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French Immersion Lyon · Corporate

A week in Lyon — while you work

Mornings and evenings: full immersion. Afternoons: your professional life.

Monday

Day one. Two worlds, one language.

Morning

7:30Breakfast — the one ruleImmersion›
First coffee together. The rule is explained and starts immediately: French only, from this moment forward. Not after the programme settles — now.
9:00First phonetics sessionPhonetics›
The nasal vowels, the French R, the liaison. Thirty minutes, out loud, without hesitation. The mouth needs to build a muscle memory that the brain alone cannot produce.
10:30Pre-work briefingPreparation›
Practical French walkthrough before your first afternoon: how to greet colleagues, introduce yourself, handle the first interaction. Ten key phrases for your first afternoon.
13:0018:00
First afternoon at your workplace
Your professional day begins. Your host is reachable by message — in French only. The objective today: one real interaction with a colleague in French, however brief.
Work Block

Evening

19:00Debrief dinnerSpeaking›
We eat together and you walk me through your afternoon — in French. What happened, what you understood, what confused you. This debrief is a core part of the method.
20:30First vocabulary sessionVocabulary›
Words from the afternoon that you didn't know, or guessed at. We build the list from your actual professional day — not a textbook topic.

Tuesday

The pattern takes shape.

Morning

7:30Breakfast & phrase of the dayExpressions›
Se jeter à l'eau — to take the plunge. Use it once before the end of the day. This daily expression ritual starts today and never stops.
9:00Role play: office introductionSpeaking›
I am a French colleague, you meet me for the first time. We do it once cold, then refine. By week two the scenario is a client meeting.
10:30Grammar — one rule from your writingGrammar›
One concept in twenty minutes, extracted from yesterday's journal. Never taught as grammar — always connected to something you actually wrote.
13:3018:00
Full afternoon in your professional environment
Mission for today: one email drafted in French — even a short reply. Send it before you leave. We will review it at dinner.
Work Block

Evening

19:00Debrief: the email, the daySpeaking›
We review the email together — not to correct every word, but to understand the patterns. Then you tell me about the rest of the day. In French.
20:30Light debateSpeaking›
"What surprised you most about working in France so far?" Open, no pressure — tonight is just about speaking without stopping. The answer will be different by week four.

Wednesday

Language meets the job.

Morning

7:30Breakfast, journal, phoneticsRoutine›
The same sounds as Monday. Same drill. Repetition across multiple days is the point — the routine is the method.
8:30Professional French — your sectorVocabulary›
We work through vocabulary specific to your field: regulatory terms, technical language, meeting structures, email conventions. This session shifts every week as the gaps close.
10:30Cooking session — Lyonnais recipeCulture›
A shorter version today — one classic dish, cooked together. You name everything in the kitchen. Vocabulary through action stays.
13:3018:00
Focused work session
This week's standing mission: at least one conversation with a French colleague initiated by you — not a response, an initiative. It can be about anything.
Work Block

Evening

19:00The Traboules — hidden LyonCulture›
Through the passageways of the Croix-Rousse. You narrate as we walk — what you see, what you think. By the end of the stay you'll know this city better than most who live here.
20:30Dinner with a French professionalSocial›
A contact briefed to speak at moderate pace and engage you about your field. The first dinner with a stranger in French is always a turning point.

Thursday

The professional scenario.

Morning

8:00Breakfast & journal correctionWriting›
The morning ritual holds every day. By week three the entries are longer. By week four the errors are different ones — that is the progression.
9:00Role play — professional scenarioSpeaking›
This week: a client presentation or a technical review meeting. I play the senior French colleague. No preparation — you navigate in real time, as you would at work.
10:15Sector vocabulary — deep sessionVocabulary›
Pulled from your actual workplace week: terms you encountered, phrases you approximated, gaps that showed up in the role play. Real gaps, not textbook gaps.
13:3018:00
Site visit or standard work session
Specialist track option: a guided visit to Biopôle, BioMérieux or a relevant institution — conducted in French throughout. Standard track: your usual afternoon at the office.
Work Block

Evening

19:00Bike ride — Rhône to FourvièrePhysical›
Side by side, all in French. You name the city as you move — by week three you'll navigate it without thinking.
20:30Workplace vocabulary reviewMemory›
This week's professional words, reviewed. By month three the bank holds hundreds of terms you actually used in real workplace situations.

Friday

Assessment and the weekly close.

Morning

8:00End-of-week journal reviewWriting›
Friday's correction covers the full week — patterns, not individual errors. That distinction is the difference between correcting and teaching.
9:00Weekly progress dashboardTracking›
Words learned, recurring patterns, professional gaps closed. From week two onwards you play back the voice note from day one. The gap is always larger than expected.
10:00Real-world mission — soloAutonomy›
A specific bakery, a specific item, one question to ask. Alone. Week one is forgiving. It gets harder every Friday.
13:3017:00
Final work session of the week
One clear professional goal before you leave: introduce yourself to one French colleague in French — or close one workplace interaction you've been avoiding. End the week with it done.
Work Block

Evening

19:00The exchange dinnerConnection›
I cook something personal and tell its story. After dinner: "Now teach me something about your professional world." The reciprocity deepens every week.
20:30French televisionListening›
Week one: Le Meilleur Pâtissier. Week three: Quotidien. The progression is the point — the news becomes watchable, and you stop noticing you're watching in French.

Saturday

No work. The excursion.

8:30Departure — French radio in the carListening›
We discuss what we hear, what we see. The car is one of the best places for unguarded conversation — no desk, no agenda.
10:00A vineyard, a city, a museumVisit›
New vocabulary in context. There are outstanding places less than two hours from Lyon in every direction — Beaujolais, the Alps, Provence, Vercors.
12:30Lunch at a village restaurantAutonomy›
You order for the table. Sun on the terrace. This is the moment the programme stops feeling like a programme.
15:00Walk — vines or mountain pathPhysical›
Slow, talking, no agenda. The best conversations of the stay happen on walks like this — relaxed body, open mind, no professional pressure.
18:00Drive home — debriefReflection›
New words from the day. Tomorrow's flashcards are built in the car on the way back.
20:30Easy dinner at homeRest›
Simple food. Quiet conversation. The week has been full — professionally and otherwise. Tonight is for the easy rhythm of two people who are beginning to know each other.

Sunday

Rest, reflection, the market.

9:00Late breakfast ☕Rest›
No phrase of the day. No journal. No drill. Coffee, bread, something good. Sunday French — slower, warmer, no agenda.
10:30Marché Saint-AntoineLyon life›
Along the Saône. Week one: I buy, you watch. Week two: you help. Week three: you lead. The market is a different kind of classroom.
12:30Long improvised lunchConnection›
No recipe — cooked together from what you bought. The most natural French of the week usually happens here.
15:00Completely freeRest›
Your afternoon. No structure, no mission. The rest is part of the programme — the brain needs space to consolidate what the week put in.
18:00Weekly reflection — one page in FrenchWriting›
Not a journal — a reflection: what shifted this week in language, at work, in how you move through the city. Week one is always the most honest.
20:00Quiet dinner — week aheadPlanning›
A planning conversation disguised as dinner — professional goals for the week, FIL goals for the week. The two are never as separate as they seem.

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