daughter has been doing their preschool program (2nd year) and she loves it. The curriculum is great and the classes fully in French. The teachers Houria and Mireille are the best. I am French so it was important for me to find an affordable bilingual program for my kids. My daughter has been doing a lot of progress thanks to her amazing teachers. And she loves school! My husband is as well a student there and is learning French. He is doing zoom classes and likes a lot his teacher Eric. He made a lot of progress and very fast. The team has been very reactive with the COVID situation and put everything in place so the in person classes for the kids are really safe. Their protocol is extremely precise and respect all the CDC guidelines and more. I wish they had a kindergarten program cause my daughter would stay at...