Start a French language institute
Learning languages is an activity with no waste. Language functions are activated in our brain and our ability to speak and think is activated and functions noticeably better. In many cases, the language in question is merely an excuse to carry out this magnificent activity, while in others the language involved must be exclusively that which we choose for various reasons, or for one of great weight. In this article, we guide you on your way to opening a French Teaching Institute and give you all the tips and advice to keep it going.
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Reasons to Open a French Teaching Institute
To identify the reasons that lead us to open a French Teaching Institute is to know how to identify the reasons why people are committed to learning this beautiful language. Among them, we highlight the most important ones:
Work reasons: some jobs require the use of this language in order to communicate fluently with people in France. The reasons may be both communicational between the companies involved, as the requirement of the French-Spanish translation service and vice versa.
Reasons to Study: the most dedicated, ambitious and, why not, dreamy students venture to study at the Sorbonne, one of the best and most emblematic universities in the world. Therefore, before going to this demanding institution, they must master the language entirely, so you will have them as students for many years.
Travel: the French are known to be quite reluctant to speak in languages other than their own. In addition, they have one of the most beautiful capital cities in the world, so it is very useful to learn the social functions of the language before packing for those latitudes.
Love: last but not least, is the fact that, thanks to globalization, it is totally possible, indeed common, for a Colombian woman, to give a simple example, to fall in love with a Frenchman. In this case, both will devote themselves to learning the other’s language, especially if there are plans for future coexistence.
How to Beat the Competition by Setting Up a French Teaching Institute
Existing competition is the greatest threat a French language school can have. However, there is some action, focused on positioning the institute in the highest positions of eligibility. Here are some of the strongest:
Student Exchange: it’s one of the strongest and most powerful tools you can implement to stand out from the rest. It means that, through you, your students will have the possibility to spend time with a French family, while a French student will do the same with a family from your country.
Multiplicity of Courses: according to the reasons mentioned above, we develop different courses with different objectives, in order to facilitate the students’ goal-oriented learning. For example, it is not the same for a person who is going to travel, who needs to know how to ask prices, know how to orient himself and develop his listening skills, as a person who needs the language to study, in which case he will need to manage the language perfectly.
Cultural Club: when you open a French Teaching Institute you can organize a club where you can develop cultural activities, such as playing board and room games, reading sessions and literary debates, social gatherings and other options, but, attention! French will be the only language allowed on the premises.
Requirements to start in the French Teaching Institute business
If you speak French as your mother tongue and are interested in teaching it, you can open a French teaching institute to improve your level, like any other second language, promoting courses preferably for children, which is in much greater demand today, so you can fill this gap quite successfully and profitably.
You can open your own centre with a brand name and you can also count on the support of a language franchise to set up the business with guarantees of success.
By setting up the institute on your own you can have cons such as a little more risk, more effort, more investment, taking more time and maybe getting less profitability at the beginning. While with a franchise, the risk can be lower, as can the effort and investment, with a higher return.
Advantages of having a French Teaching Institute
One of the advantages of opening a French language institute is the opportunity to teach a Romance language, for many the most romantic and best sounding language in the world. Also, you have the opportunity to teach one of the languages most talked about in the world and has a rich lexicon.
French is often used for words such as souvenir, croissant, cliché, cabaret, déjà vu, beige, boutique or boulevard. French and Spanish have a common origin, Latin, which is why there are great similarities between the two languages.
For this reason having a French institute, offers ample advantages in attracting Spaniards who want to learn it because it is not so difficult since they share the same origin and influences, however, in its pronunciation and intonation is the major difficulty.
Tips for starting a French Teaching Institute
The physical location of the institute is key because it must be placed in a place of high purchasing power, near prestigious schools and universities, residential areas, although customers interested in this type of education have no problem moving.
The site must be easy to access and park, second and third line shopping centers are also interesting.
The institute needs people involved in the business, committed to the world of education, who know the students and know how to relate to the parents.
Problems that can arise at Institut d’Enseignement de Français
One of the problems of setting up a French language institute is that you need people who speak the language as their mother tongue, because pronunciation is decisive in making oneself understood in this language, and native French is not likely to be understood when a person does not pronounce French well and tends to reject people who do not speak their language well.
Becoming bilingual in French takes time and is complex, it may even take years to be able to speak French well, perhaps more so if you want to be bilingual, because it is the highest degree of proficiency in a language.
In everyday language, the expression bilingual in French is said, when the person can read, write, speak without any difficulty. This opinion is actually subjective and the only way to certify a good command of the French language for someone who does not have French as a mother tongue, in addition to passing an exam, of sufficiency of the language.
Success stories of Institut de l’Enseignement de Français
A successful company in this field is the Alliance Française de Madrid, which offers French courses with highly qualified teachers, with more than 30 years of experience and in the heart of Madrid. Likewise, the Alliances Françaises España network offers an annual catalogue, with a wide panel of language stays in France, Switzerland and Canada.
It also offers a solution for those who cannot attend classes in person, but need support in their learning of French.
Another successful company is Campus France, which offers students of the ESO, or university students who wish to continue their studies in France, all the necessary information and accompaniment in the study project.
The company also accompanies students in their search for training, university enrolment and preparation for their stay. In addition, they provide information of interest, related to French courses, work or internships, among others.
In this respect, the investor profile is secondary, although you may have to take care of the administration of your own company.
The basis of the business model is to have professionals, to the extent that the intention of the brand is to bring native teachers to the country, through agreements and partnerships.