ESL-Ecole Suisse de Langues

Our school is right in the centre of Montreux, next to Lac Léman (Lake Geneva) and on the most lively and bustling street in the town. You can reach it on foot in 5 minutes from either the bus or the train station. The Jazz Festival, the Christmas market, cinemas, shopping centres, bars, restaurants, as well as several sport clubs and the Casino, are all no more than 10 minutes walk. You’ll enjoy our friendly classrooms, the shady terrace, the balcony view over the lake, and the modern equipment and materials that we use. You could join other students in pleasant surroundings in our cafeteria, check your email or surf the Net free of charge on our computers.

A small town on Lake Geneva is the pearl of the Swiss Riviera. Welcoming visitors from throughout the whole world has become a way of life for this charming place, which is home to just over 22,000 inhabitants. In summer the town’s pulse quickens as a diverse and vibrant public from all over the world gets into the spirit of the famous jazz festival. In Montreux every season is wonderful. In the background the Alps form a magnificent panorama as well as being an all-year-round sports paradise. The school enjoys an ideal position in the centre of town, just a stone’s throw from the lake, which is a major attraction in itself, popular with people everywhere. The colourful, palm-lined lake promenade offers up countless treasures as you make your way along it: small coves suitable for bathing that are ideal for celebrations of every kind and where crowds of students and families gather on warm summer evenings, panoramic terraces and international restaurants, a conference centre whose cultural agenda could not be more international, and for history lovers an imposing 13th-century castle accessible by foot from the lakeside promenade. Major cities are also within easy reach – Lausanne and Geneva are just 20 minutes and an hour away respectively from Montreux.

With our course schedule, you can choose the number of lessons that you will attend each week depending on the goals you have set for yourself. You can combine more than one course during your stay, prepare for a DELF examination, or obtain another internationally recognised certificate at any time. All our courses have been carefully structured with the aim of facilitating the development of communicative skills. Held in “mini-groups” with not more than 10 people, they are designed to meet your expectations and help you improve your current levels of skill, whether for personal, academic or business reasons. We offer courses at all the various levels, from beginners to advanced. To help you get the maximum benefit from your course, you will sit a comprehensive assessment test when you arrive. This will help us place you in a class that is suitable for your level. We will then follow your progress and suggest a change of level if this becomes necessary. If you are in two minds about which course to follow, or do not know which of the available exams best meets your needs, contact us so that we can advise you in the right direction.

We choose our host families with great care, we visit them and we know them all. What’s more, because we believe that your accommodation is an extremely important part of your stay, we maintain regular contact with our host families, and twice a year we organise large get-togethers to which all the host families and students are invited. The student apartments are located in the centre of Montreux within walking distance of the course building, business centres, restaurants, bars and cinemas, the lake, the railway station and the central post office. This accommodation is intended for students wishing to put the stress on socialising while enjoying a high degree of independence. Depending on the type of apartment, single, double and triple rooms are on offer. All the apartments are equipped with bathrooms with shower, a communal area with television, a fully equipped kitchen (including crockery and saucepans), a washing machine and a free 24-hour Internet connection. Our cleaning department will change bed linen and thoroughly clean the apartments once a week

The Riviera region also boasts amusement parks, museums, a wide choice of sports facilities, indoor and outdoor, mountain or water based, excursions on land and on water, concerts and cultural events of all kinds and to suit all tastes, as well as a multitude of other activities that you can discover by studying at Montreux.