French for businesses and organizations
Working with us
The French Academy DC, VA, MD LLC is a small, female-owned-and-operated, French language school offering flexible and customized services to organizations and professionals wanting to learn French. Oriented toward supporting French language in the professional sphere, we understand being proficient in French can be a great asset in today’s interconnected world. Our mission is to provide high-quality and flexible language instruction in order to help people become better global citizens, and support professionals in their international work.
Through our long experience in the worlds of business and non-profit in France, in the US and with diverse international partners, your employees will get the very most from their language courses. Whatever level of competency you need, we can offer a language course to match:
- Individual or group language courses
- Regular in-house training
- Intensive on-site or off-site courses (for relocating employees, etc)
- Cultural Awareness courses
Language differences are often a real barrier to good business communication. With a targeted language course, you can make a huge difference!
French Group Classes at your location
When your business/organization relies on international connections, consider offering language courses to your employees. Our French courses are tailored to your requirements so that you get the results you’re looking for as quickly as possible. Language training is an incentive for employees to become more invested in the organization, especially in international operations. It also provides a source of personal enrichment by increasing their skills.
1) Placement test
Prior to organizing a group class we do placement tests to assess the proficiency level of the participants. For subsequent classes, we will only test the newcomers, as returning students are regularly evaluated, including the formal end-of-course evaluation.
Once we know how many people we have in each proficiency level we can set up groups. We generally have groups from three to seven participants. We believe that our teaching should adapt to the needs of every participant, therefore five is an optimal number. Beyond seven students, there is the potential for someone being (or feeling) left out.
The levels
A1-1: complete beginner- Almost no knowledge of the language.
A1-2: beginner with some knowledge
A1-3: strong beginner
A1-4: starting elementary
A2 minus
A2: full elementary to strong elementary
B1: Intermediate (from low to strong)
B2: advanced fluent
C1: Independent- bilingual
If you would like to have more information about the different levels of proficiency: contact us.
2) Methodology:
The French Academy staff will collaborate to prepare each curriculum. Together, and with our clients, we decide about the syllabus and special topics. We choose a theme for discussion and related grammar points that students also need to develop.
For beginners-elementary:
We follow an approved book, or our own materials and adapt the learning to the situation and interest of the participants.
For strong elementary, intermediate and advanced students:
Most of our corporate students need specific material on following topics: commerce and trade; representation and diplomacy work, health, environmental issues, sustainable energies, micro finances, investments, governance, human rights, education, advocacy work. We have developed a lot of materials based on published reports, articles, and videos, to address those needs.
3) Implementation phase: In-House Teaching
The groups are made, material is ready. We can start teaching!
In host organizations, we generally have a WIFI connection, a white board and a sound system for watching videos. It is a plus if the room is equipped with a conference/ Skype system. Our busy students miss classes sometimes because of an urgent matter or a trip abroad, but we offer the possibility of joining the class via Skype.
Private Tutoring
Because of frequent travels and workload, some employees are unable to participate in group classes.
- Sometimes employees need a specific lesson to get ready/ prepared for a mission: recruitment, opening an office, closing a project, implementing a training, preparing a meeting with officials, understanding technical vocabulary in the area of public health, agriculture, politics and government (transparency, taxes, policies), supply chain, food security, trade and finances.
- Sometimes employees need to prepare documentation; a report, a training, letters/emails to project employees, or correspondence with government officials.
In those cases private lessons are perfect. We schedule as quickly as possible and give them a flexible planning to accommodate their needs. We may also provide Skype lessons to allow them to continue while they are out of the country.
Testing, reports and feedbacks
We developed a system with most of our corporate partners in which we take attendance and deliver student reports based on ongoing and final evaluations. Most of our partners reimburse their employees on the basis of this report, to make sure they do participate in the class. Finally, we rely on feedback to constantly ensure the French Academy is meeting the needs of our clients.
Testing
- Throughout the duration of a course, we conduct tests to measure progress.
- We can organize a more formal test at the end of the session, usually during the last lesson.
Reports
- At the end of a course, we will provide a report, with an overall assessment, as well as feedback.
Delivering high quality
To us every client is an individual with a unique set of needs. With this in mind we design a tailored language class to ensure you reach your goals. For more information about our methods, see Quality Standards.
References
We will send you some references upon requests. Among some of our corporate partners: the Canadian Embassy, The Embassy of Belgium, Lardner and Foley, Focht Inc., Rudo International, Chemonics International, CDP Capital US, OFDA, Millenium Challenge Corporation, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, FHI360.