President & Founder

Bonjour!

Je m’appelle Philippe Martin. I was born in Bretagne, (Brittany) in the northwest of France. A few months after I was born, my family moved to Le Mans, Sarthe where I grew up. A few years later, I moved to Dijon and finally as an adult, I lived in Paris.

At age 18, during the time when military service was mandatory in France, I served in the French Air Force. I was based in the French Island of La Réunion, located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Surprisingly, that is where my passion for teaching French started.

On March 14, 1946, the island of La Réunion became an overseas French department. French is the official language but I quickly discovered that for various reasons, many local residents either did not speak French at all or did not speak formal French. They spoke Créole, a local language. I took an interest in teaching French on the military base during my free time. Teaching French was enjoyable and gave me an opportunity to interact with and get to know people of La Réunion. I soon spent most of my free time teaching. It was the beginning of my teaching career.

My passion for teaching our beautiful language led me to persue various French teaching programs and seminars. I also took a course at La Sorbonne in Paris (French Language studies and French teaching).

In 1999, in preparation for my move to the U.S., I took English lessons to improve my English language skills. To my surprise, once here, in the US, I found that I could hardly communicate with native English speakers. I am not alone; many people spend time and money on language programs and find that when they arrive in a foreign country, they can't really communicate with native speakers. Dommage! (Unfortunate!)

After learning English on my own, I decided to found what is now French on the Run, an organization that is oriented toward a solid teaching strategy that engages students in learning and practicing authentic French right from the start.

I created the basic workbook and lab manual for lessons and use PowerPoint presentations, which I also created, as teaching support. The workbook, manual and presentations are adapted and individualized for each student and group, depending on their needs.

In person, on the phone, by videoconference, in private or in a group; with us you will rapidly understand French as it is spoken by natives in any situation.

I hope to have you as a student of French on the Run soon.

A bientôt,

Philippe Martin

President and Founder of French on the Run

Phillipe@Frenchontherun.com