LEARNING THE FRENCH LANGUAGE: STRESS-FREE AND POCKET-FRIENDLY!

By 'zika Olofin

Francophone Wannabe,

Quite frankly, my friend Overah’s French classes are not for everyone. And not everyone who applies to attend is approved.

However, because I know it will do you a world of good, I am letting you in on this special opportunity to learn French in a relaxed and fun environment.

If you are an Executive or Entrepreneur worth taking seriously, you’ll know French speakers are taking the world by storm. Don’t believe? Take a look at the facts and statistics:

•French is a language spoken on all 5 continents, one of the few spoken all over the world.

•French is the second most widely learned foreign language in the world, with almost 120 million students and 500,000 teachers.

•Thanks to the growth of the French-speaking population in sub-Saharan Africa, the OIF (International Organisation of Francophonie) estimates that the number of French speakers will rise to over 700 million in coming decades.

•Even the British Council acknowledges, French is the language most sought after by those employers looking for language skills (49 per cent). It was also the second most frequently requested language in a survey of job advertisements carried out in 2012.

•An international language of reference. French plays a special role in international sporting life as an official language of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and hence of the Olympic Games.

•French has long been a key language for diplomacy and remains an important language for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

•French is extremely important for both inward and outward tourism.

•Opens up opportunities for immigration. Specifically for Canadian Immigration, candidates in the Express Entry pool, with proven French abilities may obtain an additional 15 or 30 points to boost their CRS score.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, here is what learning French can mean for you:

•Be reckoned with.

•You can finally stop grumbling about being passed over for those mouth-watering opportunities that come up every so often at work, and actually, go for it!

•As an entrepreneur, the world is your market, literally.

•Freedom to tour the world and be entertained, in French.

•You can boost your CRS ranking by adding another 15 or 30 points to your score. Don’t worry, thank me later.

Why should you book a class with Overah?

•Quality: You get the chance to be taught by native speakers and actual graduates of the French language.

•Accessibility & Convenience: Classes are located on Lagos mainland, and you get to learn in a fun and relaxed way.

•Experience: Language immersion visits to francophone environments

•Price: Super pocket-friendly. I promise.

Nota bene: This opportunity is not for you, if:
•You are a fence-sitter
•You are a no-show person (a.k.a. promise and fail).

Voilà, now that we’re clear on that, what are you waiting for?

Stop thinking and start doing! Get thee over to Overah’s classes and start speaking French in as little as 4 months! Call Simon on 08023404962 or 08160004988.

À bientôt!

10 THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT KIM JONG-UN FROM HIS CLASSMATES

BY JAKE ROSSEN

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is one of the great agitators in modern political culture. Known for being temperamental—he is said to have executed his uncle for plotting a coup—and unpredictable, Kim has helped give his country the reputation of being a wild card that can capture the attention of the world’s superpowers.

Like any powerful leader, Kim was once just a bright young man with homework. At the behest of his father, former supreme leader Kim Jong-il, Kim was schooled in a Swiss boarding school between 1998 and 2000, and the media has often turned to his former classmates to uncover details about his teenage personality. No one has yet discovered his doodled-on yearbook or a prom photo, but his peers did have some other insights. Here’s what we know about Kim Jong-un’s formative years.

1. HE LOVED HIS AIR JORDANS.

Young Kim probably never dreamed he would one day be hanging out with former Chicago Bull Dennis Rodman, but it must have been some kind of life goal: the 17-year-old was obsessed with basketball in general and the Bulls in particular, devoting an entire room in his apartment to memorabilia. Kim also spent time penciling sketches of Michael Jordan and was said to favor Air Jordans both on and off the court.

2. HE HAD AN ALIAS.

Not wishing to be identified as the son of Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, Kim registered with the Swiss school Liebefeld Steinhölzli Schule under the name Pak Un. He claimed to be the son of a North Korean embassy employee in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Both teachers and students alike noticed that Kim’s parents never showed up for school functions.

3. HE LIKED ACTION MOVIES.

In 2009, friends of Kim’s related to The Washington Post  that Kim was slightly socially awkward, particularly around girls; when he wasn't watching basketball, he was usually watching action movies and using his Sony PlayStation. Kim played combat games and reportedly enjoyed the filmography of Jackie Chan.

4. HE HAD AN ENTOURAGE.

Kim’s presence was unique in the Swiss school for his entourage: At any point, a small number of Koreans appeared to be acting as servants, bodyguards, or assistants for Kim. Two employees would videotape his basketball games. Friends thought it was “strange” but wrote it off as “a Korean thing.”   

5. HE OVER-SHARED.

Despite the lengths his family went to keep his real name a secret, Kim couldn’t always help but share his father was the leader of North Korea. According to classmate Joao Micaelo, Kim once announced his heritage during a conversation with him. Micaelo thought Kim was lying. “Normally the children of people like this, they don’t go to a normal school,” Micaelo told CNN in 2010.  

6. HE WOULD NOT TOLERATE COLD SPAGHETTI.

Friend Micaelo often visited Kim at his apartment, which was located at the Korean Embassy’s headquarters. While he noted that Kim was typically a little reserved, he didn’t see any flash of anger until the Embassy’s chefs served the two of them lukewarm pasta one evening. “He spoke to the servants in a manner that was quite sharp,” Micaelo told The Telegraph in 2010. “I was surprised because it was not how he normally was.”

7. HE FAVORED TRACK SUITS.

Like Tony Soprano and his father before him, Kim tended to dress for comfort, not presentation. His wardrobe apparently consisted heavily of Nike track suits, which he wore to class. 

8. HE WASN’T THE SMARTEST KID IN CLASS.

Although Kim was two years older than most of his classmates because he wasn’t as proficient in German, he still struggled to keep up academically. In 2012, The Telegraph reported that Kim missed 75 days during his first year of school and 105 days his second, flunking natural sciences and getting minimum passing grades in most other subjects.

 

9. HE GORGED HIMSELF ON SWISS CHEESE.

Prone to bragging about how much he can eat and drink, Kim may have developed an appetite for gastronomic excess during school. He was reportedly so fond of Swiss cheese that he later deployed his personal chefs to a French culinary school to try and replicate the medium-hard Emmental he had enjoyed while he was a student. Kim is said to have gained 90 pounds from 2012 to 2016, though it's unknown how much of this was a result of his cheese intake.

10. HE TOTALLY VANISHED.

Kim still had a partial school year to finish out when he abruptly disappeared in 2000. He offered no forwarding address nor any indication that he might be leaving. “We thought he was ill or something and would soon be back,” former classmate Nikola Kovacevic told The Washington Post “I hope he is a good dictator, but dictators are usually not that good.”

Source: http://mentalfloss.com

WEEKEND FRENCH CLASSES COMMENCES IN LAGOS

In a bid to make the learning of French Language easier and and convenient for corporate executives and busy entrepreneurs, L' Ecole Francaise presents weekend French Language classes in a cool and conducive setting. 

Comencing Saturday May 6, 2017, the programme comes in four modules of 12 weeks each. At the end of the programmes, participants would be able to communicate (read, write, speak and comprehend the Parisien French) in French Langusge.

Classes would hold at Ramat Crescent, Ramat Estate, Ogudu GRA, Ogudu Lagos from 12pm - 4pm on Saturdays.

For registration and further information, contact Simon on: 0816 000 4988, 

0802 340 4962.