About
Why study French With Culture Club?
Culture Club gives kids a fun and engaging way to learn French—through games,
movement, songs, and creative activities that feel more like play than school.
While it’s not a full immersion program, it comes close in effectiveness by
using natural, conversation-based methods that help children pick up the language
the same way they learned their first one—by doing, not memorizing. With small
class sizes, no pressure or competition, and enthusiastic teachers who truly
connect with kids, Culture Club creates a joyful space where your child can build
confidence and a love for language.
A Little About Jamie Michaud
Owner/ Lead French Teacher
Jamie has been teaching children languages for over 18 years. After earning her BA in Theater from the University of California at Santa Barbara, she moved to Paris where she started her first after-school club teaching and leading activities in English. Living in Paris reignited her passion for the French language, which was only amplified by her new interest in exploring foreign cultures.
She then spent over 7 years in Toulouse, France where she taught English to children ages 5-12 in the public school system and studied Language Acquisition at the Université de Toulouse II- Le Mirail. She also worked as an instructor at the local teacher’s college, preparing future teachers to teach English in their classrooms.
After moving to Portland in the fall of 2009, she was inspired to put her talents and passions in early childhood second language learning to use and started Culture Club. in 2016 she earned her Masters’s in Education in Curriculum and Instruction.
In addition to Culture Club, Jamie was formerly a French teacher at the Northwest Academy, has taught at the Alliance Française, and served as president of COFLT, the Oregon Association of World Language Teachers. She looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for language learning with your children every day.
Teaching Approach
Culture Club’s after-school program is the best way for your child to learn a second language,
second only to a full-time immersion school. We use a combination of all modern immersion
approaches including the “Communicative” and “Natural” approaches and Task-based Language
learning. These approaches produce a more natural way of learning language that is far above the
traditional memory drills and grammar structures.
Through the use of music, role-play, games, hand gestures, and storyboards, your children will be
having so much fun that they will not even realize they are learning. At Culture Club, we like to think
of it as “sleight of hand” learning, because while the children are completely engaged in “play”, our
trained teachers slip in language and culture lessons.
We know that children are often low on energy after their day at school, that is why we think it is
essential to keep it fun, keep the child moving, interacting and creating. With our methods, language
will happen, and the children will be introduced to the rich cultures of the many countries that speak
them.