Who We Are

More than a school,

a community

Who we are École Québec is one of the only Quebec French schools in Latin America created and run by Quebecers.

But that is not all that makes us feel that we are a community:

We know Quebec very well, and we exist to share with future immigrants four of the fundamental aspects when planning to work or study in another country: language, cultural characteristics, values, and social dynamics.

And in this daily sharing that we have been experiencing for 14 years here at EQ (as we affectionately call our École), we have become, in addition to a school, a Québécoise community in Brazil.

Unique

Learn authentic Québécois French starting with our course material!

Baptisms Objectif Québecthe books that guide our basic to intermediate courses were developed by the École Québec (EQ) network itself through the synthesis of two elements: the experience of those who were born or have lived in Quebec and the expertise in teaching the French language to those who dream of immigrating to or studying in this Canadian province. 

At EQ, language teaching is always contextualized: we’ll teach you Québécois French by also talking about Québec’s culture, history, values and customs, so that you become Québécois before you arrive. In this way, we avoid cultural shocks that could make it difficult or impossible for them to integrate into Quebec society.

Objective

Learn the language quickly, through practical experiences and with a focus on your objectives

Since we know that the main goal of learning a language is communication, at EQ we learn from everyday, real-life situations: introducing yourself to someone, telling a story, ordering in a restaurant, and so on!

In practice, one of the results of this approach is that, by dedicating yourself to your studies and following our teachers’ guidelines, we expect you to be ready for interviews to work or study in French-speaking countries in less than a year, if you choose the intensive course, or in up to two years, if you choose the other modalities.

*Timeframe based on courses taken in the intensive modality.

Welcoming

Feel comfortable communicating in French anywhere in the world

We created Objectif Québec with the will to open the doors of the French-speaking world to our students. We love being hosts, and we do everything we can for you to create close ties with this language.

From our experience, we know that this way of welcoming and conducting learning allows our students to integrate quickly into life in Quebec when they arrive there. We really want you to feel at home when you hear a bonjour or a bonne nuit, in Quebec or anywhere in the world!

Intuitive

Learn real-life French

In our classes, we try to put our students into action by continuously exercising the four language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking – in the contexts where they are actually used.

So at EQ you learn French almost as if you were already living in Quebec! It’s that “learning from life” that we bring into the classroom through authentic language materials and real-life communication situations that we create for each “lesson”.

Motivating

Count on EQ to encourage you to fly high

We have a huge belief in the learning of each and every one of our students. That’swhy, in addition to all the teaching material, we offer a “student portal” with audiovisual content and complementary exercises, all created by us. We also carry out regular assessments, throughout and at the end of each course, to help you prepare for each of the levels of the Quebec Scale of Proficiency in French for Adult Immigrants, which ranges from level 1 (A1) to level 12 (B2).

Strategy

Count on EQ as a dedicated partner on this flight

As specialists in teaching Québécois French, we are very enthusiastic about bringing future immigrants, or those interested in the French-speaking world, closer to the language.

Our methodology transforms all this enthusiasm into a strategy, which reaches the student through various tools: student book, audios and videos, oral and written production activities, evaluations, self-assessments and whatever else our teachers’ creativity allows!

Who is part of the EQ team?

Serge Boire

Managing Partner and General Manager

Serge is from Quebec, born in Montreal, and has a degree in Journalism. Before arriving in Brazil, he worked for almost 20 years as a journalist for various television networks, radio stations and newspapers in Canada.

In 2010, she launched into her dream of working as an international correspondent and made our country her new home. Today, he continues to report for the public radio and television network Ici Radio-Canada, the Quebec networks TVA and LCN and the radio stations of the COGECO Média group in Quebec.

But as life is always full of surprises, back in 2010, Serge met École Québec and soon fell in love with its mission and the dreams of its students, thus discovering a new way to bridge the two cultures. Therefore, after serving as a teacher at the school for eight years, in 2018, he took over the École Québec Rio de Janeiro unit and in 2019, the École Québec São Paulo unit, with the departure of founder Catherine Potvin from Brazil.

Arthur Marra

Managing partner and
Pedagogical Coordinator

Born in a small town in the countryside of São Paulo state, Arthur wanted to learn French since he was a child, but only managed to fulfill this dream in college, when he moved to São Paulo.

She began studying French at the University of São Paulo, where she graduated with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Linguistic, Literary, and Translational Studies in French.

In 2013, she lived in Rennes, France, to deepen her knowledge of French. There, he took some subjects for his Master’s degree in French as a Foreign Language at the Université de Rennes 2.

Having returned to Brazil, she became involved in academic research and joined a research group that studies the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language.

Gabriella Sweet

Customer Service

Jiří Girčák

Manager and Finance

Jiri Gircak has a degree in Languages from the University of Brno, Czech Republic, and a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from FGV.

He has been part of the École Québec team since 2017 as an administrative assistant, and was promoted in 2018 to the position of Finance and Administration Manager.

Carolina Rabelo

Administrative assistant

Carolina Rabelo has a degree in Languages from the Federal University of Maranhão, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Applied Linguistics at UFRJ.

She has been part of the École Québec team since 2014 as an administrative assistant.

Ana Carolina Marques Cordeiro

Administrative assistant

Ana Carol is part of the École Québec team as administrative assistant.

Danilo Nagamatsu

Director of Marketing and Communication

Born in Rio de Janeiro, graduated in Social Communication and post-graduated in Communication Management, he is a descendant of Japanese and Arabs who immigrated to Brazil in search of new opportunities in the past. Today, he aligns his family’s history of change with eQ’s purpose of helping people to have a better life in Quebec.

A lover of art, especially in the field of illustration, he is responsible for the school’s communication and marketing.

Maikel Apostol

Administrative Assistant

Maikel is Venezuelan and is part of the École Québec team as administrative assistant and Hispanophone public attendant.

Your life in Quebec starts here!

Learn French in up to 10 months