Our Team

Story

The French Academy was founded by two passionate and experienced native French teachers who wanted to provide the highest caliber of French Language instruction. They realized that a school was needed in the DC metro area to answer the specific needs of different individuals: adults seeking a tailor-made course, families with children of different ages and bilingual families who are looking for a qualitative French education, and also professionals and businesses, for whom flexibility, individualized curriculum and specific goals are important.

We are a small team of about 10 teachers, striving to provide personalized service in the DC Metro area, offering group classes for adults and children at convenient locations and flexible one-on-one lessons.

Qualification

You will be surrounded by experienced teachers specialized in teaching French as a foreign language (FLE) and with all the necessary qualifications to guarantee high quality teaching. They will help you improve your oral and written communication skills and introduce you to French culture and civilization. Our passionate native teachers are highly educated, with years of experience in pedagogic methodology but they also have special expertise in:

  • NGO project development
  • Human rights
  • Diplomacy
  • International Development
  • Humanitarian work
  • Business, marketing, communication
  • Youth language programs (courses and youth camps)
  • Teaching in public schools
  • French for French Speakers
  • Teaching French to immigrants and refugees
  • Yoga and arts programs

The Founders

Natacha was born and raised in France. After her MBA at the "EM Lyon" (France) in 1994, she moved to Germany. There she worked for a large French sporting goods company (Decathlon) as the head of trainings and communication while getting her first experience with teaching French. Natacha then decided to reorient her career towards international development, taking a position with a Non-Governmental Organization implementing children's rights programs in French-speaking Africa. All the while, she continued teaching French, establishing her first business offering corporate classes, one-on-one sessions for adults and children and exam prep. At the end of 2010, she moved from Germany to Washington DC and continued teaching in several institutions such as the Alliance Française.
Together with Sophie Mededovic, former Academic Director of the Alliance, she developed curricula for children courses such as a special program for DC elementary schools and fieldtrips. She created a Business French course and helped many FSI students to successfully pass their tests. In 2013 Natacha and Sophie decided to create the French Academy to better serve the needs of individuals, corporations and families. Sophie passed in May 2014 from a severe lung cancer.

That's us!