Angel Pretot is a French learning coach, non-binary transmasculine entrepreneur and polyglot. He was born and raised in France, and he has been living in German-speaking countries since 2010. After a master’s degree and over 15 years of teaching and coaching French learners, he is still obsessed with improving the methods he uses with his clients.
He created French Fluency to bring the most efficient French learning methods to English speakers around the world. No matter where you are located, you can work with him 1-1 or take his online courses.
Please tell us a little bit about your company – what is French Fluency all about?
I noticed that the language learning industry currently thrives on its inefficiency. You really want to learn French so you keep buying books, installing apps, and taking classes. It doesn’t work, so you buy more. I have met people who have been doing that for decades. That’s not right.
Also, most of their marketing makes unrealistic claims, such as “fluent in 3 months” or “learn French in one month”, and that leaves learners feeling terrible about themselves because they can’t learn this fast. In truth, almost no one can, and certainly not adult English speakers who have never learned another language.
But it is possible to become conversational in a second language in about one year, even if you’re an English-speaking adult who has not succeeded in the past. Like everything, it’s a lot easier when you have the right method – and realistic expectations.
This is why I created French Fluency. No shiny marketing, no unrealistic expectations, but real results as fast as humanly possible.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I’m from Dijon, France, and I lived there for 25 years until I moved abroad. I spent four years in Germany and I now live in Austria. There were two events that motivated me to start my business.
First, I was trying to teach French the usual way in language schools. But the advanced classes were always cancelled because the school’s method was terrible. No one seemed to care about this in the school. It left the learners without a way to learn, and the teachers without enough work to live.
So I had to find another source of income and I started working in tech startups. That’s how I became familiar with the internet and technology.
But the tech industry is very unstable. Startups are often run by incompetent people and discrimination runs rampant.
After I was fired illegally for the second time, I had enough. I decided to take matters in my own hands and start my own business. This way, if it failed, I would only have myself to blame (spoiler: I didn’t fail!)
I took my expertise in language learning to the promising land of the internet, and this is how French Fluency was born.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
- A solid mindset. I was convinced I’d do better than all my past employers. This attitude helped, but I still had a lot to learn. I have been working on my mindset relentlessly for the past 5 years and I don’t plan on ever stopping.
- Learning consistently. When I started, I had no idea what I was getting into. In hindsight, I knew nothing about running a business, let alone an online business. But I have always been an avid learner, and that saved my business. I still learn every day.
- Listening skills. You’ll have a successful business if you successfully solve many people’s problems. So first you need to understand those problems intimately. This takes a lot of listening to current clients and potential clients. Improving my listening skills was one of my best time investments.
What are your plans for the future, how do you plan to grow this company?
I have been focusing on offering coaching services, which allowed me to make a full time income with a small audience. But that still leaves a lot of people without a solution either because they can’t afford a coaching fee or because my calendar is full. So this year, I will focus on creating more affordable courses that students can take on their own time, and on growing my audience so more people know that this possibility exists.
I also have a membership program, The French Fluency Accelerator, which serves as my laboratory to create courses that the students really want. So the people in this membership get first access to everything I create and therefore have the best methods available. That includes not only learning the language itself but also the strategy, the mindset and some less obvious things like meditation, energy work and subconscious programming.
I am about to launch a stipend program (coming in January 2021): for each annual membership sold, I will give a free access to this program to a deserving student. This is my way of making good education available to people who need it the most.
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
Most of my competitors (apps, language schools, books) are good at marketing but suck at actually teaching French.
My students actually learn French efficiently, and are able to get the jobs they want, travel the French speaking world and move to France.
I also put a strong emphasis on finding new ways to make the method more efficient. As far as I know, so far no one else offers meditation tracks and energy work to improve your French.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
At first I did everything wrong. It’s hard to pick only 3 mistakes, but I’ll try:
The worst thing I did was not investing in paid courses early on. I could have saved 18 months if I had bought an online business course like Marie Forleo’s B-school when I started. Now I know that if I need to learn something, taking an online courses will pay off big time.
Picking a terrible website name. At first, I chose the name “French Lover” I thought it was fun, and it took me over a year to realize that American people don’t think it’s a fun name at all. Like I said, it’s important to listen to your potential clients. I learned that the hard way.
Unclear branding and message. I struggled with branding and messaging a lot. My communication was not good and some people didn’t even understand that I was actually offering my services as a teacher/coach. I didn’t know anything about branding and I didn’t think that branding was important. I was so wrong. If I could go back in time I would slap my past self in the face with a copy of Story Brand by Donald Miller.
How do you go about marketing your business, and what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
So far, the combination of Pinterest, YouTube & email marketing works the best.
People find my website, typically on Pinterest, sometimes on Google. Then they can opt-in to my email list where they’ll receive some free gifts from me. I’ll send them weekly emails to invite them to live classes, show them some of my YouTube videos and promote my courses and services.
YouTube helps create a feeling of trust because viewers can easily see that I have been doing this work for a long time and that I give sound advice.
I’m currently experimenting with telegram which allows me to contact my subscribers more easily and send them valuable content and promotions more easily than by email.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
It would have helped to know that having a business is more about being the right person than doing or having the right thing.
I’m actually happy that I didn’t know how challenging it would be. If I had known it, I might not have had the guts to get on this journey. But because I discovered one challenge at a time, I built the resilience I needed to be able to tackle each new challenge.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
- Google drive and google docs for storage and easy communication with clients and team.
- Acuity Scheduling for client appointments.
- Kartra for email marketing and product sales.
What are three books or courses would you recommend to entrepreneurs?
Denise Duffield-Thomas’s Chillpreneur is a must-read for every new entrepreneur. It’s marketed for women but makes no mistake, everyone needs to know what’s in it.
The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, by Vishen Lakhiani. This book puts together many key concepts into a logical framework. It was very transformational for me to have all these pieces come together.
The Silva Mind Control method, Silva Sales Power, or any book by Jose Silva. Learning to master your mind is the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur (or a human). I try to use the Silva method every day because when I don’t, I’m not nearly as productive as when I do.
I benefited from so many books, it was hard to pick only three. As a bonus, I’d quote Gabrielle Bernstein’s Judgement Detox. It’s a great book to build resilience and avoid judging yourself or others for what goes wrong. Less energy spent on judging is more energy that goes into your business. I also use the Judgement Detox approach successfully with my coaching clients.
What is your favorite quote?
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
– Maria Angelou.
This quote summarizes both how to run a business, and how to learn a language. And probably how to achieve anything else in life too.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Work on your mindset and never stop to learn. Running a business is a huge personal growth journey. It’s more challenging and also more rewarding than you think. Be prepared to become a complete new person.
How can we get in touch with you?
You’ll find a contact form on my website, Frenchfluency.net. You can also find me on Youtube (Angel Pretot – The French coach), Pinterest (frenchfluency), Instagram (@frenchfluency) or join my Facebook group.
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