Program helps business owners learn French in Montreal

Today, we have chose to talk about a great initiative « J’apprends le français, encouragez-moi » (I am learning French, encourage-me), which is taking place in Montreal.

It is not always easy for small local business owners to find the time to take French classes with their long work hours. The “Board of Trade” of Metropolitan Montreal has therefore set up a pilot project to allow thirty merchants to learn French.

A simple concept

The principle is to pair bilingual university students with small business owners and tutor them in French 2 hours per week, over a total period of 12 weeks, directly at their place of work.

Participating merchants also wear a pin where you can read “I’m learning French, encourage me”, which invites clients to participate. Customers are very enthusiastic!

Very encouraging results

The 30 merchants who participated in the project saw their French skills improve significantly and the project, which was first conducted in Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, was expanded to three other boroughs Saint-Laurent and Villeray, Saint-Michel and Parc-Extension.

Across borders

The process was noticed from Quebec City and the Minister responsible for the Charter of the French language, Marie Montpetit, announced $ 500,000 in aid for the project. The project has also attracted interest beyond Canada’s borders!

By March, the goal is to train 160 merchants. For this reason, students will be recruited.

Click here to watch the video  (only available in French)

About Techni-Connection

Techni-Connection is a reseller of 3 POS softwares in Canada (Yourcegid Retail, VisualTouch, Retail Management Hero), addressing today’s evolutions and needs. New features are constantly added to the systems (Clienteling, eCommerce, Click & Collect, SaaS, Mobile-POS) to match omni-channel strategies and personalizing the customers shopping experience.

Techni-Connection delivers cost-effective IT solutions to companies of all sizes. With its 24/7/365 helpdesk support system, TCI responds quickly and efficiently to customers problems and provides on-site support. TCI’s strong in-house technical team is also complimented by a network of 150+ certified IT experts across North America.

Sources (articles in English and in French)

Paired with university students, Montreal merchants learn French on the job – CBC News

« J’apprends le français, encouragez-moi » – Les affaires