When Michèle Gordon set up The Language Hub in 2011, she was working as a receptionist and wanted to find a way to use her teacher training again. Ms Gordon grew up in Germany with a Scottish father and German mother and is bilingual. After having children, she realised there were few language learning options for pre-school age children in Glasgow and no structured support for bilingual children. She decided to fill the gap and started a German bilingual class.
In the beginning, she had no premises and no staff other than herself, but that first class proved popular, and further classes followed. Ms Gordon rented rooms in church halls and leisure centres as venues for the classes, but by 2014 that had become untenable.
“There were so many classes, I realised we needed our own home,” says Ms Gordon.
With the help of a bank loan, Ms Gordon set up The Language Hub’s first premises in Partick, where it is still based. Having premises both made things easier and added a new dimension to the business, as people seeking classes or information could “come to the door”.
Subsequently, in 2016, Andrea Wieler, a native German speaker from Switzerland who is fluent in Italian and English, joined the business. She had approached Ms Gordon in 2015 with a view to investing savings she had “on the side” in The Language Hub and becoming a partner. Ms Gordon phoned her the same evening and said yes.
The investment took the form of an interest-free loan. Ms Wieler says that means she will “probably personally make a loss” but she doesn’t care. Having taught German at the Goethe-Institut in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, she was more interested in changing her life and teaching in a different way, with smaller class sizes and more individual attention, than in an investment return.
“I’m an idealist,” she says.
The investment allowed The Language Hub to expand. Ms Wieler took charge of adult classes, and the centre now runs a range of classes for school-age children and adults, with no more than eight students per class, as well as “bounce and rhythm” sessions in various languages for pre-school children. Babies are welcome, and many children start attending at six months or earlier.
The core languages, which are always on offer at the centre, are French, German, Spanish and Italian, but it also offers Russian, Polish, Arabic, Turkish, Swedish, Dutch and Portuguese. For some languages, such as Hungarian, there are monthly family sessions. The centre is also available for rent, and the likes of the Vietnamese community organises its own language events there.
“We go with demand,” says Ms Gordon.
Recently, The Language Hub expanded to include a café and exhibition space. The Café Hub opened on 1 December and will allow The Language Hub to host cultural events. Already in November, it participated in this year’s Book Week Scotland.
The opportunity to expand came when a bigger unit came up at the centre’s existing location. It was unexpected, and the business was not prepared, but it was too good an opportunity to miss.
The café and exhibition space have also allowed the business to diversify at what is a challenging time for it. All the teachers at The Language Hub – who currently number 17 – are native speakers. With no clarity on Brexit from government, many foreign nationals are choosing not to remain in the UK, creating a shortage of suitable candidates.
“We’ve noticed a sharp drop in applications,” says Ms Gordon. “Sometimes, we’re struggling to find someone.”
As a result, Ms Gordon feels she cannot plan beyond March 2019. Her business partner, who is a Swiss national, could find her status emperilled, and the centre might have to cut back its offer.
“The café and exhibition space will give us options to keep the business afloat,” she says.
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