I just completed the fall class at the Alliance (French 201) and am happy with the experience. I…read morehad also taken the French for Travelers course there. Before starting at the Alliance, I had some previous private French lessons with a tutor. If you have had any background in French and don't want to start at square one, you can take a placement test. Fill out the form online and then you will be called by the Alliance director who will have you come in for an assessment. The assessment (about 30-45 minutes) is a made up of a multiple choice test and a couple of short essays. Based on your results she will place you in the appropriate class. If when you start the class you find that you are not comfortable at that level, you can always change classes (which is what I did). The teachers at the Alliance are mostly native French speakers, some are native English speakers who spent a lot of time in France and are completely fluent. The two teachers I have had so far were great - very patient! My only gripe is that you can't really choose your teachers i.e. depending on who is teaching that particular course during any particular semester, you may end up with a teacher from Quebec or another Francophone region outside of France and therefore you are learning French with their accents, which are different from the accent of the Motherland and often the difference is huge. I like that the classes are not big (up to 10 or 12?). The classes are not high-pressure and it is ok if you miss a class here and there. These are adult classes in the evening after all. Almost all of the students have full time jobs. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed. The curriculum includes a mix of grammar, vocabulary, comprehension and culture. It's not like your dry high school French textbooks. Once you reach the 200+ level, the entire course is taught in French, with complicated grammar rules explained in English if required. It's a great way to immerse yourself in the language, if only for a few hours a week. The Alliance is located at the Good Shepherd Center (built in 1906) in Wallingford, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The classrooms are nothing fancy but it is cosy in an old-school kind of way. I plan to continue with the next level course at the Alliance. There is ample free parking outside the school. There is a library where you can borrow French books, DVDs, CDs.

I have visited in person the local Alliance Francaise in Seattle several times over the years. The…read morestaff is pleasant enough, especially the French director. I did find that the courses would be too easy for me. There seemed to be several volunteers possibilities as well. * * * * * Does anyone in school learn --not even actually speak--a foreign language any more? There are insanely ugly languages--Cantonese with its braying, cacophony, American English with its outlandish diphthongs and tendency to be grunted or shouted (compare Jamie Foxx to Ralph Fiennes), Spanish. And then there is French (Parisian, Swiss, or Belgian, but not Quebecois). ...Certainly not on a par with the Alliance Francaise in Boston or San Francisco (or New York, which I have not visited but assume is the largest in the U.S.), the Alliance Francaise de Seattle is a cozy outpost located in Wallingford. It offers classes in conversational French at various levels as well as a program of social/cultural activities for mostly beginning learners. Particularly good for those who want to brush up on the French they took in high school or college, as well as for those planning a trip to a Francophone country. A small staff headed by the directrice Misa Bourdonneau is gracious and welcoming ensures that the classes are small and personalized. Whatever the global reach of the U,S. is in the decades to come (as well as the concomitant dominance of the English language), the French language will always maintain its peerless reputation as the the language of culture in the traditional sense of the word (America obviously dominates pop or mass culture). It is important to live in a multi-lateral world, politically speaking, and to have a counterweight, culturally, to the United States. **** Why study French? Once you fall in love with this language, it lasts a lifetime. It is spoken by an estimated 200 million people around the world and one of the six official languages of the U.N. and one of the two working languages of the Security Council ('English being the other). Guyana (once French Guyana) in South America is actually part of the European Union, with representation in the French National Assembly (it is actually a part of France in the same way that Hawaii or Puerto Rico are part of the U.S.). Language and culture are inseparable, and I am tempted to believe that if Americans had less distrust for nuance, less certainty that we are "sui generis" as a nation, we would have less of a "bull in a china shop" approach to world affairs. It should come as no surprise that the French over a century have been attempting to restore Angor Wat and other ancient Buddhist temples in Cambodia to their original splendor. Compare to the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq when the soldiers ostensibly guarding the National Archaeological Museum in Baghdad did NOTHING to prevent the shocking looting and pillaging taking place right under their very eyes. The respect the French have for their language is in sharp contrast to the general sloppiness with which Americans employ their own (how many Americans could profess a love of the English language?). **** Maybe if the U.S. (George W. Bush) had listened to France, which, with Germany, refused--on principled grounds--to "go along" with the invasion of Iraq, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in today. Former prime minister Dominque de Villepin's speech to the United Nations Assembly before the U.S. invaded Iraq was extraordinarily eloquent ("Yes, I come from an OLD Europe, one that has known great suffering...We believe war is an admission of defeat and ought to be used as the last resort" brought tears to my eyes. (This was also the occasion, as I recall, of Colin Powell's infamous "Saddam has uranium enrichment..."). http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/index.php?vue=notice&from=fulltext&full=Dominique+de+Villepin+&num_notice=2&total_notices=158 On the other hand, many, if not most Americans truly believe that freedom actually began in the year 1776. However, the American Revolution was followed by another equally important revolution 13 years later. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/opinion/28furstenberg.html?em&ex=1193716800&en=6fe9bb653edfa0b5&ei=5087%0A French chateaus (Chenonceau, Chambord, et. al.), museums, cuisine, art, and cathedrals are also magnificent repositories of its rich history and culture. And yes, many French have a rather distorted, knee-jerk anti-Americanism combined with a doltish love of the worst aspects of American culture (hip-hop, Sylvester Stallone, etc.). Republican Party strategists interpreted the victory of Nicholas Sarkozy over Segolene Royal, the socialist candidate, to the presidency of France as a blueprint for them to win in 2008. Sarkozy was the successor of a very unpopular president (Chirac) from his own party, in the way that GWB has become an albatross for the Republicans.

