Setting up a language school in the Languedoc area........ daft or what??

[LJW]

Bit of a bizarre post as we are thinking of doing this some years from now but the thoughts we are currently having to enable us to live in France are....

 - buying a property with outbuildings not far from Montpellier

 - converting some to make decent accomodation for paying guests

 - converting one to make a teaching classroom

and offering residential business english courses to companies etc

Both husband and I are degree qualified and have many years experience working in Finance/Business in London (I am qualified accountant) and speak not too bad french.  Both of us are planning to complete a TEFL course specialising in business english in the near future.

Is this a completely ludicrous idea or is there any scope at all for it to provide an income for us to realise our dream of living in the South of France??

Total pipedream at the moment but would be grateful for any thoughts from teachers/gite owners etc........

Cheers

[cooperlola]

I have a friend who works for a French company offering what you propose (English language courses to businesses.)  She has enough work to pay her way here, although she tells me that some of the companies she's working with are cutting back quite a bit this year.  She teaches at the workplace of those taking the lessons, not from her own, or the language company's premises. 

  Running your own business is fraught with difficulties and costs!  It may be better to try to find a job and see how you get on, before burning all your boats and going to the expense of setting up your own business, especially with the infrastructure you're proposing.   I know that you want to be independent, but when taking such a big step, it may be better to start small and unambitious and work up from there.

EDIT : As for the area you are proposing, I know little about it.  However, my friend is undoubtedly helped by being close to a big, vibrant city with relatively (for France) high employment and lots of businesses.  That's undoubtedly got to be your first consideration when chosing a location.

[Maricopa]

[quote user="LJW"]

Bit of a bizarre post as we are thinking of doing this some years from now .....

 - buying a property with outbuildings not far from Montpellier

 - converting some to make decent accomodation for paying guests

 - converting one to make a teaching classroom

and offering residential business english courses to companies etc......

.Is this a completely ludicrous idea or is there any scope at all for it to provide an income for us to realise our dream of living in the South of France??

[/quote]

I think from memory of things I have read and programs I have seen on TV, that there are a lot of language schools in Montpellier.  I would check out whether there is any scope for more, before committing any money.

[betoulle]

We investigated doing this a couple of years back & ended up abandoning the plan for several reasons.  We were using a local bilingual French lady to offer the courses to businessmen, medical staff etc, as we were not allowed unless we had proper French qualifications, certificates etc.  All the places we contacted did NOT want residential courses......OK our initial contacts were all in our region, so not absolutely necessary to be accomodated on site, but this led to the problem of insurance & registration etc as we are primariliy a B&B & gite business, so not allowed to offer courses without accommodation.  We ran up against other problems with regard to offering food & drink during the course of the day...food health issues, regulations, cotisations etc.  Basically, the cost & strict regulation was starting to become restrictive so we abandonned the scheme.   I have seen several language schools running courses for English people to learn French - more likely to be residential, so this probably a slightly easier option. Good Luck.....  An example of the problems we encountered was we had the idea to include a wine tasting in English as a bit of light relief.....we have a contact locally who was going to offer tastings of New World wines...we were told categorically NO - only if we performed a tasting of French wines would it be considered permissable......

[Alex H]

A quick 'pages Jaune' for "école de langues" in Montpellier gives 34 results and includes one called 'The English Institute'.

The same for Paris gives 269. As Paris is about 10 times the population that would seem to be a close enough ratio.

Which suggests that there are enough already?[8-)]

[LJW]

Thanks for the replies.  I kind of suspected my brilliant idea would have been well and truly done to death already and that, even if it hadn't, the infamous French red tape might scupper our efforts.  We wouldn't sell up here and move down with the hope of starting up such a venture without giving it a try first - we're thinking of renting out our place and having a year down in France to suck it and see.  Would give us a chance to suss out the potential market, chances of finding paid work etc etc.  We have 2 young children so their needs come first and would also like to see how they would cope with the French education system.  It really does seem very difficult to make a new life there from what I've read on the forum, so a pipedream is probably what it will remain.................

Thanks again!

[P-D de Rouffignac]

Just to add to the comments already received. There is a lot of competition not only from the private sector but established public bodies such as the universities, chambers of commerce and 'centres de gestion' who are able to offer English classes (non residential) to their members at very attractive rates.

For (intensive) residential language courses French people tend to go to England to learn English, and the English to France to learn French, rather than the other way round!

Peter-Danton de ROUFFIGNAC MA LLM www.francemediterraneanproperty.com

[Phillip1969]

Have you considered starting small and building up?

Often, with the removal of the expenses of offices etc and the "avoidance" of red tape, a business like this in France can be far more profitable than any fully fledged enterprise.

[Richardk]

Really I wouldn't be put off by there already being lots of other companies already doing it. If you consider that from a different aspect, it means there is definately a need for that type of business. I'd be more worried if there wasn't anyone doing it!

The next part though is whether you can do it better / attract the customers etc.. And really, that's down to your skill base now, how you can augment it before commencing and the research you do to help you decide how to approach such a new business. It's possible, it won't be easy, it probably won't be much fun at times but if you achieve your goal it'll be extremely satisfying!

Good luck.

[NormanH]

There is  a lot of provision in Montpellier, not only by the schools and organisations mentioned, but also by the many Anglophone students.

There are also some language training establishments who bid for 'in-house' training contracts, done at the firm's premises

There are also a lot of 'freelance' teachers, but very few who last more than five years, if that.

The situation has changed  a lot in the last few years, with an influx

of English speakers thinkig that being a native speaker with a

four-week certificate qualifies them to teach English.

There are also all the  of Anglo-French exchange groups.

The French-American center is quite successful, and has the advantage of being run as an assocation rather than a business.

The Wall Street Institute  tends to gobble up smaller centres.

As for demand there is little in the way of large businesses apart from in Montpellier. Wine and tourism are the two major sectors, and both are well targeted by the existing provsion

The area is very inward looking, ( a bit 'Marcel Pagnol' though further west ) and I would strongly recommend  having some sort of partnership with a local French person or business. Networking is very important here.

I have done quite a bit of free translation of restaurant menus since I retired, and was at first surprised that locals have more confidence in a French translator's English than they have in mine, which even if stilted is never as absurd as some of the versions I have seen around.

Good luck if you do go ahead, but I certainly wouldn't buy a property. Rent and see...

[Âme]

LJW, you might be interested in hosting students, as a step towards your goal.

There are a some organisations looking for native English speaking families, in France, to take students of all ages and levels for 'immersion' courses. The student stays with, and eats with, the family. 

I met a very nice French woman (bilingual) who started this business about 18 months ago. She needs more families to host. If anyone would like her email address send me a PM and I will forward her details to you.

She is looking for university-educated couples (with or without children) with a certain standard of accommodation (e.g. separate bathroom for the guest/student). If you have teaching qualifications you can supplement the host rate by offering planned lessons focused on the student's personal interests.  She tries to match students with hosts who share their interests.  For example, the last time we spoke she was particularly looking for musicians and artists and previously had a need for someone with an interest in politics and the law.

For other host organisations check AngloInfo adverts.

Whether you could make a year-round income hosting, I don't know.  There are certainly plenty of people seeking to learn/improve English.  You need to be creative with what you offer them, because there is also a fair amount of competition.

Good luck.