LANGUAGE teachers Pierrine Chan and Rachel Vonderdell are taking over the running of their French and Spanish classes in York.

Pierrine, from the south of France and mum of three, and Rachel, a fluent Spanish speaker who has spent five years teaching in Spain, have become licensees of York business Little Fidgets after running French and Spanish for Fidgets classes for a number of years.

Little Fidgets began life in York in 2006 when founder Lucy Amos saw a gap in the market for multi-sensory language classes. The business has since expanded widely and now operates across the UK.

Pierrine and Rachel said they decided to take the plunge and operate their own business and they will be running parent-and-child classes, after-school classes and classes in nurseries and playgroups.

“In current economic times, language learning has never been more important,” said Pierrine, whose own children speak English, French and Cantonese. “Research shows the younger you start the easier it is. We have children as young as two coming to our classes and their progress is amazing to watch.”