Today we’d like to introduce you to Axelle Bouleau.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Axelle. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As a linguist, I have always had a passion for languages and a desire to make learning more accessible and fun. I spent many years learning Mandarin myself the hard way.
Learning a language has so many benefits. It opens us to new opportunities and horizons. Through years of living abroad as an expatriate, I always heard from people about how much they would love to learn French but they found it too difficult and tedious and often gave up on their dream. The problem isn’t the language, it is the approach! I developed a methodology to simplify learning French: making it simple, practical and fun!
It isn’t about grammar books, it is about focusing on learning to speak, by building steps to encourage conversation while being immersed in culture! The combination of cultural immersion and language instruction is essential to enjoy your linguistic journey. When the opportunity came up to have my own location I launched “Bonjour & Bienvenue, The French Hub”. It is set up to look like a French home, so students feel immersed right away! We offer language classes and programs for all levels and all ages.
We also organize cultural events: such as gastronomy workshops, cooking classes, French culture discovery workshops, movie nights, exhibitions etc. And we recently started to publish our own technology to provide students with further tools to learn French. Also part of our Cultural Center is our family-friendly French Café “Le Petit Café”. Our French country-style setting and atmosphere is the perfect place to meet up with family and friends while enjoying great coffee and fresh pastries.
Has it been a smooth road?
In August 2017 we were preparing for our 1 year anniversary when hurricane Harvey struck. Our location was flooded with 3 feet of water. We lost almost everything: furniture, hundreds of books, electronic devices, all our class material, our uniquely designed games and activities, etc. It was heart-breaking! After working so hard to start the business, it was so painful to see it all destroyed.
The struggle to find a new location began, while at the same time keeping the classes and programs running at a temporary location. We were not able to host any of our cultural events. We missed out on our 1 year anniversary, Halloween, Christmas and all our regular events in between. It was a really difficult time. We are now “back and running” better than ever in our 1-acre country-side location, just 5 minutes from Katy Mills Mall, and we are so glad that this is behind us.
We are so thankful and grateful to all our students and cultural members who remained patient throughout this ordeal and continued to support us throughout. We were also incredibly lucky to receive the help of fellow Katy business owner, Maria, who provided us with a temporary classroom at her Schakolad Chocolate Factory store.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Bonjour & Bienvenue, The French Hub – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are very passionate about what we do. “Bonjour & Bienvenue, The French Hub” is the little corner of France right here in West Houston/ Katy! We want our guests, students, cultural members and all who visit to feel immersed right away!
French language classes:
We offer classes for all levels and all ages, with a unique immersion-based approach to learning French and discovering France. Adults and children learn language, gastronomy, culture and traditions. We are known for our fun environment and atmosphere, and our practical methodology which enables students to understand and speak French rapidly. We also offer a very flexible format to learning, which allows students to integrate their linguistic journey into their daily life, without worrying about missing classes. We also build our own Apps to provide further educational tools to our students, such as “Learn Time. Learn French” available on the App Store.
Cultural Events, Activities & Workshops:
We organize many other activities to make the linguistic and cultural journey of our students and members efficient and enjoyable such as cooking classes, cultural workshops, exhibitions, book-club, movie nights, French coffee mornings for moms & tots, and there is also our free monthly drop-in French lesson in our Café, plus much more. Our calendar of cultural events is published monthly and offers a new and different wide range of events every month. Our French immersion kids and teens summer camps also run from June to August.
Library:
Our location also boasts a library with over 2000+ French books, magazines, newspapers, CD’s, DVD’s etc. for all ages and all levels. We also have a wide collection of English books about France, and all French-related topics such as history, novels, tourism, culture etc. The library is ideally located in a quiet setting, it is a perfect environment to come to, for work, study, homework, etc. Every 4th Thursday of each month we also hold our monthly book-club meeting. The library and book club are open to the public.
Café:
Located within our Cultural Center is “Le Petit Café” where our guests can experience an authentic French countryside atmosphere right here in West Houston. Families and friends come to relax, chat, play board games and card games and enjoy freshly brewed coffee & pastries, as well as fresh crêpes and baguettes. While our guests enjoy their coffee, kids can play in the indoor playroom, or on the large outdoor one-acre yard, equipped with soccer goals. Kids can also watch a movie and enjoy the library. There is something for every age group!
Private events:
We host French themed-events such as birthday parties, anniversaries, baby-showers, Girls Scouts & Boy Scouts events, graduation parties etc. We also hold corporate gatherings, meetings, functions, workshops and team-building events. And French traditional events such as “Guinguettes”, “Raclette” – (French cheese) dinner parties, traditional holiday parties etc.
Our one-acre French, country-side property, is a perfect setting for private events, it is in a secluded location surrounded by nature, yet just five minutes away from Katy Mills mall. The 4,000 sq ft ranch house includes an authentic countryside-atmosphere French café, a children playroom and three multi-purpose rooms. The amazing private backyard offers plenty of space to host 150 people comfortably, with large mature oak trees, a terrace and outdoor area large enough for dinner setups, dance floor or any creative use needed to make the event a success.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Houston is a terrific place as it is so international! We are very proud of having students and cultural members from over 21 different nationalities, and delighted to have created a friendly environment where so many different cultures can meet and share their common interest for French and France!
We love to hear from our students who were about to give up on French and are now objectively happy to measure their progress, from our cultural members who are able to immerse in French culture in so many different ways and who benefit from all our cultural events and we love to hear from our guests, who have found a family-Friendly French country-side environment where they can come to relax and enjoy all the facilities we provide.
We are so proud of the 5-star rating feedback we have received on various social media platforms, and most importantly from the continuous verbal feedback, we get from all our wonderful clients.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1319 Circle Lake Drive, Katy TX 77494
- Website: https://www.frenchhubhouston.com
- Phone: 8327075203
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frenchhubhouston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrenchubHouston
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bonjour-&-bienvenue
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
