Located five minutes from the heart of Geneva, just steps away from the International School of Geneva,
is an Institute that astonishes with its diversity and its range of services: the Varadi Language School,
founded in 1983.

                    Twenty-three years ago, Judit Varadi and Silke Engel, linguists of Hungarian and German
origin respectively, took up the challenge of opening an educational institution where languages could be
learned in record time; in a few months, or in urgent cases, as little as ten days using a highly effective
educational approach called “Tour a Language in 80 Hours”.

                    Today, the school provides lessons in 33 foreign languages to adults of all backgrounds and
children of all ages.  In addition to courses in French, English, German, Spanish, and Italian, students can
become acquainted with Chinese, Turkish, Russian, Arab, Swahili or Amharic, Hebrew, Hungarian, Swedish,
Japanese, and last but not least, Vietnamese, Uzbek, and Schwyzerdutsch. 

                    Can you really learn a new language in just a few weeks?  Judit Varadi thinks that accepted
wisdom has entrenched the belief that it takes years of effort to learn a new language.  The first step is
rejecting this belief.  The next step is seeing to it that students discover for themselves just how quickly
they are capable of advancing, and that they realize that their goals are within reach.

                    To achieve this stage, we implement proven educational methods based on research in
linguistics, educational science, and psychology, and adapt them to the level, pace, and objectives of each
individual student.  The flexibility of our educational techniques is reflected in the flexibility of our
establishment; courses can be held at the Institute, or at the student’s workplace, seven days a week,
between seven o’clock in the morning to ten o’clock at night. 

                    In the fields of vocational training, the school offers accelerated programs in the language or
languages of the student’s choice.  They lead to unilingual, bilingual, or multilingual Secretarial or
Management Diplomas.

                    While offering personalized programs for adults in all professions, industries, and organizations,
the school has in its domain a division for children.  It introduces little ones to the exciting worlds of new
languages through games and activities.

                    In order to allow children of foreign nationality to attend school in Geneva without being held back
for one whole school year, the Institute offers preparatory language courses during summer holidays, as well as
courses throughout the academic year that run in tandem with the school curriculum. 

We also offer remedial programs for adolescents experiencing academic difficulties.  In these cases, what is
important is not to blow the problem out of proportion, but rather to understand the source of the difficulty. 
It is impossible to impart knowledge to such students without helping them regain confidence and the
awareness of the skills and qualities that they possess.  The educator should also provide the keys to learning
strategies for future success.  Thus, in addition to learning a language or other subjects like math, science,
history, or literature, the student gains the motivation to continue learning.  

At the heart of education lies the question of motivation.  Often thought of as an innate and fixed quality that
varies with the student, in truth, a student’s motivation fluctuates in relation to the pedagogical skills of the
educator. Why do we offer an environment tailored to the needs of intellectually gifted children?  Paradoxically,
intellectually gifted children often cannot cope with their potential, and suffer setbacks on academic, social, and
emotional levels.  In the hopes of responding to the intellectual, psychological, and social needs of these children,
we offer programs geared specifically for them.  Our objectives are:

- to satisfy their thirst for knowledge, to adapt to their pace, and to encourage the free expression of their talents

- to foster a social-emotional balance

- to eliminate the risk of marginalization at school

- to help them build a healthy self-esteem 

When Judit Varadi is asked about what inspired her to create all of this, she answers:

“When I was twenty years old, my family and I left communist Hungary to come to Switzerland, where we were
welcomed and supported.  In return, I wanted to contribute in my own modest way by supporting and assisting
others in their efforts to integrate and acquire new linguistic and social skills.  Emigration is a new beginning,
a rebirth, an all-embracing experience, both thrilling and heartbreaking.  Yet we can draw strength  and solidarity
from this heartache.

The idea of working out a new approach to facilitate  proficiency  in the written and oral expression of a foreign
language came to me within the context of humanitarian work with refugees from around the world. 
There, I was driven to create educational strategies that could respond to the urgent linguistic needs of persons
beginning a new life.

Seneca once stated that “It’s not that we don’t dare do certain things because they are difficult, it’s  because we
don’t dare do them that they are difficult”, which I hold to be fundamental.  Our capacity to learn is greater than
we think, and it is often formal education which contributes to our lack of faith in our abilities.  When I started my
studies at the Sorbonne, I couldn’t speak French.  Yet, the idea that this could be a problem hadn’t crossed my
mind, which is why this language barrier instead became an intellectually stimulating challenge.”

Ecole Varadi S.A./Varadi School