The Foreign Language Academy was founded in 1991 by Jean-Pierre and Barbara Granju in partnership with Patricia Schoirfer, who has since left Knoxville.
Our first goal was to teach languages, especially to children, using native speakers as teachers. Initially, we offered Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Japanese. We taught some classes in local grammar schools and day cares. However, the demand for classes for adults soon surpassed that of children. Many business executives need to learn the language of their parent companies abroad, and many foreign employees need to improve their English. Many supervisors need to communicate with workers who come from foreign countries.
At the same time, we realized that we could use our staff to provide a translation service which was not then widely available in East Tennessee. From translations it was only natural to expand to offer the service of interpreters (in a large majority Spanish at the beginning), and we began to receive numerous requests for this, which is now a major part of our activity. We now have requests for little-known languages such as Kirundi, Burmese, Urdu, and Konjobal.
Jean-Pierre Granju, the Executive Director, is French; he graduated as a Civil Engineer from a prestigious engineering school in Paris and received a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee. He was a Civil Engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority for 22 years.
Barbara Granju is President. She received a Master of Arts degree in French from the University of Tennessee and spent a year studying in Grenoble, France. She taught college French a few years upon returning to Knoxville after living 5 years in Paris.
Between 1978 and 2002, Jean-Pierre and Barbara coordinated a cultural exchange program (Nacel) for teenagers which brought 200 youngsters from France and Spain to Tennessee families each summer and at the same time sent American students abroad.
Our Office Manager is Ms. Cecilia Wraga, who is from Peru. She is experienced in accounting and business management, and we are very glad to have her as a part of our staff. On October 1, our previous office manager, Ms. Sook-Yong Cho, who had been with us for 3 years, moved back to Korea.
All our teachers, interpreters, translators, and staff are very dedicated to their professions and adhere to a strict code of ethics. They always strive for excellence in their work. We are very proud of our entire team and appreciate the excellent reviews we receive from our clients and students.
The Foreign Language Academy is located in West Knoxville in the Cedar Bluff area, close to Kingston Pike and less than a mile from Exit 378 of I-40/75.
