Over 60 years of French lessons
Created in 1962, the Richelieu Institut is a French school structured on a human scale. It is ideally located in the center of Lausanne, the Olympic capital of the world which was crowned « the best small city in the world » by the British magazine Monocle.
For its 60th anniversary as a French school, the Richelieu Institute got a new look in 2022, and its young and dynamic team, driven by the enthusiasm and know-how of its new management welcomes you in its superb premises in the heart of Lausanne. You will benefit from the pedagogical skills of your teachers, all of whom are native French speakers with a solid experience in teaching adults. They will accompany, support, and help you achieve your goals.
The Richelieu Institute is definitively forward looking, but continues to cherish and keeps at heart the sense of family and the conviviality which has characterized it since its foundation. You will appreciate the creative outings that are proposed in addition to your courses (visits, tastings, discoveries, …): a complete immersion in service of your progress in the French language!
Five good reasons to choose us
Created in 1962 in Lausanne (Switzerland), the Richelieu Institute is a people-oriented french school that has trained several generations of French language lovers. this longevity has been attested to by EDUQUA certification for over a decade, the Swiss quality label for continuing education. Since July 2025, the Institut Richelieu has been ISO 21001 certified, the international standard for management systems in educational institutions.
All our teachers have been teaching in their native language (french) for several years. Their experience and know-how guarantees optimal supervision and help throughout your progress. At the Richelieu Institute, you are an active participant in your learning, not just a spectator: during our intensive French courses, you will not have a minute to doze off!
The Richelieu Institute is truly personalized and has a team that listens to your needs, a friendly atmosphere, activities to explore the region, and supports you with your administrative paperwork (student visa, residence permit, ...).
Experience the French-speaking part of Switzerland!
You will be studying in the heart of Lausanne, the cultural center of Vaud. We organize regular activities: visits, excursions, and tastings of regional products (chocolate, cheese, etc.)
Benefit from discounts if you register for several trimesters:
From the 2nd full trimester on, you get a 5% discount;
Starting from the 3rd full trimester, you get a 10% discount!
Five good reasons to learn French
More than300 millions people speak French on all five continents. Join the French-speaking community, its history, its wealth, its gastronomy, its literature, its cinema, its art,...
Speaking and writing in French makes it possible to more easily develop contacts and connections in business or in your daily life or even during a vacation in a French-speaking country.
Literature, cinema, cooking, fashion, theater, dance, etc. The importance of French in culture is impossible to deny. By learning French, you will become part of one of the most sophisticated communities in recent centuries.
Speaking French opens the doors to universities and prestigious schools (UNIL, ECAL, EPFL, hotel schools, etc.). Our courses are perfect for preparing you for admission to the University of Lausanne.
French is both a working language and an official language at the UN, the European Union, UNESCO, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross… If you are interested in political science or international news, you will hear a lot of French.
Our French Courses
- introduce yourself
- ask personal questions
- interact in a simple way
- understand simple messages
- write simple texts
- fill in a form
- understand a simple everyday conversations
- describe your intersts
- explain your plans for the future
- understand a simple news articles
- write a personal letter
- describe a past event
- understand a television program
- follow a presentation
- talk about a past events and experiences
- develop an argument
- understand everyday texts
- write short essays
- understand long lectures and presentations
- give a detailed explanation of your point of view
- participate in a discussion
- read articles and reports
- write clear and detailed texts
- summarize
Our philosophy
The key to the quality of our French courses? A school wide philosophy, at the service of your success!
01
TeachingFor us, teaching French means supporting your everyday French needs. We see teaching as an active collaboration: we are mediators of knowledge, you are actors in your learning. We favor an action-oriented approach, centered on your daily needs and real world documents that give meaning to your learning. With us, motivation and pleasure go hand in hand with practice and progress.
02
HumilityWe can not be responsible for individual growth. Our role is to trust in the potential of each individual, to help them find that potential, and to accompany them in their process.
03
AutonomyOur mission is to promote the autonomy of our students: we help you gain confidence in your abilities and feel comfortable expressing yourself in French, even in the early stages of your learning, which gives you the means to be and feel 100% responsible for your growth process.
04
AcceptanceWe work with people in a non-judgmental way. This means helping them to recognize and accept both their difficulties and their successes as sources of learning. Mistakes are an integral part of the learning process, especially for languages.
05
RespectWe respect people’s individual journeys, their beliefs and their pace in mastering the skills being taught. With this perspective, we are able to respect ourselves, our needs, imperfections and weaknesses.
06
OpennessWe are always open and willing to share the richness of each individual person: learning a language means revealing oneself, so it is essential that each person be open-minded and tolerant so that everyone feels comfortable and confident.
07
TransparencyWe can only function properly and effectively through transparency both relational and intellectual. We accept problems and tensions, welcoming these confrontations as opportunities for growth.
08
ConsistencyWe are committed to constantly questioning ourselves, to doing what is necessary to improve our teaching practices, and to teaching only our native language to guarantee an authentic immersion.
Gallery
Certifications
60+
YEARS OF EXPERIENCE7000+
TRAINED STUDENTS5500+
DIPLOMAS GRANTED24000+
TESTS TAKENTestimonials
The organization and methodology taught by my teacher were excellent, super dynamic, always showing competence and patience.
