Communication above all

The main objective of our courses is learning to communicate in French. According to the guidelines of the Council of Europe we teach particular communication tasks, e.g.: how to buy a ticket, order a meal in restaurant or make Christmas wishes. These are practical situations which take place when coming across a native speaker of French. We do not neglect written French which has become of great importance in the internet era. We write postcards, mails and applications during classes.

Our teachers use almost only French during classes. With beginners we use gestures or illustrations to aid understanding. In this way we sort of "force" students to speak from the very first class!

Language and culture are inseparable. We get to know the culture via language and language via culture. Our teachers are passionate for French and francophone culture. During classes students will learn why France is the most often visited country in the world, what traditional dishes in Cameroon are and what Ra? music is. They will also learn which behaviour is appropriate and which is not in France, which topics should rather be avoided during conversation and what you should bring when a Frenchman invites you to dinner. All the information may prove indispensable in future in contacts with French or francophone people and they will let you avoid embarrassment.

During the course students learn French and get to know French culture, but they also learn another important skill ? working on language on their own. From the very first class we prepare them to learn more on their own. Students of the centre can take part in additional two hour class on effective learning techniques.

If you are afraid that you would enrol in another boring language course, there is nothing to worry about. We organise classes in such a way that no one is ever bored. The key of success is variety. We work in pairs, small groups, we talk, discuss and time goes by before you even notice. We do not do typical grammar exercises in class but we play with language and act. If you like, you can also practise your French or get to know the culture of France during additional workshops on culture and language included in the price of the course!

Courses at VOILA centre are run according to directions of the Council of Europe (described in European system of language education description) which define what and how to teach. Our original syllabus is based on spiral progress ? which means that we keep revising material, recalling, and extending it, as a result students do not forget what they learnt in the previous semester and they keep developing new skills.

We employ only qualified Polish teachers and native speakers. For the first few semesters of learning classes are run by Polish teachers and then it turns into a dual system with both Polish and French teacher. Only native speakers teach advanced levels. Teachers working in the Centre have thorough language preparation, have been to France and have good methodological background. They know how to organise lessons, which exercises should be done to achieve the intended goals. Moreover, the teachers are under methodological supervision and their classes are discussed during teachers? meetings for the sake of improvement.

A language mistake is a completely natural phenomenon and we want our students to become aware of that. It is not possible to speak without making mistakes. At the beginning of learning the objective is to convey information even if the form is incorrect. Students are not interrupted to correct each and every mistake during communication tasks and discussions. However, during accuracy improvement exercises teachers carefully correct all imperfections and explain the rules as many times as needed.

Learning progress is controlled. At the beginning of each class a teacher always refers to the previous one as a short recall in the form of a crossword or a game. This givesa chance of an easy check on comprehension and returning to the taught material if necessary. In mid semester a test is organised to check students? knowledge (and consequently teacher?s work). At the end of semester students write a test from all the covered material ? the same for all the groups at a given level. This enables easy switching from group, time and day of classes after each semester.

When you enrol in a course, you do it of your own free will. You come after university classes or work when you must experience a lot of stress. We do not want to expose you to more stress. We want learning to be fun. All teachers are kind and smiling, atmosphere during classes is informal to make learning fun and not yet another unpleasant chore.