INTL Department - Partner Schools

Kashif – My Romance with French at Le Frehindi

On May 12, 2012, we embarked on a journey least expected to turn out to be so informative, adventurous and adrenaline pumping, literally! It was our journey to learn French – one of the most beautiful languages in the world and surprisingly the most spoken language after English!

A hugely diverse group of 13 members – consisting of Doctor & Nurses to Professionals & Students, from 15 year young to 56 year old – sat in a small class-room. None of them, at that point of time, realized that it was a day which had the hidden potential of changing their life forever. They all had gathered in this small but beautiful room to enter into completely new dimension and arena of life – of learning an unknown language other than their Mother tongue. Neither did anyone realize that the journey that began on that day would be so fun-loving and that its memories will be imprinted on their minds forever. None of them knew that lifetime friendship bonds were in the offering along with the knowledge of the French language!

Learning any foreign language is difficult but at Le Frehindi, it was made sure to ease us into the difficulties of the grammar. It will not be an exaggeration to give credit of our success, apart from our individual and team-work, to the use of modern teaching techniques and methodologies at the institute. These methodologies ranged from individual assignments to group-work, from French movie sessions to Outdoor excursions to Mukteshwar, from interacting with native French people to online doubt-solving sessions at the middle of the night. During our 4-months course, we felt as if the time when we would learn a language only by listening to the teacher and never getting a chance to speak was over.

At Le Frehindi, we had a small batch and it enabled our teacher cum mentor cum friend, Mr Haru Mehra, to conduct the sessions keeping individual’s needs in mind. It’s the result of the innovative pedagogy that Le Frehindi managed to produce 100% result in 1/3rd of the time (4-months course for A1 level compared to 1-year course for A1 level at other institutes) than any other French teaching institute.

Kashif Hasan, New Friends Colony, New Delhi

Author: Haru MEHRA

Namasté / Bonjour / Hello, I am Harbinder Singh MEHRA ( Haru ), the President, author & principal blogger & trainer for the LAF's project Inde-Contemporaine under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in Paris. Apart from that, I am also the CEO of Paris & Lyon based Le Frehindi which is an Indo-French organisation licensed by ATOUT-France with associate offices in New Delhi, Mumbai & Dubai in the Middle East. Something about LAF ( L'Association Frehindi ) : The objective of the L'Association Frehindi ( English ) To promote global understanding with special focus on youth of France & Francophone countries with the youth from Indian subcontinent by showcasing a contemporary aspect of both regions in areas of cultural & linguistic integration, appreciating of heritage & getting to know the importance of natural wellbeing via online & offline activities such as workshops, fairs, events, meet-ups, counselling sessions, intercultural workshops in partnerships/collaborations with local institutions, cultural organisations, embassies & companies in both the regions. The association seeks to work in the following areas : I. Events/fairs/conferences/workshops under the patronage of the Indian Embassy in France. 1)To celebrate & promote contemporary India & France with today's youth. 2)To let discover the traditional historic Indo-French strengths, economic opportunities & partnership possibilities. 3)To promote arts & artists from either region. 4) To jointly host events & fairs every year in France, Francophone countries & the Indian subcontinent to promote friendship/partnerships between different regions linking the general population with a special focus on youth. II. Alps-Himalayas Project 1) To increase cultural & economic affinity of youth & businesses between Rhone-Alps & Himalayas regions of India, Bhutan & Nepal. 2) To conduct & promote joint Indo-French expeditions & excursions. 3) To help the tribals & locals in Himalayan regions to preserve the environment by sustainable means. III. Intercultural Activités 1) To conduct linguistic-based inter cultural activités with the help of virtual tours & offline sessions between youth & teachers for both French, Hindi & various other regional languages. 2) To conduct sessions / classes on inter-cultural understanding, ways of doing business, dances & letting discover the rich heritage. 3) To conduct fundraising activities for all such cultural & heritage discovery exchanges. IV. Indo-French youth club : 1) To help the Indian students coming to France to integrate culturally, logistically & linguistically by providing pre & post landing counselling workshops & vice-versa for French students going to the Indian subcontinent. 2) To help the youth discover skill development programs, internships & recruitment opportunities available in all the regions. 3) To work in partnership with local SME'S for supporting & training of the youth of India & France. 4) To enable students & teachers in France to help online & offline the underprivileged children in the Indian subcontinent by imparting training based on languages & soft skill development. 5) To conduct Indo-french youth camps in all Francophone regions with a special focus on Rhone-Alps regions, Himalayas & Auroville in Pondicherry. V. Promoting Natural Wellbeing & boosting immunity naturally : 1) The association will seek to promote the benefits of Yoga & Ayurveda in France among youth & conduct awareness sessions with experts from India & Srilanka. 2) The association will celebrate World Yoga Day & World Ayurveda day by conducting events & workshops for the youth. 3) The association will produce both online & offline content like blogs, books, broachers etc to Promote yoga & Ayurveda. 4) The association will work closely with Bio-shops to promote vegan & vegetarian food among the youth. Come be a part of the LAF growing team & become ambassadors for the Indian subcontinent & its ability to take modernity with traditional values and ethos. Write to us at haru@frehindi.com. All the best. Harbinder Singh MEHRA, President, L'Association Frehindi Lyon VILLETTE GARE IMMEUBLE LE BONNEL 20 rue de la Villette 69003 Lyon Tel : +330601360996