Business
Review Weekly, Australia
"The Fast Track to French"
Businessmen do it, sheiks do it, even Gough Whitlam
did it - Total immersion in the French language on
the Riviera
by MAUREEN BANG
"...I was in France and no one would speak to me in
anything but French. Not only that, they expected
me to talk back to them in their own language.
The people were, in fact, teachers at the Institut
de Français in Villefranche-sur-Mer, a small
town overlooking one of the loveliest bays on the
Riviera.They are specially trained to teach adults
to speak French as correctly and as fluently as possible,
and to teach it in the shortest time.
The four-week
course runs for eight hours a day, five days a week.
It is a total immersion into the French language.
The results are stunning; within days even beginners
are conversing in French.
Such is the success of the methods that people have
been coming from all over the world to the school
since its establishment 28 years ago. It is recognised
by the diplomatic corps, the United Nations, and international
business organsations.
This total
approach to French is the only way to learn French
in a hurry, and it can be fun.Sometimes the "immersion"
is so great that you sink, but it soon passes. The
teachers know all about it - they even warn you of
it.
If you
cannot speak French at the beginning, you are advised
not to speak at all until you can. And that is where
the "miracle" takes place. You soon can. Emphasis
is on the oral rather than the written word.
The teachers
talk only in French. If you do not understand the
first time, they simply keep on explaining it in different
ways until you do. They use a basic vocabulary of
1500 words, those most used in everyday French.
The great
drawcard of doing the course at Villefranche is that
you are in France. Once school is out, you are out
among the French of Villefranche-sur-Mer. You continue
to speak to them in a real-life situation. And you
find they are only too delighted to help you in your
efforts to speak French; they are used to students
from the institute.
Villefranche
is a gem of a place, sitting tranquilly between the
two giants of the Riviera, Nice and Monte Carlo. Across
the water is Cap Ferrat, where Somerset Maugham and
David Niven once lived.
Despite its position
in such a famed area, Villefranche has not been taken
over by the 20th century. There are no huge hotels,
no discos, no casinos, no shops full of luxury goods.
It has retained the atmosphere of its beginnings as
a 14th century free trading port, with its fishing
harbor, 16th century citadel and old streets. Therein
lies its charm..."
