By Chris, French coach at OuiCommunicate
In most industries, the company that sells the most is crowned the leader. McDonald’s is considered the leader of fast food because it sells the most. In our economic tradition, size and sales define leadership.
But language teaching doesn’t quite follow this logic.
Why Bigger Doesn’t Mean Better
In language education, the effectiveness of a learning experience isn’t measured in volume. A global language school might enroll thousands of students, but that doesn’t make it a leader in teaching. It just means it’s good at scaling.
Unless these students walk away fluent in multiple languages with minimal effort, we can’t say the school is leading anything but sales. This is much like a band getting booked for more festivals simply because they’ve already played a few. Popularity creates momentum—but it doesn’t make the music any better.
There Is No #1
Let’s pause on this simple truth:
There is no universally recognized best place in the world to learn French, Spanish, or English.
No school has risen above all others. No teacher or method has outshined the rest so definitively that everyone else is left in the dust.
That should tell us something.
Why It’s So Hard to Measure
Language teaching is not a service like car repair or haircutting. It’s interactive, unpredictable, and depends almost entirely on the student. Teaching cannot succeed without full participation from the learner.
Even reviews aren’t reliable. A highly rated class might just be a fun distraction. Meanwhile, a rigorous course that focuses on structure and grammar might get poor ratings because it feels “hard.”
Many language schools, in fact, don’t really aim to teach a language. They aim to offer a pleasant hobby.
Students See Words—Teachers See Systems
From the outside, all language classes may look alike. But to a trained teacher, they’re anything but. We see skills, patterns, rule systems, and layers of complexity that most students don’t even know exist. That’s why a passionate amateur with a webcam can sometimes teach more effectively than a million-dollar school with a generic program.
The Ride vs. The Destination
Oddly enough, where a school is located or whether you’ll make new friends can matter more than whether you’ll learn.
If this was a train, the enjoyment of the ride often outweighs the destination.
What the Big Players Get Wrong
So what do the “big” language schools actually do? They industrialize teaching. I’ve interviewed with three of them. Here’s what I saw:
- A Chinese platform required teachers to greet students in a rigid, pre-approved way, repeat scripted phrases, and avoid all meaningful discussion. You were basically a talking flashcard.
- A Belgian seminar company ran training sessions where teachers were told to drill students on sentences 20 times until they got it “perfect.” It was mechanical, not educational.
- A self-described “teaching corporation” trained teachers to deliver their brand, not knowledge. Ironically, even their HR staff struggled with English.
In each case, originality, creativity, and actual teaching were sacrificed in favor of uniformity and control. Their goal wasn’t learning—it was brand expansion.
Why We Do Things Differently
This obsession with growth is the same thinking that would lead someone to create “the world’s largest art gallery” without understanding art.
We believe language teaching should be about human experience and depth, not volume.
That’s why we focus on results, not repetition. Just ask the learners who’ve worked with us.
Ready to Start?
You can book a free Q&A session today—no French skills required.
📞 Call or WhatsApp Chris at +1 860-339-6480
💻 Visir our Home page: https://ouicommunicate.com/
In Conclusion
Some will still name famous institutions like the British Council, the Alliance Française, or the Goethe-Institut as industry leaders. And it’s true—these schools likely offer solid programs.
But they haven’t cracked some secret code. Their teachers know what many others already know. Their methods aren’t lightyears ahead.
Even if Richard Branson launched Virgin Languages with a billion-dollar budget, it wouldn’t make his courses better than a skilled, experienced teacher working from home.
Because in the end, great teaching isn’t about infrastructure.
It’s about connection, creativity, and commitment.
So who’s the real leader in language teaching?
It might be you.
It might be me.
We’ll just never know.