French for Foreign Experts

a premium service available all over Europe

In brief

• I have 35 years of international experience as a teacher, director of studies and language school director.

• Today, I give individual French lessons via videoconference to diplomats and foreign experts posted all over Europe.

• I teach at the intermediate and advanced levels (B & C).

• We work with authentic documents: press articles, radio bulletins & TV news.

• The documents focus on French current affairs (economy, society, politics, and culture).

• They come with a series of interactive language exercises, with an emphasis on speaking, to be prepared between lessons.

• Our schedule is 100% flexible: You never miss a lesson!

• The price is €60 for 60 minutes (private individuals and offices).

• I work with invoices and send a certificate with a detailed description of all the lessons taken at the end of each training session.

Your Course

► Intermediate and Advanced Levels

• I teach at both the intermediate level (B1/B2) and the advanced level (C1/C2), for those who already speak French very well and want to improve & maintain their level in a language they have little opportunity to use daily.

• IMPORTANT: To get the most out of this course, the students must already have a good A2 level: They must already be able to hold simple conversations and read short press articles with relative ease.

► Authentic Materials

• We work with real-world sources: press articles, radio bulletins & TV news.

• These documents are provided with a vocabulary list (with translations in English and German) as well as a detailed comprehension questionnaire to be prepared between 2 lessons.

• They focus on French current affairs (economy, society, politics & culture).

► Exercises with an emphasis on speaking

• Between lessons, you prepare a series of interactive exercises adapted to your needs (morphology, syntax, vocabulary & idiomatic expressions, pronunciation, writing, and spelling, according to your choice).

• Most of the grammar exercises are oral exercises presented in a "Question / Answer" format: You will learn to master the French grammatical structures while speaking!

How does a lesson work?

• Each 60 min lesson starts with a short conversation about your recent activities.
• We then study the document with the help of the comprehension questionnaire you prepared.
• Afterwards, we have a brief open discussion on the issues raised by the document.
• This is followed by an interactive correction of the oral exercises that you have prepared.
• Finally, I present the document and exercises to prepare for the next meeting.

► Note that language corrections and input provided during each lesson are systematically reviewed in the following lesson.

Our meetings are 100% flexible:

You never miss a lesson!

• The 60 min meetings (once or twice a week, at your choice) are agreed upon one week in advance with the possibility to reschedule, even at short notice.

• If you prefer, you can book regular weekly time slots, with the same flexibility as above.

• Thanks to videoconferencing, Euro-commuters can continue their training on a regular basis wherever they are, e.g., in Brussels, in their home country or during their business trips!

• I work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Paris time).

• I am usually on vacation for 2 weeks at Easter & Christmas and from mid-July to late August as well.

Pricing

• Lessons are invoiced (to individuals or offices) €60 for 60 minutes.

• You can purchase a 5-hour or 10-hour package (depending, for example, on your office’s training allowance).

• My business is registered in France (SIREN n° 421 699 182): I work with invoices and send a certificate with a detailed description of all the lessons taken at the end of each training session.

• My service is exempt from VAT under Article 293 B of the French General Tax Code.

• Payment must be made via SEPA credit transfer.

Your Teacher

● Yves Capra has served as a teacher, teacher trainer, director of studies, language school director, course designer and lecturer for:

• The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ cultural services (Colombia, Morocco, Denmark).

• The Eurocentres Foundation (Centres Européens Langues et Civilisation, Zürich) in France (La Rochelle & Paris).

● He is the founder of:

• "French for Business" (Paris, 1998-2003), a service dedicated to corporate executives.

• "French for EU Public Affairs" (Brussels, 1996 - 2003), a service dedicated to the staff of the representation bureaus & missions to the European Union.

• "French for International Affairs" (Europe, 2020), this service via Video Conference.

● From 2009 to 2025, he worked too as an independent editor ("France e-Learning Editions"):

• "French for International Affairs: EU Public Affairs & International Relations" - 2012 (CD-ROM, discontinued).

• "News of France: Politics & Society" - 2013 (CD-ROM, discontinued).

• A collection of mobile e-Learning Apps available on Google Play & the Amazon Appstore (discontinued).

● He has also lived, worked, or studied for extended periods in Seoul, Stockholm & Malmö, Washington D.C., Geneva, and Algiers.

● Born in Normandy, he holds a Master's degree in Classics (French, Latin, Ancient Greek) from the University of Caen, France and a Master’s degree in Baltic Sea Region Studies (specializing in International Relations) from Södertörns University, Sweden.

● He speaks English (C1) & Spanish (B2, a long time ago) and reads German (B2), Swedish (C1) and Danish (B2).

Clients & References

● I work with a broad spectrum of international professionals:

• Consultants & Euro-commuters in Brussels, Luxembourg, Geneva, and Paris.

• Corporate Executives, diplomats and journalists in French-speaking countries.

• Staff members of International organizations: OECD, UNESCO, EU institutions, WTO, OSCE, etc.

• Experts & diplomats attached to missions to International organizations.

● Since spring 2020 I have been working via Video Conference with clients based in Brussels, Paris, Geneva, Luxembourg, Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Vienna, Copenhagen, Warsaw, and Washington D.C.

● This course has been offered face-to-face in the past in Paris & Copenhagen to corporate managers and in Brussels, with a special focus on EU policies, to experts working in national, regional and corporate representations to the EU.

● My clients in Paris and Brussels (“French for Business & European Public Affairs” / 1996-2003): Stora Enso France, Sony Europe, BT Brussels Representation Office, Touchstone Europe, the Financial Times, Dow Jones International, Reuters, the UK and Finnish Representations to the EU, German Confederation of Skilled Crafts (ZDH) Representation to the EU, and Regional Representations to the EU from Sweden (West Sweden), Denmark (Aarhus, Aalborg, South Denmark, West Zealand), the UK (Scotland Europa, Scottish Executive) and Netherlands (East Netherlands Provinces).

Yves Capra

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