WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH FOR BUSINESS?
Business French is as necessary as English. If the British language is the basics of business communication, French is the basics of diplomatic communication. Meetings between clients and suppliers are, at the end of the day, conversations where you have to maintain an image, manners and achieve an objective. It is also spoken in many countries as a first or second language and has many speakers due to business dealings with European, North American and African countries.
How to write a formal email in French for business?
All emails are formulated in the same way, in the sense that they follow a structure. What changes the most is the vocabulary. That is why it is important to know and develop several examples and use them assiduously and to focus on the content of the email and the objective without the language being a distraction or misleading.
- Salutation. Because the text is formal, do not write the name of the person to whom the email is addressed. A Bonjour will be written as a greeting accompanied by a Monsieur or Madame, depending on whether it is a man or a woman. It is preferable, and is usually liked, to add the position or position after the formality of addressing Monsieur or Madame. It ends with a comma.
- Body. It begins with an introduction if it is a first email. Or you go straight to the subject matter with a quick formula: “Je vous écris au sujet d’…”. Emails should be short and to the point without being colloquial.
- Farewell or closing. Although if there is greater confidence you can use more cordial ones, these are the ones we recommend to keep the email at a business level: cordialment, sincerès salutations or bien à vous.
French for business: What methodology should you use to train your employees?
At Classgap for Enterprise we follow a 100% customised methodology. This means that it is adapted to the company, the employees and the needs of the current and future position. To this end, the following plan has been developed:
- Native teachers. This is the strong point of any language methodology. Whoever teaches it must have the best knowledge and vocation and carry it out in the most optimal way.
Small groups or One on one. French classes for companies can be carried out with just one teacher per student or by creating a small group of four employees with the same level and final objective. - Virtual classroom. Online classes are the future, as they allow the use of new technologies in a way that will be useful for a multitude of levels.
- Level. There are three levels to choose from. The beginners’ level is for those who do not know the language at all. The conversational level focuses on improving oral communication and fluency in conversation. Business French is also an option to gain vocabulary and French expressions to use in meetings, conferences or important documents.
What kpi’s should you take into account when measuring French language training for companies?
KPIs are objective and measurable goals. They can be set a priori and tracked. Some of them that are measured in French for business are:
- Pupils per teacher. This not only measures how many employees take the courses individually or in groups, but also which students make the most progress thanks to that teacher.
- Progress over time in relation to the syllabus. This progress that we measured before can be very fast or slower according to the stipulated.
- Hours taught. Knowing at all times how many hours are taught and whether each hour corresponds to one class or less, will provide data on the best methodology.
- Levels achieved. Since there are three levels, there will be some who need only one, while others will go through all of them to achieve a mastery of business French.
French courses for companies: How to plan the training of your employees?
The first step is to carry out an audit with the company to understand its needs in terms of French for business. After this, objectives will be set for the good development of these French classes for companies.
In addition to setting these objectives, the time frame in which to achieve these goals must be determined. This helps the evaluation of kpi. This helps to assess kpi’s and to keep track of them.
The planning also takes into account the needs of the workers. Lessons will last as long as desired although the recommendation is one hour. Different accents can be studied by changing teachers at any time.
The plan also includes monitoring of progress and changes to be made in order to achieve that goal.
Contact us and ask for information and read about our success stories in in-company French training. We are at your disposal.
