Children of primary school age tend to have pretty universal characteristics really. They haven't yet been too conditioned and still respond quite spontaneously, but as they work their way through the education system they are obliged to conform to that. In France, quite traditional and formal approaches are still used even in primary schools. This is what the parents want. It sounds very serious.
Parents send their children here because they want a serious approach.
And we build systematic reviewing into our lessons. There's a teacher-led review session at the end of each lesson so the children understand what they have done and why. It also helps them perceive their progress and maintain their motivation. It's important for us in terms of accountability. We want them to go home and say we played a game in order to learn a particular aspect of the language.