L. CORTHELL Jean is a fabulous teacher. She brings an expertise, a love of the French language, and a genuine investment in her students' learning to every lesson. Whether she is presenting a new lesson or reviewing a challenging concept, her explanations are thorough and memorable. I have greatly benefited from both her teaching style and the content of her classes.

J. KHAN As someone who had taken French in both high school and college, I really lamented the loss of my skills as my career (which didn't involve French) took off. I despaired, because college classes were too time-consuming and couldn't be adjusted to my tight-schedule. I can't say enough what a miracle it was to find Dr. Baker. Her instruction was carefully tailored to my language level and she obviously watched and adjusted her teaching style to my learning needs. I cannot possibly recommend her lessons enough.

Her lessons came in particularly handy during a trip to Paris last Spring. Jean knew that my trip was coming up, so we focused vocabulary and structure on potential events I would encounter. The second night I was there, we went to dinner at a restaurant boasting the best food in Paris--which should have been my first warning.
The experience started out a bit disappointing. I'm not under the illusion that I would pass for a native, but I was doing my best. The waitstaff could tell we were Americans and insisted on speaking English, and even gave us an English menu. I don't like to force the situation, because it makes me nervous, so I didn't ask for a French menu. But when ordering, I requested my meat 'a point' and the waiter stopped, stared and said, "You speak French?" I said, "Un peu." And he blinked and said. "Wow. Good!" Then he gave me un verre du Beaujolais even though it usually only comes by the bottle. The rest of the meal was far more enjoyable!

E. HERNANDEZ "Jean's teaching skill and deep knowledge of the French language gave me the tools to meet my linguistic goals. However it was the warm, conversational, salon-like setting of her classes that kept me coming back night after night. I wish she were instructing the business school classes I am taking now!"

D. EHRI I took French classes in high school and college and several other courses afterwards. Jean Baker is by far the best French language instructor I have ever had. She is thorough in her understanding of the language - not only the grammar but the nuances of the language. She is clearly better than even the native French speaking instructors since, along with knowing the language, she also knows how to teach what she knows!

S. KRIMMEL Jean is among the best teachers I've ever encountered. After 10 weeks with Jean I could speak better French than the Spanish it took two years to learn!

C.MOORE Since Stephanie and I concluded our period of instruction with you, now nearly 8 months ago, by leaving for France, I have thought of the need to write of the experience. Thanks for giving me the final push to do it!

This comes from one who still, after 6 months in Europe traveling/ living in a dozen countries with nearly as many languages and even more distinct cultures, believes we would all get along better and enjoy life more if we spoke one language. Sadly this one language is becoming English regardless of its difficulty. (A grand accomplishment would be to create a new easy universal language native to no one. Such a pipe dream!) Being a native speaker of English has made me acutely aware of this privilege and leaves one with a new sense of responsibility for speaking it well.

That said, we live in a world of hundreds of languages and the reality is the more you speak the wider your world can become. Learning any language is a waste of time if one does not have or create the opportunity to use it. I came into my learning of French more as a necessity of my plan to move to France than a desire to learn a new language. It had been some over a decade since I had been in such an intense learning environment but the enthusiasm you have for language made the classes enjoyable from the outset. You posses a superb sense of the level of mental fatigue of your students and masterfully adjusted the pace and difficulty of learning accordingly. During our stint of private instruction you continually demonstrated a sense of what was needed by adult students in the way of engaging material as well as properly structured work out of class. I have been impressed by your keen sense for singling out individual problems of particular student be it pronunciation, conjugation or vocabulary, during the course of a lengthy discussion and correcting these after the discussion has run its course.

Personally, the classes became so stimulating for me that they often were the highlight of my day. You rank among a handful of the finest instructors I have experienced in all my years of learning, including the five at the University of Washington studying chemistry, a subject which challenges the finest teachers to make it engaging. By the end of our period of instruction your passion for the language had come to change my view of the place of the many languages in the world. I no longer view them as solely obstructions to the free flow of ideas and feelings and have come to see the art that they are and allow in their infinite shades of expression.

Now, some more down to earth antecedents from our adventure. France becomes more and more comfortable for us, mainly due to our ability with the language. It is our home base in Europe and we return to conduct the chores of life as they are much easier where we can communicate. Our last stint of chores included repairs and service to the camping car. Since things did not go as planned I had my first chance to rant and rave in French. I became quite upset with the service center at the Fiat dealer when they told me they didn't have enough time to complete my service that day even-though I had an appointment. I was not able to rant and likely cuss with the fluidity that I can in English as I became so flustered that I had to focus on what I needed to say. Alas I was successful and they did the work that day! We hope to see you in France. We have much time in October and November penciled in for France. Good luck with your new endeavors.

S. ANDERSON Jean's teaching style is great, she has a way of drawing you into the French language and keeping your interest up by using a variety of activities. I highly recommend her course to anyone interested in studying French.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.