Why Do French Colleagues Switch to English When You Speak French?
Because they can hear that you can’t hear them. French has 14 distinct vowel sounds. English speakers can only hear about 6 of them. When you misproduce the sounds you cannot perceive, native speakers instinctively accommodate you by switching to English. That undermines your authority, your credibility, and your ability to lead. You can see the full set in Bernard’s chart of all 14 sounds.
This is not a vocabulary problem. It is not a grammar problem. It is an auditory problem, and no amount of textbook study, evening classes, or language apps will fix it. Until your ear is trained to distinguish all 14 distinct vowel sounds, you will plateau permanently. That is why Real French exists: one-on-one phonetic ear training that rewires how you hear French, so you can finally be heard as a professional.
Curious whether your own ear is filtering these sounds out?
Eight pairs of French words. Same diagnostic Bernard runs with every student on day one. Three minutes, free, no commitment.
How Does Phonetic Ear Training Help Professionals Working in France?
Phonetic ear training solves the root cause of your communication barrier. Bernard Henusse, founder of Real French, developed this method after decades of teaching professionals who arrived fluent on paper but unintelligible in practice. The issue was always the same: their ears had never been trained to distinguish French sounds from English approximations.
With 30 hours of personalized instruction per week, entirely one-on-one, your training is built around your professional context. If you need to chair board meetings, we train your ear and your voice for that register. If you negotiate contracts, we drill the precise vocabulary and intonation patterns that convey authority in French. This is not a generic course. Since 2008, 400+ alumni from 30+ countries have trained at our home in Kerfiac, Brittany, France.
What Makes French Business Culture So Difficult for English Speakers?
The challenge goes deeper than vocabulary. French professional culture operates on codes that are invisible until you violate them, and by then you have already lost credibility. How you address a subordinate, how you frame a disagreement, how you open a meeting: all of these carry cultural weight that directly affects how your competence is perceived.
The French approach to hierarchy, risk, and negotiation is different from Anglophone business norms. A direct instruction that sounds decisive in English can sound abrasive in French. A collaborative suggestion that works in London falls flat in Paris if the register is wrong. These are not things you can learn from a textbook. They require immersion in the language and the culture, guided by someone who understands both worlds.
At Real French, Bernard Henusse trains you in the precise professional register you need. Your one-on-one sessions simulate your real working environment: board presentations, client negotiations, team management, even the informal conversations at lunch that build the relationships French business runs on.
Professionals Who’ve Trained at Real French
Since 2008, Bernard Henusse has trained executives, managers, and specialists who needed French not as a hobby but as a career-critical skill. Here are real scenarios from our 400+ alumni:
How Is One-on-One Immersion Different from Business French Courses?
Business French courses teach you about French. Phonetic ear training teaches you to hear French. That distinction changes everything for professionals.
What do you gain from one week at Real French?
Professionals invest one or two weeks at Real French and return to their roles with measurable, permanent improvements:
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do professionals typically stay at Real French?
Most professionals book one or two weeks. Each week includes 30 hours of personalized instruction, entirely one-on-one with Bernard Henusse. Some return for a second stay months later to refine specific skills, for example after a promotion that changes their professional context. The phonetic ear training from your first visit is permanent, so return visits build on a solid foundation.
I already speak French at B2 level. Will this still help?
B2 speakers often benefit the most. You have the vocabulary and grammar but your colleagues still switch to English, which means the problem is not your knowledge, it is your sound production. French has 14 distinct vowel sounds and English speakers can only hear about 6 of them. Until those missing sounds are trained, your French will sound foreign regardless of your level on paper.
Can the training be tailored to my specific industry?
Yes. Every programme at Real French is built around the individual. Whatever your sector (finance, law, technology, diplomacy, something else), Bernard will structure your 30 hours of personalized instruction around the vocabulary, register, and situations you actually face. Bring your real presentation slides, your real contract language, your real meeting agendas. These become your training materials.
What if I’m a complete beginner?
Beginners are welcome. In fact, starting with phonetic ear training means you build correct pronunciation from day one, rather than spending years reinforcing bad habits that a conventional course would give you. Professionals who arrive as beginners typically leave after two weeks able to hold basic professional conversations with correct pronunciation, a foundation their French colleagues will take seriously from the start.
Where do I stay during the programme?
You stay at the school itself, in Kerfiac, Brittany, France. Accommodation and home-cooked meals are included. This residential format is central to the method. You are immersed in French from breakfast to dinner, practising the language in natural contexts that reinforce what you learn in your one-on-one sessions with Bernard.
Talk to Bernard
Most of our professional students arrive in one of two situations: about to start a role in France, or already managing a French-speaking team or French clients and tired of the friction. Bernard Henusse will design a programme around the actual situations you face. A short conversation is all it takes to see how phonetic ear training changes your working life in French.
Gemma Arterton came to us with film roles requiring real spoken French and a fixed shoot date, the kind of professional constraint the method is built around. She trained one-on-one with Bernard and went back to work: see her interview.