Case Study
01 — Client Background
Stéphanie is an HR Business Partner at a multinational corporation in Paris. Her role requires constant communication with international colleagues: recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and cross-border HR projects.
On paper, her English was already strong. She had a solid B2.1 level, an extensive vocabulary in professional HR, the ability to understand podcasts and television series. Stéphanie could follow business meetings without issue. The gap was somewhere else.
02 — The Challenge
The problem wasn't the language itself, it was speaking. Speaking caused her stress, and that stress created a cycle of issues:
In practical terms, this meant she was holding herself back from the international opportunities her role could open up. Her main challenge was psychological, not linguistic, which is precisely the kind of issue a traditional grammar-focused English course doesn't solve.
03 — The Solution
Rather than another classroom-style course, Stéphanie chose 1:1 coaching focused specifically on speaking confidence. We worked once a week for a year, with each phase building on the previous one.
Phase 1
We began with informal conversations to identify Stéphanie's interests and motivations, using familiar topics to brush up on her English. Discussing engaging subjects made it easier to iron out grammatical inaccuracies and proved to her that speaking English could be gratifying and enjoyable.
Phase 2
Once she felt comfortable, we moved on to more complex subjects, such as her academic background and career history. When discussing education, for example, we went from anecdotes about her student days to a comparison of the French and British education systems. This natural progression from basic to complex allowed us to cover relevant vocabulary and grammar.
We applied the same method to her professional experience, analysing newspaper articles, HR podcasts, online CVs, job descriptions, and labour laws.
Phase 3
We improved her presentation and negotiation skills primarily through role-play. We recorded short presentations about her company and reviewed the videos together to refine her pronunciation, to see what is working and what we have to improve.
For monologue skills, we used impromptu speaking exercises, e.g.: she would draw a card with a random topic, e.g. money, happiness, office life, unions, HR challenges, and speak about it from any angle for five minutes without stopping. This exercise was highly effective for pinpointing structural gaps and improving vocabulary precision.
Phase 4
Finally, we moved on to her immediate workflow. We prepared for her upcoming meetings, presentations, and rehearsed real-time work scenarios.
04 — The Results
The coaching delivered concrete, measurable outcomes:
Official progression from B2.1 to C1 level.
Communication anxiety resolved: Stéphanie went from actively avoiding English to using it confidently at work.
Career advancement: Stéphanie moved into an international role where English became her working language, a position that wouldn't have been accessible to her before the coaching.
05 — What Stéphanie Said
"J'ai bénéficié de cours d'anglais individuel avec Anna dans le cadre professionnel. Elle a bien su évaluer mon besoin et adapter son cours. Je manquais énormément de confiance en mon anglais et je n'osais pas parler. Elle a tout débloqué ! J'ai repris confiance et ai pu par la suite évoluer vers un poste international où la langue de travail était l'anglais. Merci Anna !"