Interview with Winny French: Your Pathway to Confident French Fluency

1. What inspired you to start your French tutoring business, and how did you come up with the idea?

As a student, it was important for me to find work that I could do on my own schedule, and I always wanted to serve my community! For me, tutoring French was not only a way to teach students the methods I wished I had been taught in school but also a way to connect with them to make learning the language fun and increase their confidence! Coming up with the idea was not too difficult, it was more about committing to starting my own business and taking that leap that allowed it to become what it is now. 

2. As a university student, how did you manage to balance your studies with launching and running a business?

It mostly came down to scheduling that made it possible to do both. Introducing group classes with up to three students allowed my students to interact with others in their grades and make new friends. At first, I was unsure, but the students preferred having another student in their class and began to participate more and ask more questions. I was then able to offer cheaper prices of only $25/h for each student and was able to free up my schedule to either study or schedule more classes. However, we still do offer one-to-one classes just in case at $35/h in cases of special needs or personal preferences! 

3. What challenges did you face when starting your tutoring service, and how did you overcome them?

Two challenges come to mind with this question: experience and money. Personally, I was never great at math or computers, and having to set up my website seemed like rocket science at first. Through dozens of YouTube videos, I was able to figure it out alongside search engine optimization. 

Secondly, as a university student, money is definitely quite scarce, so marketing my business was quite difficult at first. I was not able to move out during the first few months of starting my business in order to save money to spend on lawn signs that I would stick up around the neighbourhood. However, once I got some traction, I was able to move my marketing strategy to SEO and Google Ads, postal flyers and Meta and finally move out and have my own little office!

4. Your business focuses on providing affordable tutoring. Why do you believe accessibility to education, especially language learning, is so important for children in Canada?

Just about everyone I’ve ever known in high school dropped French after the ninth grade, and just about every job interview I’ve ever heard about from friends asked if they could speak French. With it being one of the two official languages in Canada, having French in your skillset can absolutely help when looking for work.

Just being able to communicate with more people can separate you from a lot of competition in the job market, which is why it was vital for me to make extra help accessible to those who need it. However, our classes are not only for children and students but for anyone! Learning a language is a great way to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and keep your brain active. 

5. Can you share a story of a student or family whose life has been positively impacted by your services?

Sure thing! I’ve had many cases where students were at a failing grade and were able to finish their year or semester with averages north of 85%. Learning French is not hard, it is how it is usually explained and taught in schools that makes it hard to learn. French teachers communicating with English-speaking students in French is not a way for anyone to get anywhere.

Mostly, students don’t understand what’s going on in class because they don’t speak French and their teachers are only speaking French to them and expect them to understand their lessons. (Believe me, I can speak for a lot of students and from my own personal experience too!) In our classes, I explain French grammar in English and compare the two languages together to show how similar they are and make it clear how they work; whether with conjugations, sentence structure and tenses.

Once they understand the lesson, that is when we implement the French-speaking aspect and apply what they just learned into French to help them see how the sentences unfold in French. We also cater to any French learning goal, and customize classes based on what is preferred, if you’d like our classes to be all in French, we can do that too!

6. Your business is growing, and you are bringing on more tutors. What are you looking for in tutors to ensure they align with your vision of affordable and engaging education?

Tutors have a responsibility to not only know the language well and teach well, but to also make their classes engaging. Once you have students looking forward to having French classes with you, it’s a clear sign that they are learning the language well and understanding the lessons. Understanding your students, being good with kids and being flexible and professional is definitely necessary; though engagement is what keeps our students encouraged and confident in their French studies! 

7. How do you keep the classes fun and engaging while ensuring that students learn and improve their French skills?

Connecting with students is the most important part of keeping our classes engaging for our students. Nobody (especially a child) wants to talk to a French robot, and getting to know our students, showing our personalities and asking them about themselves allows our students to open up and express themselves to make a comfortable learning environment. This allows our students to enjoy our classes and look forward to learning with us; it is the little things that matter – knowing their birthdays, hobbies, etc. that build a connection to help guide our students in a positive and fun learning fashion. 

8. What’s next for your business? How do you plan to expand or enhance the services you offer in the future?

Teaching French has been great so far, and I hope to bring on more tutors very soon! I’d also love to branch out to other subjects in the future. What we have going now is great, looking forward to keeping it up!

9. What advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs looking to start a business that positively impacts their community?

The only regret I have about starting my own business is that I didn’t start it sooner, and I was 19 when I started Winny French. If you have a goal and a vision, stop waiting!

About Author

Winston Burron is the founder of Winny French and a tutor with the organization. His tutoring experience ranges from teaching grade one primary school students to third-year university students for the past four years.Winston is also currently studying at the University of Toronto undergoing a French specialist degree.