Our Team
Experienced, passionate, and attentive teachers.
Each brings their skills and energy to support your progress.
We share one goal: helping you enjoy learning French in a motivating and human-centered environment.
Stéphanie Houset – Director & Teacher
With over 20 years of experience teaching French as a foreign language (FLE), Stéphanie brings not only solid expertise but also boundless energy and enthusiasm to her classes. Her mission: to make learning French both enjoyable and effective.
At just 18, she moved to the island of Réunion – a remote paradise that sparked her love for adventure and her desire to explore new horizons. Later, she spent a year in the United States studying English before completing her Master’s degree in FLE in France. Since then, she has devoted herself tirelessly to her work – as a teacher, language coach, and motivator.
Stéphanie has taught adults in France and Australia – and yes, her surfboard has always been part of the journey. Her roots are in Anglet, where she grew up between pine forests and Atlantic waves. This strong connection to her region inspired her, in 2011, to found SOFI 64 – a small, welcoming language school on the Basque coast.
As the founder and director of the school, she understands her learners’ needs perfectly. With sensitivity, patience, and a touch of humor, she ensures everyone feels welcome – and makes progress with joy.
When she’s not teaching, Stéphanie is out hiking in the mountains with her camera and her two dogs – always on the lookout for new perspectives.
She speaks fluent French, English, and Spanish – and Basque is no stranger to her: she easily finds the right words.
Élisa – French Teacher
Élisa grew up in Charente, the land of Comics and the Galette Charentaise.
She studied Language Sciences with a specialisation in FLE and obtained a Master’s degree in FLE(Apprentissage et Didactique du FLE) in Toulouse, the city of cassoulet and violets!
She then moved to Spain for 3 years to teach French, discovering the country and the language she didn’t speak at all. After 3 years in the Iberian capital, she decided to settle in the Basque country, as interested in the Basque cake as the Ocean.
For her, teaching French is an incredible opportunity to share French culture and language, but above all to travel through the students she meets.
She loves (in no particular order of preference):
*Good food
*Walks by the ocean and in pine forests
*TV Shows
*Her cat
Thomas – Assistant Director & Contact Person for People with Disabilities
Originally from Switzerland, he has been living in Anglet since 2018 – a region he immediately fell in love with for its proximity to both the ocean and the mountains. He first came to SOFI 64 in 2017 as a student, but just a year later, he switched perspectives and has been a dedicated member of the team ever since, working as Assistant Director. He also serves as the main contact person for people with disabilities.
Travel has been a part of his life since childhood – first with his family, and later on his own. A particularly formative experience was spending six months in Australia, where he learned English and explored the continent.
In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors: cycling over mountain passes, hiking in nature, or surfing the Atlantic waves – as long as he’s active and outside, he’s happy.
