Why Yorschool? An interview with founder Rita Bose

In this Q+A, Rita Bose shares with us how she was inspired to start Yorschool, why learning a foreign language is so vital for business in 2020, and the kind of sessions Yorschool offers. With Yorschool now into its second year, we’ll also hear from a few of Yorschool’s first clients on their experiences.

If you’re still unsure where to start in your language learning journey, read on to see how easy it can be to make progress.

Grab a coffee and settle in!

1. What were you doing before Yorschool?

I was Head of Modern Foreign Languages for 16 years in a secondary school in rural North Yorkshire, where I taught German and French.  German is my real passion and it was always so fulfilling, encouraging my young Yorkshire learners to just have fun with the guttural sounds of this great language.  I used to motivate them to be as creative as possible in their GCSE exams, which meant that their examiners would enter their world of alien creatures, pet tigers and so on!  I also spent eight very happy years teaching in the British Forces’ Schools in Germany, where I began to liaise with the local German primary and secondary schools, culminating in joint residential school trips.  Living and working in Germany gave me the unique opportunity to really get to know and love the country, wonderfully friendly people and the heart-warming and at times, funny traditions. 

2. When did the idea for Yorschool come to you?

Actually, ever since the more heated Brexit debates started last year; I’d been having discussions with various overseas students and friends.  At the beginning of 2018, following my CELTA qualification in 2017, I began to teach a range of really interesting and inspiring international students, and business people, many of whom were also German. Teaching my mother tongue, as opposed to teaching a language which I’d formally learnt, definitely made me more aware of how difficult the English language is; but it also made me wonder why speakers of other languages were so good at it.  The answer is simple: in all European countries and so many further afield countries, it is the norm to learn another language. Yes, that’s it: it’s the norm, it’s expected, it’s compulsory and it’s one of life’s essentials! However, my learners then naïvely asked me two very simple questions: “Why don’t you British learn languages? How will you survive when you leave Europe?”

What simple, but crucial questions!  This then led me to seriously thinking and talking about setting up my own language school, which would aim to ‘get Brits talking German’, as well as continue to foster good relationships with those people making such an admirable effort to learn our complex language.  The latter also provides me with an opportunity to learn so much about other cultures too! Yorschool has only been going since December 2018, but it’s already a source of pride and real enjoyment. I really do look forward to seeing what each new day brings!

“It’s so important to engage in small talk, and really build that trust and a meaningful partnership between our companies.”

— Simon Pollard, Head of Manufacturing & Logistics, Portakabin (UK & Europe)

3. Why do you think languages are so integral for business in this day and age?

One businessman whom I currently teach German to expressed his frustration at having to rely on his German counterparts to speak to him in English.  Our European trade partners are slowly growing weary of holding every meeting in English (even if just one English person is present). “We are on the backfoot before we even begin to talk deals!”  He also wanted to know what the others were saying amongst themselves, before and after the meeting. “It’s so important to engage in small talk, and really build that trust and a meaningful partnership between our companies.” 

At the end of last year I was working in Frankfurt and listening to Angela Merkel discussing Brexit in Parliament.  She said that the UK was Germany’s fifth closest trading partner, but as a result of all the Brexit chaos, the UK has already dropped to seventh position and she fears that this drop will increase further.  She talked about the loss of trust between our countries which the UK would have to work very hard at to regain.  Surely we need to start with showing sufficient respect to learn their language? Nelson Mandela puts this in ‘an eloquent nutshell’: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

“Rita’s German lessons are both hard work and fun.  She achieves this by challenging the individual learner as part of a group, maximising the time spent speaking and listening.”

— Martin, an adult evening class student for German

4. What would you say to someone that’s totally daunted by the prospect of going back to learning languages?

Having taught adult evening language classes for several years now, I totally understand this stance.  This is one reason why Yorschool is unique, as our lessons are both light-hearted, but practical and engaging.  The learners themselves often determine the content and they all have slightly different reasons for wanting to learn German.  Their previous language learning experience is also varied and therefore at Yorschool, we use this wealth of experience, which adults bring to a class and before they realise, they are soon discussing relevant issues in German, which genuinely capture their interest.  This last year we’ve ranged from working out the German lyrics for Beatles songs, to talking through our holiday pictures in German and practising dialogues for car breakdowns on the Autobahn. 