The company called FOUR YEARS after our last communication only to offer never-delivered services…read morefor a 2nd and 3rd couple session paid for, in return to ask for more stars, because, in writing no less, I was informed that "less than 4 star rating is a death sentence to small business." They contacted me to schedule and still asked for evidence of purchase from 2021, which I provided. After several emails of beratement and being scheduled and subsequently cancelled [by them], I was harassed with threats of legal counsel to contact me, which has yet to be seen. The company lied to Groupon about customer service delivered whilst requesting a refund for all the undelivered services and proceeded to call me a liar and a thief. After days of waiting for any refund to hit the bank, only after calling Groupon directly did I find out that although the status was marked refunded, it did not send by Groupon process because "it was too old." With an attitude that the vendor is "always right" presented in several emails including self-serving assumptions and refusal to ask questions or give any benefit of doubt, customer service severely lacks. Explicitly, putting profit margins before the customer experience, as I was made well aware of the losses the company undertook at fault of unfortunate circumstances that were not customer related. Moreover, it appears a vendetta may be ensuing as the site has TERMS OF SERVICE to forcibly make people sign to not speak against the company, I am not sure how this this claim in the website Bio page of the founder, from Issue 244, SEPT 2016, of Massage Magazine, "Turn Angry Cuatomers into 5-Star Reviews,"(1) based on my experience, seems unfounded. The current Terms & Conditions to book qn appointment specifically refer to charging Groupon customers additional fees for approved extensions "and it may require an additional small fee on top of a discount voucher purchase such as Groupon"... and legal actions that may be taken for "being bullied on sites like Yelp."(2) Obviously, this company values their dishonest reputation more than the customer experience. Moreover, I was told Class 3 is not available, but it is still clearly described on the website.(3) (1)https://theloveinstitute.com/about-the-founder (2)https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule/fafaca9f/appointment/70080271/calendar/10975633/datetime/2025-03-09T10%3A00%3A00-07%3A00 (3)https://theloveinstitute.com/couples-massage-classes/

We had a great experience learning how to massage one another, it is a way for the two of us to…read morereconnect on the cellular level to one another. It was great visiting our hometown and having this learning experience. Highly recommend.

I had a beautiful and contemplative time at the school for the spring women's weekend. The…read moreinstructors were all knowledgeable and communicative. I would love to go back soon.

Excellent, amazing integrity, highly trained & passionate staff. Wilderness Awareness remains top…read morequality - they are above and beyond most summer camps, which are nothing more than a boring daycare. Your child will learn here, and be happy and safe with this organization

So far so good. Need 90 hours and I have been chipping at them. This is so much easier thanb free…read moreclock hours where u spend half your day on a class for three hours.

I used them for my initial licensing and passed so the content is there. Problem is the many typos…read moreand grammatical errors as well as several questions linked to the wrong study sections. Lots of time was used trying to reconstruct sentences to make them have a concise meaning or information set. Maybe you can give them a pass on this because the WA state Real Estate Brokers License exam would also get a 3 star review from me for the same reason. Now I am trying to select the online course to use for my first renewal CE units.

Awesome place for renewing certs! I have been twice now to the Seattle location and have been very…read moreimpressed with them. Knowledgeable and friendly instructors, office staff are accommodating, free onsite parking, and great hands on portion to classes. Definitely recommend!

I kept trying to sign up online but was unable to. After many attempts at…read morecalling the company directly I was able to reach someone and sign up. They told me I couldn't sign up by phone The course was a good course, but they haven't emailed me my course completion certificate. I've tried calling the local office but keep getting put on hold only to be directed to an answering machine. I have left messages explaining my situation but this far haven't received a response. I haven't had any problems with this company in the past. Maybe they have labor issues? Whatever the reason customer service pretty much sucks

If I'm being frank when I first decided that I was going to attend massage school my intentions and…read moreexpectations were misguided. I thought "Oh, this will be easy and I'm just really using it as platform to get into Physical Therapy." I believed in the power of manual therapy, but I didn't truly think it was that technical or transformative. Throughout my time at Discovery Point that all changed. It was definitely not easy for me and I realized that massage school was in a lot of ways harder than when I was in University. The instructors at Discovery Point are truly marvelous and knowledgeable. Without their guidance I would not be the confident and humble therapist I am today. Time and again I find that my grasp of anatomy and my ability to truly feel tissue that I cultivated at Discovery Point has put me ahead of the pack. This school not only prepares you for the field, it shapes you. My life has transformed in many ways from this experience because of these beautiful mentors. My passion for learning has been reignited and I thank all the teachers/faciltators at Discovery point for all that they do.

I am forever grateful for the education I have received from Discoverypoint. The small class sizes…read moreprovide exceptional instruction. The teachers are extremely knowledgeable of the many aspects that create the profession of massage therapy. It's not just a school, but a community, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it. I was completely astonished at how ready I was to enter the workforce after graduating! After only a few months after graduation I realized I was already reaching business goals of mine that I had planned 8-10 years down the line! I'm literally living my dreams. In my opinion, this is THE school to go to if you're serious about a career in massage therapy. And I'm excited to see what other continuing education will be offered in the future! Thank you, Discoverypoint!

Buzybeez was recommended to us by another parent when we moved to the area and we have loved our…read moreexperience so far. Our three year old went in shy, quiet and somewhat unsure but has blossomed into a confident little guy who is quite the chatterbox. As he was born during Covid lockdown, Buzybeez was his first exposure to a school/childcare setting. The teacher, Ms. Kimberly is fantastic with kids and made the transition easy for us as parents as well. We would definitely recommend the preschool based on the experience we've had!

The woman who runs this school loves what she does and does what she loves, and it shows. She also…read moredevotes time to certifying new skate instructors from coast to coast and has such passion and devotion to the sport. Great job!