BilinguaSing Franchisee Spotlight Blog - Meet Karen!

Bonjour! Guten Tag! 

 

My name’s Karen, I run BilinguaSing classes in French and German around Coventry, Kenilworth and the nearby areas. I have two young children, two girls aged three and six. Previously, before I started with BilinguaSing, which was in April 2020, I was a secondary languages teacher.  

So, what first attracted me to BilinguaSing? I was basically just looking for a way that I could still teach the languages that I love and that I’ve always wanted to teach, but I was searching for more flexibility for this work-life balance that I just simply wasn’t getting as a secondary teacher. The way that BilinguaSing works, just seemed to give me that flexibility and that choice, about when I worked and how I do things to fit in with my life. 

 

Initially when you start up as a franchisee there’s a weekend long training course that we went on, there was just a group of five of us; it was really good and so informative, but also not bombarding you with information which it could easily have been. The best thing about it for me though, was spending a weekend with a few other like minded people, because I felt we all had the same outlook on life. We were all making this change for very similar reasons and it’s just lovely to spend time with people who share your views. 

 

The first challenge that I experienced as a BilinguaSing franchisee was actually a rather large challenge: my start date for classes coincided with lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic, so I wasn’t actually able to go and do my class as planned. BilinguaSing switched everything online, which was daunting in a way, but I felt completely supported and comforted by the fact that, despite this feeling that it was very new to me, this online version of the classes was actually new to everybody, even the teachers who had been doing it for years and years. So we were all able to discuss things together and help each other out with ideas and technical issues. I’ve learnt a lot from it and I’ve felt very supported by the whole BilinguaSing team with that feeling that we’re all in this together, and it’s not just me having to do this in a way I never planned for or imagined. 

 

The thing I’ve enjoyed most so far about the classes, I do actually love the interaction part of the live online classes - I know it’s not the same as seeing people - but it's a great feeling to know people are watching and to get their feedback and interact with them in that way. But what I’ve really loved about doing it from home is that I’ve been able to share it with my children, learning the songs, practicing setting up and how I’m going to do the classes - my whole family has been a part of that and my children have really enjoyed it, so I feel like it’s a gift I’ve managed to give to them as well, it’s wonderful seeing their reaction to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We value our franchisees enormously, as they are the lifeblood of what we do and we would love for more dedicated language lovers to join our growing team. If you want to find out more about what franchising entails, or maybe you fancy having a chat about joining us, simply click on the button below to be taken to our franchising page. There you will find all the information you need, plus FAQs and how to get in touch with us!