OTHERS

FRENCHFASTER

Program Cost

Program Cost

Looks cheap, but actually expensive.

Flat rate, no hidden costs, no surprises.

Additional costs: Textbooks, Registration

Costs include Learning Materials.

Many levels (hours) to reach proficiency.

Fewer levels (hours) to reach proficiency.

Teaching & Learning Approach

Teaching & Learning Approach

Traditional method, Teacher-centered.

Modern, Innovative, Student-centered.

Textbook read, some explanations.

Content organized, made easy to remember.

Emphasis is on finishing textbook.

Emphasis is achieving proficiency in French.

Time to reach Proficiency

Time to reach Proficiency

Often too long, many give up half-way.

Accelerated learning, twice faster.

No rules, logic, structure

Bite-size, logical content, fast progress.

Quality of Teachers

Quality of Teachers

French speakers = good teachers

Native, Qualified and Experienced teachers.

Often inexperienced teachers

All with international teaching experience.

Monolingual, limited English ability.

Perfectly bilingual (French/English).

Part-time, Backpackers, Short-timers.

Full-time, Professional, Long-term.

Learning Environment

Learning Environment

Poorly equipped, cramped classrooms.

Fully equipped, cosy classrooms .

Big group, close to 20 students. 

Small group size, about 6-10 students.

Customer Service

Customer Service

Cold, Business-like atmosphere.

Homely and Friendly atmosphere.

You are lucky if you get some water.

Free-flow of Snacks and Drinks.

Poor service: “What do you want?”

Excellent Customer-care.

Rigid structure, inflexible, many rules.

Flexible, excellent for working adults.

Quality Control

Quality Control

Either Minimal or completely inexistent.

Done regularly to ensure quality.

School washes hands after student pays.

Program overseen by our program manager.

Teachers just asked to do their best.

Teachers regularly trained to do better.

No responsibility for results.

Result-oriented, Accountable staff.

Learning Materials

Learning Materials

Depends on Teacher and Textbook.

Decided by Program Manager and Student

Limited to one textbook.

Variety of textbooks and in-house materials.

Often used archaic, prehistoric stuff.

Modern, latest research, regularly updated.

Medium of instruction

Medium of instruction

Only in French (intimidating).

At start, more English than French.

Few English words added just for comfort.  

English used to aid learning.

Educational Strategy

Educational Strategy

Student needs to study very hard.

Student subtly trained to study smart.

Passive delivery of content. 

Content creatively linked to student’s reality.

Level of Customization

Level of Customization

Off-the-shelf, One-size-fits-all.

Tailored to specific needs of students.

Context, Specificities of student ignored. 

Context and Abilities taken into account. 

Same textbook irrespective of needs.

Learning materials w.r.t. student needs.

Level of Specialization

Level of Specialization

Often jack-of-all-trade-master-of-none.

All efforts are focused on teaching French.

Often promoting French imperialism.

Promote French language, cultural realities.