We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christine Camm. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christine below.

Hi Christine , thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I teach French and English, When I started out, most teachers were putting out courses or piling people into massive online lessons, seeing learners as simple cash cows! So, being a bit alternative, I needed to find a niche that reflected my own mission to serve learners and that provided a service that filled the speaking gap. Learning to speak spontaneously and confidently requires near individual attention that a lot of companies out there seem to have been ignoring. If they did address it, it was with lesser trained natives or teachers in larger groups.
So I had to work out my “WHY” and it boiled down to my own story as it seemed to be resonating with learners throughout the 35 years I had in the classroom in secondary schools.
I was first interested in French when I started secondary school but was swiftly told that because I was in the “stupid people” class, I was lucky to even get a few French lessons, let alone learn German on top like the “clever” people were entitled to.
When you’re told your lot is something you should be grateful for, your confidence is low. It transferred to everything in my life and I spent a fair bit of time skipping lessons and just not bothering with school. The language teaching industry seems to think that we should all fit into the same mould and perform when told to do so, and only in a certain way.

I became what they called a “No Hoper”.
But I am not put off easily and I always followed my passion – if there was a way to keep learning French then I would find it.

I got into a teacher training college.
With zero confidence.
With zero conversational ability – I hid in my room for the best part of three years.
With not that much knowledge of French since it was a course about teaching, rather than learning a lot of French.

yet . . . skip ahead 35 successful years with increasing responsibilities and my mission is to help those who have little confidence and French speaking practice opportunities. I now have my own beautifully business based from my home in the South West of France.

Christine , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I felt I got into teaching by default – and at first I really did not have any idea. Again, someone believed in my mission and me, as a person, if I start something, I want to do it well. I like to please but I also need a sense of pride in what I am doing.

I taught in secondary schools, teaching French, Spanish, German, English and PE. Quite a mix, especially as I was carrying the burden of being a “nobody, with nothing, going nowhere.” I decided to learn Spanish at the age of 40, getting my first Grade A ever, and that was the A level. It motivated me to take up doing a Masters and even managed a distinction in pedagogy. So I am proud of that.

So, I proved I had more than “nothing”. Now for the “nowhere” part!
I got to be assistant head teacher in charge of the quality of learning, and was classed as “Lead Practitioner and Outstanding teacher by OFSTED, the UK inspector team. But it was just not enough.
My dream was always to live in France. And to work from France,
So, my husband, Mark and I found a house in the heart of the country in the South West in the lea of the Pyrenees mountains where we could receive people to stay and immerse themselves in French lessons, and crack open the glass ceiling of confidence for them with their French speaking.
It was always going to be about speaking for me. Language is about communication, connection and the confidence to be yourself in your second language.
But It felt like I was going from HERO to ZERO – no income, no work, no friends . . . I had to maintain the dream once I had got my hands on it!
So my home is open for those who want to take the plunge into French speaking in France yet have their teacher teach them each day in a fun way in a fun place.
That said, I still do in person private lessons at home for those learning English and French, as well as very small groups of weekly conversation classes online. Some people are still with me since starting over 5 years ago. That’s rather rewarding for me.
I am also actually proud of my DIY course – again, I put my heart and soul into it to help people speak. That was a challenge as it meant recording helpful learning videos, and not just repeating things that you might find in a text book. I think the pronunciation module is the biggest game-changer in that course as it ramps up the progress right from the first lesson.
Why am I different?
When I learnt how to be a business person, rather than a well protected salary earning classroom teacher, every site and company seemed to be blasting out that success is how much you earn.
That felt ugly.
I care too much about people.
If you see a person as someone who wants to make a leap of faith in you to get them off their learning or speaking plateau, then you start by calling that plateau a springboard. I am all about personal experience and I lean in to how each person needs to progress, rather than following more well-known companies who train their staff to follow set routines and teachings.
so, my little motto is about making learning REAL – Rewarding, Effective and Adventurous Learning, or it isn’t really learning. To do that with someone, you really have to get into their head to get them speaking confidently, whatever level they are.
Having taken up Spanish later in life, I will never forget what it’s like to feel awkward, to be tongue-tied or to get that horrible “Brain Freeze” moment.
I am only happy when I see progress with the people who trust in me. So I get creative and am happy to explore the best way forward! Always.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When you start a business, you join lots of social groups, sign up to a mentor and do all the fancy things like your branding – colours and messaging. Then you see everyone else’s “success” stories. I felt that people were measuring success by the amount of clients or dollars they were getting. When I started, I basically had no tech skills, no Facebook group or Instagram. No clients, no idea how to ‘sell myself”. It brought back all the “You’re just a nobody” thoughts and I wondered how I would ever be one of those “success” stories I was reading about.
I did some learning and did my first launch,
One client.
One.
She is still with me after 5 years.
Now I have enough people to help and I remain present for all of my clients instead of charging a hefty fee to get close to me.
I had to ride the storm of resilience and time, building every day, repeatedly showing up and helping, as I still do on YouTube every week.
I had to override my own doubts, but also those of my friends and family who thought I was just on another crazy adventure. But I like to explore, to be different and push myself to find not just my limitations, but those of other people. Life is far more fun when you can cope with the spontaneous, when your basic foundation is solid enough to let you manage the unexpected. And it’s the same with having confident conversations. You can’t cope with the spontaneous without being able to manage your nerves, and your learning. To do that, you have to normalise your speaking. That’s what I do with people – it’s not just a question of knowing all the vocabulary – it’s going to turn to verbal spaghetti if you can’t manage it under stress, To do that, I help people grow their resilience. Everyone has it in them!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

If anyone wants a good reputation, you have to have something to offer that people want. People think they want to learn French. Ok, it’s good to learn the grammar and vocabulary, but you have to manage that under the stress of full speed, spontaneous conversations.
So, to build my reputation and go from “zero” to “hero” (perhaps “mini hero”) and see that people point me out and recommend me, I found there was only one way, and this would be my advice to anyone out there offering to help others:
Be yourself, your true, authentic self. It always shows if you’re trying to be something you’re not.
Choose to do something that you really enjoy. your enthusiasm and passion shine through naturally. It’s attractive to people.
One client turned into two, into three and it grew.
To grow, I needed people to see me. So I put out free lessons. They were so raw at the start that I cringe when I think of them! I was trying to BE something!
Now I am just myself with my message at heart – here’s something to learn, let’s get on with it and here’s how. For a number of years I felt I was trying to copy the big businesses out there. It proved to be counterproductive. Once I let go of that, I started getting replies to my free lessons, and gratitude, and then commitment. People came without me asking. Now, most of my marketing is done for me by word of mouth.
Why? Because I care to get results. I ask “How can I help?” Rather than “Which package do you want?”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.simplyfrenchonline.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SimplyFrenchOnline/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simplyfrenchonline/
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/christinecamm
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SimplyFrenchOnline
• Other: Email [email protected]