“Rita’s German lessons are both hard work and fun.  She achieves this by challenging the individual learner as part of a group, maximising the time spent speaking and listening.  My enjoyment of her teaching has ensured that I will seek further opportunities to read and speak the language,” Martin.

“I thoroughly enjoyed learning German with Rita.  We all looked forward to the weekly classes as every one was enjoyable and varied, with a balance of communication skills and grammar points.  Rita was always very encouraging and we all felt that we made good progress.” Vivienne, a Yorschool student.

“[Rita] made us so more confident in terms of using the English language at work, school and leisure,” Catarina Gagula, English as a foreign language student.

5. What kind of lessons do you offer?

This is something which is constantly changing, due to client requests!  Our ever-increasingly more popular Business German has extended to small groups, with specific requests to prepare for business meetings.  However, the most exciting recent development has been to accompany clients on business trips to Germany and to facilitate discussions in meetings.  This has even extended to ‘walking a client around the city’, providing support (if required) with car hire or public transport, hotel check-in and using public transport.  I also do the reverse here in beautiful York, where I teach German students on Easter and Summer camps. We’ve branched out to teaching a whole family now online, which is such a fun and rewarding experience, as they all motivate each other and help out, so nobody feels worried about forgetting a word or phrase! 

In a similar vein, we now teach small groups of international business people who live and work in Germany and they need specific language for their jobs.  I must just mention one very talented and professional Romanian business person who is based in London. We work through her blog each fortnight, which gives her the incentive to write a regular blog and after our session, it’s ready to go live!  So as you can see, the Yorschool Way really is ‘your way’, as it’s totally bespoke and learner-led!

 “I just want to say thanks for those past months. It has been so nice and fun to learn a new language. You have been an amazing teacher! I have really enjoyed it!” Emil Telsgård, a Swedish Business German online client.

6. Can HR departments contact you?

Absolutely!  A good number of companies are now offering foreign language lessons as part of their ‘Employee Benefit’ package, which is very well received by their employees, as they are not only learning a new skill (at their company’s expense!), but they feel genuinely valued by their company and therefore are more likely to remain.

“Yorschool accommodates a range of learners, from different time zones, and therefore we recognise that flexibility is key to our success. Some clients are enjoying a hearty breakfast, or evening hot chocolate during our lessons! ”

— Rita Bose

7. For people who feel like they couldn’t possibly fit in language lessons on top of everything else, what can Yorschool do?

This is topical, as I’ve recently started having conversation sessions in German myself! I wanted online sessions, but to suit my busy schedule, and therefore by doing this online, I can choose when and where I’ll be for my weekly German catch-up with a real live German person! I look forward to our conversations, as they enable me to keep abreast of current German thinking, the latest trends and news updates. Yorschool accommodates a range of learners, from different time zones, and therefore we recognise that flexibility is key to our success. Some clients are enjoying a hearty breakfast, or evening hot chocolate during our lessons! For our face to face lessons, we travel to our students or clients, to their place of work, or we meet in a nearby coffee shop, to give them a welcome break from their screen!

8. What one piece of advice would you give someone about learning languages?

The piece of advice which I always give myself: I won’t become fluent overnight, but learning to speak another language liberates me.  I’m a real foodie person and when I’m in Italy, for example, I need to know what I’m ordering! Learn a little every day, keep a vocab book handy, make notes, and just give yourself small, weekly goals.  Never beat yourself up and lose faith, just keep going and very gradually it really will start to fall into place and as soon as that happens, that sense of personal achievement is the best feeling in the world!!  Oops, I think that’s more than one piece of advice! Here we go: Stop saying that you wish you could speak another language; just book your first lesson instead!

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