Berlitz Language Schools

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Berlitz Language Schools, now known as Berlitz International, Inc, derive from an institution founded by Maximilian Berlitz in 1878, in Providence, Rhode Island. It has now expanded into an international organization with some 600 schools worldwide. The school teaches languages with its own "Berlitz Method of language instruction". When first developed, the foundation of the method was based on language being taught in the target language only. This has now evolved to incorporate other aspects of language learning and language acquision theories.

1 History
2 Berlitz Program Levels
3 Ownership
4 See also

[edit] History

Berlitz had immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1872 with the intent of teaching Greek, Latin, and six other European languages according to the traditional grammar-translation approach. Working as a private teacher for a few years, he later joined Warner Polytechnic College as a professor of French and German language instruction.

The school was severely understaffed, and Berlitz served simultaneously as owner, dean, principal, and only faculty member. Needing an assistant who could teach French, Berlitz hired a Frenchman named Nicholas Joly. Joly had been the most promising candidate, but when the Frenchman arrived in Providence, Berlitz was horrified to find that Joly spoke no English. Already infirm from overwork, Berlitz went on sick leave and told Joly to lead classes to the best of the Frenchman’s ability. Berlitz asked his assistant to point at objects, repeating the French word for them, and act out verbs.

The method was seen as a success. Berlitz returned after six weeks to find the students engaged in semi-fluent exchanges with Joly. The students had apparently progressed faster than they did with the common methods of the time. Berlitz began to employ this method in the school, and the school —and its ideas— achieved success over time.

There are currently over 600 language centers located throughout 50 countries world-wide.

[edit] Berlitz Program Levels

When a student wants to study a language with Berlitz, he or she is first placed at a particular level:

1/2: Functional: Beginners learn to say simple sentences.
3/4. Intermediate: The student learns to function in everyday situations like ordering a meal or getting directions.
5/6: Upper-intermediate: The student begins having simple conversations.
7/8: Advanced: The student practices having more complicated conversations and has mastered the grammar.
9/10: Professional/Native: The student learns and is able to use specific vocabulary associated with his/her profession and converse freely as a native speaker would.

[edit] Ownership

Berlitz became a subsidiary of Macmillan Publishers in 1966. Berlitz became a publicly traded franchise in 1988 after Maxwell Communication Corporation took over Macmillan. However, in 2001, Berlitz was acquired by Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd., now known as the Benesse Corporation, and is no longer publicly traded. In February 2002 the publishing arm of Berlitz, Berlitz Publishing[1], was acquired by Apa Publications (part of the Langenscheidt Publishing Group[2]).