Meet Francois Pfeiffer, Managing Director of AmeriSpan's Paris French school

What is your background?
I’m 20 years old and have been for the last 35 years! I have degrees in Law, Management and Business. I’m also a photographer, music magazine journalist (Blues Magazine in France, Blues Matters in the UK, etc.) and a freelance consultant in management and web marketing.

Do you travel abroad often?
Yes, depending on the time of year and what I am doing.

Have you studied abroad?
No, but I spent my college years in an international college, the Lycée International de Saint Germain en Laye, with kids from the USA as well as from Spain, Germany, etc.

Which languages do you speak or have studied?
I speak French and German (bilingual) as well as English and Spanish.

How and why did you get into the Study Abroad market?
I was headhunted to manage a language school in the heart of France and then I bought the school in Paris.

When did you start/join your organization?
I joined the school staff in 1998.

What is your job or function at the organization?
Managing Director

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
Everything!  Throughout my career, I have always said that if you’re not pleased with your job and if you don’t enjoy your work then make a change. You spend most of your day and half of your life doing your job, so you better do what you feel is right for you and something that you love doing.

Was a person, group of people or organization instrumental in your success?
For a Managing Director, the staff is key to our success not only as a company but also in making them successful in their own right.

Tell us one of your biggest challenges in starting your organization.
Making a little school one of the leading and top quality schools in the French language business.

Tell us one of your biggest mistakes in your job, studying/teaching a language and/or traveling abroad.
My biggest mistake? None in my job, but one in my personal life: having stopped playing guitar when I was 21.

How did you and AmeriSpan begin working together?
I don’t remember, but we have been working together for many years and we have an excellent partnership.

Can you tell us about your school’s philosophy, specialty and/or why you think it is special?
The school’s philosophy is based on one very simple point: quality. The quality of the premises, quality of information, quality of the courses, quality of accommodation, quality of the contact between us and our partners, quality of contact with all our + 5,000 students/clients, quality of all our services and all we do at the school.

Discover more about AmeriSpan's French in Paris school

By Ashley C., guest blogger studying French in Lyon, France

Avignon: I don?t think you can look at Google Images of Avignon, and get a feel for whether or not the place is worth visiting. Avignon is just an experience. Everywhere, there are people in costumes who hand out flyers to their next theatre performance.  There are people who sing opera in the street; there are people dressed up as bears, and people who play the piano down the side walk. You can definitely go to Avignon without a plan, and just wander around the central downtown. There are enough street
performers to see to last you an entire weekend! It?s one of the most colorful places I?ve ever visited, and I think if you get as far as Lyon, you should definitely spend a weekend here.

Annecy: Annecy is the most popular place to visit on the weekend for the students at my school. It?s beautiful. The water in the lake is incredibly clean (apparently, according to my guide book, it wasn?t all the clean back in the 1950s, but Annecy cleaned it up to increase the tourist populations. Their efforts were successful!). Good hiking, great camping (if you?ve got a tent!), and lots of paddle boating. I just hung out at the beach mostly, and had a great time.

Geneva: If you like to relax when you travel, definitely go to Geneva. I say this because I had the most wonderful time in Geneva, but other people have told me that they didn?t find much to do. Then I thought back on what I did in Geneva, and I remembered I had only hung out on a paddle boat all day. That said, I?ve been on a lot of paddle boats, and there is nothing like paddle boating in Geneva. Again, the water is incredibly clean! Everything is beautiful. Also, visit the Red Cross museum if you can,
and know that it closes early (like everything else in Geneva!).

Dijon: I went here just to experience another city in France, but honestly it wasn?t worth the coin. The mustard is pretty cool to sample, but otherwise there?s not that much to see.

Paris: One word: GO!

Click for more information on AmeriSpan's French school in Lyon, France.

Click to see all of AmeriSpan's French schools in France.

Read all of Ashley's blogs from Lyon France.

By Ashley C., guest blogger studying French in Lyon, France

I love to travel, but I don?t have a lot of money, and here are some tips that I?ve discovered by talking to locals and making some of my own mistakes.

1) Buy a 50% reduction card if you plan to travel around Lyon on the weekends are staying for longer than three weeks. The cards cost 20 Euros, but they knock the price of the train in half for a lot of places in France: Avignon, Annecy, Chartreuse, etc. If you?re traveling with friends, just buy one card, and have the card holder?s name buy your tickets (but do pay them back!).

2) Paris is easy to get to on a dime, but you have to plan early! The tickets to paris can range from 20-100 Euros one way, and you do not want to be the one paying the 200 Euros for the round trip! I bought my tickets about a month early, and I paid 60 Euros round trip. My friend paid 200 Euros for his round trip ticket. Ouch.

3) Hotels/Hostels: Book early! Everything is just booked during the summers. Even though I would have easily stayed in a hostel whenever I traveled, I wasn?t ever able to because I never planned ahead in this respect. I did find some cheap hotels (about 70 Euros a night) to stay in, and this wasn?t a bad option considering I was traveling with friends.

4) This brings me to my next point – travel with friends! I didn?t know anyone before I came to Lyon, but I made friends fast not only because It?s fun to have friends, but also because it?s just so much more affordable to travel with friends! You can split the hotel or the hostel, you can split taxies, you don?t have to worry so much when you get lost, you have people to drink with at the bars, ect. I don?t think I need to go on about how great it is to have friends! Make some, and travel together if at all possible!

Click for more information on AmeriSpan's French school in Lyon, France.

Click to see all of AmeriSpan's French schools in France.

Read all of Ashley's blogs from Lyon France.