Shravan Shetty as a Career Coach interviews Poeple from different walks of life. Armed with degrees in law and French, Madhuri Welling is an accomplished French language and culture specialist. She enjoys teaching French, legal subjects, English and business communication - both online and offline. Her passions include philosophy, writing, travel and theatre. In her free time, she finds joy in embroidery and has recently taken up crocheting.

1. MADHURI WELLING
(FRENCH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
SPECIALIST)
SHRAVAN SHETTY ( CAREER COACH)
THE CAREER INTERVIEW 01

2. Lets Explore Careers

3. CAREER BIO
Armed with degrees in law and
French, Madhuri Welling is an
accomplished French language
and culture specialist.
She enjoys teaching French, legal
subjects, English and business
communication - both online and
offline. Her passions include
philosophy, writing, travel and
theatre. In her free time, she finds
joy in embroidery and has recently
taken up crocheting.

4. Starting my career as a
French language and
culture Specialist

5. My journey into the world of French was actually
something that happened by chance. I am actually a law
graduate who didn’t exactly practice law.
 When I was in the 2nd year of my 5 year BA, LLB
program, I was feeling low after a long week of
commuting to and from college after having taken
almost 4-6 buses a day! With heavy books in my bag!
 I didn’t do much on the weekends and my mother
noticed this. She asked me to get out of home and
encouraged me to try something new. She gave me
three options – join either French class, German class
or a dance class.

6.  Having commuted about 40 kilometres a day to
college during the week, I had no will to commute to
German or dance classes which were again 8
kilometres away from my home...
 Everyone knows about the traffic situation in
Bangalore! So joining the French class at the Alliance
Française de Bangalore at Vasanthnagar, not too far
off from home, seemed like the easiest choice to
make.

7. Initially, before classes began,
 I thought that I would only finish the basic A1 level of
French and get back to doing nothing on the weekends.
But as luck would have it, my first French professeur
(that’s how French teachers are addressed), Madame
Aisha, was nothing short of amazing! So graceful and
kind.
 She was my inspiration to pursue French all the way up
to the advanced C1 and Masters level and it was my
dream to one day become a French teacher, just like
her! I never looked back and thus began my journey into
this new and exciting world of French a little more than
a decade ago.

8. How i began my career and what
my main responsibilities are ?

9.  I initially began my career as the Education Officer
in the Campus France Office in Bangalore where I
worked for a little more than two years.
 My employer was the Embassy of France in India
and I had to report to French diplomats sitting in
Delhi and liaise with the visa officers at the
Consulate General of France in Bangalore for the
smooth functioning of the long stay visa process for
students.

10. My main responsibilities included business development
and promoting higher education in France in the state of
Karnataka mostly, with occasional promotional visits to
different states in India like Delhi, Kerala and Uttar
Pradesh;
 I had to develop, budget and implement marketing
activities – both digital and traditional.
 I also organized many events which included the ‘Pre-
departure sessions’ for students leaving to France for
their studies and ‘Admission Tours’, where the French
higher education institutions would come to India to
interact with the students

11.  I was in-charge of student admissions to all the
universities in France and also counselled them
regarding the courses and facilitated in the official visa
procedure to obtain their long stay student visa.
 Apart from this, being the single point of contact for
French higher education in Karnataka, I helped foster
strategic partnerships between French and Indian
institutions for their exchange programs and the signing
of MoUs.
 Many Indian educational institutions also invited me as a
guest speaker to deliver lectures and to guide their
students. This was a great first experience for me in the
domain of French!

12.  I also have corporate work experience of about two years
as a French Language Expert in the very niche domain of
reinsurance technical accounting at Swiss Reinsurance
Company.
 I worked with the French market where I effectively
managed a portfolio of clients which consisted of other
insurance companies and brokers in France and
Luxemburg which included Allianz, GAMEST, Amlin, Marsh.
I was in-charge of translation and interpretation of client
documents, queries and reinsurance contracts from French
to English and English to French.
 Translating contracts drafted in French helped me tap into
my legal skills too. I had to leverage my French skills in
order to network and build relationships with my clients
sitting in Europe via phone, Skype and email. I also trained
my Unit in basic French as part of my personal project.

