Immersion stay · Mas-Cabardès, southern France
Language & wellbeing retreat
A week of living in English, not just studying it.
In the morning you learn it. The rest of the day, you live it.
Helen Phillips
Learn. Explore. Savour. Recharge.
Three to six hours of English a day
Lively, practical lessons every morning, and English that carries on into the afternoon when we are together.
Home cooking
Meals made with care, from local produce.
Cultural outings
The Gouffre de Cabrespine, the castles of Lastours: I take you there, and we talk in English.
A house to yourself
A stone house, entirely private, in a village surrounded by forest.
01Immersion
Lessons in the morning. English all day.
A language stay and a holiday with a lesson in it are not the same thing. The difference is what happens between the lessons.
The one-to-one lesson takes the morning: about three hours, and up to six a day if you want English in the afternoon too. But I am there from half past nine until five. Over the morning coffee, at the table at lunch, on the forest walk or in the kitchen in the afternoon, at teatime. All of it happens in English, with no textbook and no exercises, about whatever you feel like talking about.
That is where it comes loose. Not only in the lesson hours, but in all the others — the ones where you speak English without thinking about it. And where, little by little, you notice you are translating less.
Not just a language stay. A human one.
02Guests
Who it's for
A couple
One of you works on their English, the other walks, reads or cooks with me. Or both of you, taking turns. The programme is built for two.
Someone on their own
A few days that are entirely yours, in a quiet house, with English every morning and someone to talk to in the evening if you feel like it.
A company
A small team, or one manager alone, who needs to make a real jump in level in a short time. A week of immersion does what weekly lessons do in a term.
A family
Parents in lessons in the morning, children with me, or the other way round. In the afternoon, everyone to the lake.
03The place
Step back, and relax
A few days given over to your wellbeing and to your English. How does that sound?
In the quiet village of Mas-Cabardès in the Aude, surrounded by forest, this lovely stone house is a real find.
Over three to seven days you have the run of the place and fully tailored English lessons with me, alongside wellbeing activities, cultural visits and creative time, depending on what you choose.
04The programme
A programme built before you arrive
Each day divides in two. Mornings are given to English, one to one. Afternoons are à la carte: more English, a cultural visit, or an activity of your choosing.
The programme is not a menu you pick from on arrival. You fill in a questionnaire before you come — your level, your work, what you want to be able to do in English — and I build the week from your answers. That is why the stay is taken alone or as a pair, and not in a group of twelve.
A typical day
Arrive Sunday afternoon, welcome drink at 6pm.
- 9.30amtea and coffee
- 9.40amEnglish, with a 15-minute break at 11
- 12.30pmlunch
- 2pmthe activity of your choice
- 4.30pmafternoon tea at the house
- 5pmI leave you to your evening, with a home-cooked meal
The last English lesson is on Saturday morning.
05Afternoons
One day, one activity
The ones we do together happen in English, start to finish.
Back into nature
a forest walk with me, hiking, a circuit of the Lac de la Prade.
Something physical
yoga, pilates, strength work.
Wellbeing
massage, sophrology, lymphatic drainage.
Creative
painting, watercolour, drawing.
Culture
the region, the walled city of Carcassonne, the Gouffre de Cabrespine, the castles of Lastours, the vineyards.
Cooking together
relax in the kitchen with me and learn traditional English dishes.
06The price
From€1,100per person
From €1,100 per person, for three to seven days, with your room in the house and the morning English lessons included. I send you an exact price, with the detail of what is included, as soon as I know your dates, how many of you there are and what you feel like doing.
If you work in France, part of the cost can be covered by your CPF.
The house
Check availability
Tell me when you’d like to come and how many of you there are. I reply within two working days with possible dates, an exact price and the full details.