The first contact was pleasant, the reception was very good, the director has good communication and the teachers are very friendly. I always feel at ease, as if I were at home.
I have completed all levels A1 and A2, B1 and B2 and today I feel capable and very comfortable with French. I continue with B2.1 and my goal is level C1. The teachers were excellent, encouraging and contributed a lot to my growth in the language.
Thank you very much!
***
I am very satisfied with my level of French. Starting the French course was a big deficit and today I am satisfied with my progress.
L'organization et la méthodologie transmits par mon professeur étaient excellentes, super dynamique, toujours en faisant preuve de compétence et de la patience.
Le premier contact c'était agréable, l'accueil était sympathique et formidable, le directeur a une bonne communication et les professeurs sont très sympas. Je me sens toujours à l'aise, comme si j'étais chez moi.
I already suivi tous les niveaux A1 et A2, B1 et B2 et aujourd'hui je me sens capable et super à l'aise avec le français. Je suis toujours au niveau B2.1 et mon objective est C1. Les professors are excellent, encouraging and greatly contribute to the progression of the language.
Merci beaucoup!
Best regards,
Bala
I attended the intensive course (level B1 and level B2) and from the very first moment I felt that the level of the different students was not aligned. For example during the B1 course there was people that couldn’t even understand the exercise or a basic audio so it decreased the learning process. In the B2 course there was people that did not even pass the B1 exam so you could imagine the outstanding level of the class.
Nevertheless it was my first French experience after many years without practice so I gave another chance. The environment was friendly and helpful so I thought that it was something that happened after COVID (as it was the first presencial course after quite some time).
Unfortunately after my nice thoughts and my willingness of learning in a decent school became to a lie. Basically the evaluated level is very low and there is an economic interest. At the end it is a private school so as the director told me when we had a private chat “The salaries must go every month”.
The B1 level was disappointing but the B2 was a recognized scam. The group couldn’t do some activities that are B2 standard level due to the low level of the class. There were people without the B1 level attending B2 courses hence basic conversation or discussions were impossible. This was shared with the teacher several times the very first weeks of the course.
I have to say that the 2 teachers I had my evaluation is on the other hand quite positive. They are just victims of a teaching mechanism where the economic interest has more weight than a mechanism that wants to teach real level of a language to foreigners. At the end, again, it is a private company. I never had an entry level test. Nor my colleagues. You will have cool hang outs, visits to some places and support but if the main objective is to master the level of the course this is not your place.
Something to point and it is a good indicator of the ‘happiness’ of the class is that no one wanted to join the official DELF B2 preparation course and no one wanted to attend an hypothetic C1 level.
The intensive courses cost is around 4000CHF which is a huge cost. It is not worth at all, you will find better schools to learn French around Lausanne. And I really want to point it again, if you really want to learn the language, there are better places. I could have saved easily one course as no one evaluated me and I could have gone directly to the B2 course, why not!? No one is preventing you of deciding your own level!
To finalize, before writing this review I approached the school via mail and we had a meeting with the Director at that time to discuss about my bad experience. Not only he recognized that they had issues with the level of the group but he also recognized that the quality of the classes delivered was not at the expected level. He recognized everything that I am pointing in this review and he even offered me to attend another time the full intensive course FOR FREE. At that time I didn’t have the time to attend a full intensive course and I already enrolled the DELF B2 official exam early June so having a course from 0 didn’t make any sense and I couldn’t even if I wanted. In order to find an intermediate solution I requested to have instead of a complete free intensive course to have six (6) 1h classes with a private teacher just to prepare the DELF B2 exam as he also recognized that the level was not the appropriate one, nothing crazy isn’t it? The surprise came when the director answered in a quite arrogant tone stating that the request was a surprise and the only offer was to repeat and lose another 3 months of my life repeating a course that in theory was at the good level this time instead of offering a support for an official exam that I need due to the lack of professionalism of the school. Of course after my answer he was did not answer anymore.
To summarize: find another place if you want to really learn French. Signed: a person that attended to the B1 and B2 course.
The faculty are very supportive and really teach the students patiently. The students of different levels also get a chance to meet each other and through that you feel like a part of the community. I strongly recommend Institute Richelieu to anyone wanted to integrate into the culture while learning the language and building genuine relationships.
Activities
Students can participate in these workshops for free during their term. Check the bulletin board regularly and sign up now!
I
WorkshopsThe Richelieu Institute offers various workshops to switch up your routine and enhance your knowledge of French: discussion workshops, reading, etc. Activities that allow you to practice the language while having fun: an opportunity to discover the culture and to build relationships during your stay in Lausanne!
II
Conversation workshopsTake part in our conversation workshops! You will gain confidence to express yourself more freely and intuitively in French. Improve your pronunciation and enrich your vocabulary. Plus, you’ll meet people from all over the world! The limited number of participants ensures that everyone gets a maximum amount of time to speak. It’s the perfect complement to your language courses!
III
ExchangeWould you like to practice another language? Do you want to share your native language? Then join us! Details at the secretariat: we look forward to meeting you. It’s free and open to everyone!