13.  Apart from this, I wanted to follow my dream of
teaching French on the weekends like my first
French teacher.
 So I pursued my Masters in French from a Central
University, the English and Foreign Languages
University, Hyderabad and started teaching French
at the Alliance Française de Bangalore as guest
faculty about 5 years ago.
 Languages cannot be learnt in isolation and
therefore, there is a great need to stress on the
importance of the cultural aspects too. This needs to
be experienced and then transmitted to the students.
Thus, my official trip to France on account of work
helped me.

14.  My responsibilities as a teacher include conducting classes
for the basic and intermediate levels of French to various age
groups – kids between 8 and 12, teenagers between 13 and
16 years of age and adults.
 Each public comes with its own set of challenges and no two
days are the same. In fact, no two students are the same!
And a teacher needs to be on one’s toes! It’s beautiful as I
learn something new in class each session and not only my
students. Apart from this, I prepare pedagogical material and
assessments to evaluate their learning. I’m also a qualified
DELF examiner for the levels A1, A2 (basic) and B1, B2
(intermediate).
 The DELF-DALF examinations are the official certifications
from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of France to validate one’s
level in French. They test one’s speaking, reading, listening
and writing abilities and is not related to only grammar, as
one might assume.

15. Right now, I work as a French Language
and Cultural Consultant and offer my
expertise to schools, colleges, language
institutes and corporates for their French
classes, cross-cultural training, translation-
interpretation, examination and curriculum
planning needs.

16. How do most people get into
this field
&
What are some of the
common entry level jobs?

17. To start off as a French language resource, one obviously
needs to learn French. In India, one can learn French at
the Alliance Française located in most big cities or at
Universities like The English and Foreign Languages
University in Hyderabad, JNU in Delhi, Bangalore
University, Pondicherry University etc. One needs to enrol
for their French language courses and later, take up the
certification examinations.
According to the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages, French is divided into 6 levels –
A1 (Beginner), A2 (Elementary), B1 (Intermediate), B2
(Upper intermediate), C1 (Advanced) and C2 (Mastery
or Proficiency).

18. The ideal level to join an entry level French job in a
corporate in India is a B1 or a B2 level, that’s the
intermediate level. Many top companies like Amazon,
Genpact, Capgemini, Wipro, etc hire French resources for
translation, interpretation, analyst roles. Apart from this, one
can work in various roles in government organizations- both
Indian and foreign like the embassies and consulates; and
with the agencies of the United Nations where French is an
official language.
To be able to teach French at schools, colleges and
language institutes, I would recommend a minimum of a B2
level (upper intermediate). Ideally, one needs a C1
(advanced level) or a Masters in French to be able to teach
effectively. Conducting corporate trainings is also a good
option for trainers with some experience.

19. What are the skills, abilities and
personal attributes essential to
success in this field?

20. First and foremost, a good grasp of the French language!
Other essential skills would be good and effective
communication, listening and writing skills, cultural
intelligence and attention to detail.
A good knowledge of the jargon in particular domains
such as –engineering, medicine, law, reinsurance,
tourism, ERP, etc., also helps a great deal.
This vocabulary can be learnt over time or on the job.
Since we live in modern times, good computer skills are a
must!
One also needs to work on one’s time management
skills as time is money! Especially in France!

21. What is the range of the entry level
salary in this field?

22. The entry level salary could be anywhere between the
range of 4 and 5 lakhs depending on the nature and place
of work – whether it is teaching, consulting, working at a
corporate or in a government organization.
With experience, as with other domains, the salary would
figure in a higher range.

23. What advice would you give
someone considering this
domain?

24. It would be a philosophical piece of advice that I had
received from one of my mentors –
“Enjoy the process of learning French! And don’t get
stressed out! It will come to you one day…!”
After getting equipped with the knowledge of French and
obtaining the required certifications, one can update their
profile on LinkedIn and on other job sites in French and in
English to enable the recruiters to get a good idea of your
profile. As they say in French, “Bon Courage!” or Good
luck!

25. Bon Courage!” or Good luck!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhuri-welling-31a81074

26. THANK YOU