Case study · Running an international programme
International language training: how do you run a multi-country, multi-site, multilingual programme?
When a group trains several hundred employees in seven languages, the question is no longer which courses to choose: it needs a shared structure, local relays and a consolidated view of activity.
In short
In an international programme, not everything is managed the same way: some elements must stay comparable from one country to another, while others must adapt. Linguaphone sets out this distinction from the start: the diagnostic, processes, indicators and reporting are standardised, while the languages, business objectives, pace and formats remain adaptable. This is what makes it possible to harmonise the programme without making it uniform.
The starting point
The initial challenge
The group had to meet needs spread across many sites, with very different levels and uses depending on the function. English accounts for most of the demand, but six other languages also had to be offered.
A common framework was needed to compare practices from one site to another, without imposing the same programme on different jobs and levels. Head office needed consolidated data without adding to the sites' day-to-day workload.
The challenge to solve
- Supporting several hundred learners spread across many sites
- Managing seven languages and varied professional objectives
- Adapting learning paths to local operational constraints
- Maintaining comparable quality whatever the site or trainer
- Giving head office a shared view of enrolment, attendance and progress
- Language
- English (plus Spanish, Portuguese, French as a foreign language, German, Chinese, Dutch)
- Audience
- Staff across functions (technical, legal, HR, management)
- Expressed need
- Working internationally, with a flexible, group-wide solution
Our answer
The solution deployed
A single programme was set up for the whole group: the same enrolment rules, the same diagnostic and the same indicators, with local relays who stay in charge of organising the learning paths. Individual objectives start from the situations in which each person actually has to use the language, which makes it possible to cover seven languages and very different jobs without multiplying programmes.
Management
- A single programme for the whole group
- Centralised enrolment and tracking
- Attendance reporting shared with the training teams
- Multi-year collaboration, extended to other languages
Teaching
- Placement test and individual objectives
- Flipped classroom: lesson time is used for speaking practice
- One-to-one remote lessons, at each learner's own pace
- Situations specific to each job: technical, legal, HR, management
- Remote
- In person
- Flipped classroom
The programme in figures
- 7
- languages
- 86%
- of learners in English
- 83%
- of sessions held remotely
- 3 years
- of evaluations tracked
The outcome
The results
- A renewed multi-year collaboration
- One programme for every level and every job in the group
Indicators for 2023, 2024 and 2025
- 90%
- Overall satisfaction
- 4.6/5
- Trainer satisfaction
- 94%
- Recommendation rate
What followed
A renewed multi-year collaboration, extended to six languages besides English.
What this case shows
A group language policy can be managed centrally and adapted locally. The value of the programme lies not in the volume of hours delivered, but in how governance, individualisation and the use of data fit together.
Three conditions for success
- 1 Define a common core limited to the elements that genuinely benefit from being standardised.
- 2 Build individualisation from professional situations, not just from the CEFR level.
- 3 Use reporting to act during the course: follow up, adjust and make decisions.
Facing the same challenge? start by mapping what must be common to every country and what must remain adaptable. It is this structure, more than piling up formats, that keeps the rollout under control.
Learner feedback
My trainer's adaptability, and the fact that they suggest exercises related to my professional context (watching videos with Indian accents, technical content…). End-of-course evaluation · energy sector
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Go further
- Language audit and job skills framework
- Measuring the return on language training
- Talk about your project
How we measure: every figure on this page comes from the end-of-course evaluations completed by learners (2023, 2024 and 2025). Trainer satisfaction is the average of four criteria (delivery, listening, encouragement, clarity); the recommendation rate is the share of ratings of 4 or 5 out of 5. This case study is illustrative: the client is not named and is described in deliberately general terms.