Program
While every language learning journey is unique, a clear pathway has emerged as we’ve applied our method over the years, leading from a hesitant and uneasy English to confident, relaxed mastery.
What sets Wave apart is having formalized this path and adapted it to the highly demanding lives of our clients. The timeline below provides an overview of the Wave English program and an idea of what you can expect from our work together.
PHASES
The Wave English program
A Safe space for English
The foundation of all our collaborations is the creation of a safe space for English language expression. Your Wave coach is many things: a rigorously trained native speaker of American English, a graduate of the best universities in the U.S., and someone with deep knowledge of French language and culture.
What your coach is not is a client, a colleague or a personal acquaintance. So there’s nothing at stake and nobody to impress. Mistakes and awkward moments are not only okay, but essential, as each will help to establish a critical linguistic or situational landmark we’ll need for future work.
In this initial phase, our performance expectations are modest. The focus is rather on relaxing into the language. The initial rhythm of sessions is intensive, allowing you to rapidly build confidence and to get a solid picture of where your English stands today.
Building the map
The watchword for the second phase of our work is discovery. While helping you to increase your confidence and fluidity, the steady pace of sessions will progressively introduce you to the recurrent grammatical and pronunciation errors that are the first targets of our work together.
Your coach has been rigorously trained to help you navigate this linguistic minefield. The mechanics underlying the grammatical principles in question will be explained in everyday language. Where “Franglish” is the origin of the error, as it often will be, we’ll help you to see where and how the English diverges from the French. After clarifying the conceptual side of things, your coach will propose simple and concrete techniques to overcome the errors, each of which will be logged in a dashboard for future reference.
Working together in this way, we’ll build a tailor-made map of the linguistic territory to be mastered. Because our sessions will naturally touch on your practice, this map will also include vocabulary and turns of phrase that are specific to your practice area and unique professional context.
Spontaneous mastery
Conceptual clarity and technique are one thing; spontaneous mastery is another. The map we build together in the early phases is designed to be outgrown. Outgrowing it takes a vigorous, goal-oriented phase of work, driven by the supportive but focused push of your coach and by methodical tracking of concrete learning outcomes.
Having built our map in the first two phases, your coach’s role now is to hold you accountable for what you’ve learned. We do this through regular quizzing and exercises, as well as real-time conditioning interventions in the course of each session. In this way, each item on the map will progress from discovered and understood, to “in progress,” to the point where the first thing out of your mouth is the right choice, and where thinking about it and searching for words are a thing of the past.
Maintenance
At Wave, we often say that “if you don’t use it, you lose it” is a myth. Repeating, or “using,” an error only anchors more deeply something you would have been better off losing. In our program, maintenance isn’t blind repetition but the upkeep of a methodically compiled, clearly defined repertoire of grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary that has met our unwavering standards.
At this phase, we ease off the intensity of the sessions. The heavy lifting is done, and the map has done its job. Here, as throughout the program, we welcome detours dictated by your professional calendar. A conference or roundtable? A reception? We’ll help you prepare for it.
Maintenance is about keeping you honest on the hard-won gains of the earlier, intensive phases, but for most of our clients it’s where the real work begins: variety, style and idiomatic expression.
Client testimonials
Wave a développé une méthode unique qui est extrêmement bien adaptée aux avocats francophones qui souhaitent peaufiner leur niveau d’anglais. Le coaching me permet de beaucoup progresser en anglais tout en détricotant un à un, tous les mauvais reflexes que la plupart des francophones ont quand ils s’expriment en anglais. Je recommande vivement Wave et je suis persuadée que sa méthode inédite et rigoureuse séduira de nombreux avocats français dans différents domaines de pratique.
Mon coach Wave n’est pas simplement une professeure d’anglais formidable qui me permet d’améliorer sensiblement mon niveau d’anglais mais également une personne qui connait très bien le monde des avocats, ses attentes, ses pratiques, ses contraintes et ses exigences. A ce titre, il est particulièrement plaisant de parler avec elle de sujets parfois techniques qu’elle comprend parfaitement.
La méthode de travail de Wave est idéale pour les avocats qui souhaitent avancer rapidement avec des cours moins scolaires, basés sur la conversation. Grâce à Wave, j’ai pu consolider mes bases, perfectionner mon vocabulaire et aussi identifier les erreurs les plus ancrées que je commettais systématiquement (sans le savoir) et qui sont souvent le plus difficile à effacer. Je suis maintenant beaucoup plus à l’aise dans le cadre de mes conversations avec mes clients internationaux.
Book your complimentary consultation
Each of our engagements begins with a complimentary, confidential consultation during which we’ll discuss your needs, provide an expert assessment of your current level in English and answer any questions you might have about our services. Schedule yours today.