Sojoourn is a unique company designed for expats by expats. We are the leading networking community and guide in Lyon. Our mission is to make you feel home in France and help you to successfully integrate in your new life. We are a team of 2 passionate and dynamic young women (Emmanuelle & Zsofi), who have lived abroad and experienced the highs and lows of being an expat. We provide a whole and unique experience and support the integration of expatriates and French people coming back home. We keep in touch with expats not just in Lyon, but all over France. We love our community built on shared values of global minded people and can't wait to get to know you better. Read more about us.

We foster an environment that creates the greatest opportunities for expats to succeed. We love our community and wake up eveyday knowingly, that what we call a job actually makes a positive impact on people's lives. Sojoourn is the first company of its kind in Lyon and France. Not only we are an international community of like-minded expats, but we also offer the most fun and enriching welcome experience for the newcomers in Lyon. We help you get settled with our Home Search service, theach you French and accompany you throughout your stay with Events and personalized Services that meet your needs. Discover what we do.

Sojoourn is based on support, community and networking. The community at Sojoourn shares the core values of courage, compassion, commitment and respect. Our members are curious, passionate, daring, disruptive, bold, ambitious and impressive. They are also incredibly supportive and caring toward each other. Sojoourn members want to elevate each other and are continously offering their time and services to one another. They love to meet, connect and share stories, resources and ideas. Does it sound like a network, you want to join? Check out our membership.

Of course! Do you have a story to share, or do you want to offer your services to our community? Any idea or proposal is welcome, please contact us to further discuss it with out team.

We aim for small intimate groups that spend time together like a group of friends. The bigger the group, the harder it gets to connect with everyone.

Commitment is essential for our organization. At least 2 month before we start the trip we need to book the accommodation. That is why we need to ask for a deposit. In case you cancel your spot with one month or more prior to the first day of the trip, you will receive a refund of what you paid, except for the deposit. Otherwise no refund will be provided as by this time the accommodation is booked and non-refundable.

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Nobody is forced to attend any activity. In case you don't feel comfortable attending a specific activity you can inform us before or during the trip and we will find a solution for you. If you inform us before the event, we can ensure you that we will present few alternative activities as options for you.

You need to bring your regular travel stuff in a small suitcase/backpack like clothing, good and comfortable shoes for walks and a rain jacket. As this depends on the season and event location, one month before the beginning of each retreat, participants will receive an ultimate guide with detailed information specific for each trip.

In case a trip is canceled (e.g. due to covid) from the organizers side, a full refund will be granted to everyone who has purchased a ticket until that point.

You can find more information about the types of courses, the prices and our teachers on our website. To apply for our courses please fill out a registration form and one of our teachers will call you back to get to know you and your needs better. It is free, without engagement and takes around a half an hour. We usually also create a WhatsApp conversation the make the communication easier. After your call, you decide how many hours you would like to take (10, 20, 30), we sign a student contract with you and send you an invoice. After we have received your payment you can start your language course with us.

We know it from experience, that at least 10 hours is required to start seeing real progress. We ourselves are language-learners and multilinguals and we understand what it takes to learn a language effectively as an adult. At Sojoourn we are result-oriented — we want you to meet your goals. The brain needs more than just a few sessions to adapt to a new language and to a new teaching method in order for you to start noticing a difference. That’s why our model is not to sell you an hourly-rate service but rather — to get you results.

At any time. We offer weekly conversational group courses in the evening in small groups of maximum 6 peoople. Each weekly class is based on a theme and indipendent from the previous class, so anybody can join the class at any time. You can even book a 5€ trail course to try it out.

All 3 of our native teachers (Christel, Eva, Valérie) have international backgrounds, lived abroad and speak more than one language. They are passionate about their job, dynamic and very communicative. We work only with highly qualified teachers who can truly understand the challenges of being an expat and learning a new language. Check out their profile here.

Yes, absolutely! We have already prepared several students for exams and they passed successfully. Our private courses can be 100% adapted to your needs and preapre you to an exam. Register for a free 30 minute call with one of our teachers (without engagement) here.

Absolutely! This is our speciality. Most of our students have a demanding lifestyle and don’t necessarily have the time to attend lessons in a language school with a fixed schedule. We offer classes online or at your workplace, and can build a routine together that works best for you. Even if you’re busy, you still deserve to learn French! Register your interest here and one of our French teachers will call you back.

For the language courses we send an invoice to our students that has to be paid by bank transfer. We'll offer you all the data you need to make the payment safe. If you do not have a euro bank account, additional charges may be added to your final invoice. You can use the transfer-wise service to prevent this, which is secure, user-friendly and cheaper than usual bank rates. If you have any doubts please email us describing your situation to address other alternatives.

Yes, it is possible. You can pay the language course in 2 installments. Half is due before you start the course and the rest at halftime.

There are none for now, unfortunately.

No problem, we absolutely understand that something might come up at work, you go on vacation or just not feeling well. You can cancel a course free of charge at least 24 hours before the course via email (learnfrench@sojoourn), in the dedicated WhatsApp conversation or directly with your teacher. However if you fail to inform us on time, you will be billed with the course.

Due to sanitary restrictions we have suspended our physical courses and only offer them via Zoom. As soon as the situation allows we will resume the real life classes in central Lyon. Our teachers also offer house call or office visits for private courses.

Yes! We give you a French language certificate of achievement that follows the guidelines of the Common European Framework. It shows your level and the hours you have taken. You will be able to show this document to demonstrate your new skills.

On average it takes us 21 days to find your new place. The duration of your home search can vary a lot as there are many factors that are out of Sojoourn's control : - The housing market: are there a lot of offers available? - What you are looking for: is it something rare or special? - The application: what is your financial situation? - The competition: are there others looking for the same as you? - Luck: as with many things in life, luck will play a small part in the success of your home search.

The real estate market is too tight and apartments are rented too fast to function that way. Real estate agents and property owners will not bother to make two visits for a candidate. Our solutions: 1. We can go instead of you and make a detailed report with pictures and videos. We can also do live video calls during the visits. Then we submit your application directly on the spot or shortly after, even if you haven't seen the apartment physically. 2. We go with you to visit a potential place, if you can make yourself available. This is the best option to get the real feeling of the place. We filter through the offers to avoid wasting time with misleading ads.