Louise Sallé // Photo credit: AMAURY CORNU / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 12:09 p.m., January 23, 2024

80% of French people believe they do not have a good enough level of spelling.

These shortcomings have repercussions in their professional lives.

To compensate for this, companies pay for spelling and written expression refreshers to their employees.

Europe 1 visited the Parisian premises of BPCE Assurances, which offers training to its employees.

According to an Opinion Way survey, carried out for the Union of the Paper Industry (UFIPA), 80% of French people believe that their level of spelling has deteriorated.

The fault, for more than half of those questioned, is the drop in educational level and the use of screens.

These gaps are increasingly seen in emails, reports or PowerPoints.

So much so that companies pay for refreshers in spelling and written expression to their employees. 

The specialized site Projet Voltaire has developed a platform which provides training in spelling, syntax and grammar.

In one year, the platform has just recorded a 10% increase in its users among its 2,800 corporate clients such as BPCE Assurances.

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“A little game”

Once her identifier is entered on the platform, Delphine Lax, 52 years old, executive assistant, pulls down the home menu: "we click on the tab that we want the spelling. These are multiple choice questions so it becomes a little game. I use it a lot on my mobile phone or in a queue. For me, it’s exciting in any case!”, she explains on the microphone of Europe 1.

Nearly 300 company employees have activated an account on this site.

Richard Sorge, director of human resources, has already noticed progress: "There are fewer mistakes and better turns of phrase. What is well conceived is clearly stated. When you have a speech, an email that is well written, you can get your messages across very clearly,” he explains.

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Training eligible for the CPF

And if more than distance training is needed, Joëlle Cohen carries out personalized sessions for certain employees: “When we confuse the verbs to be and to have, we tell ourselves that this person is not going to make it. And then finally, if she really wants it, if she motivates herself, if she spends time, there is no inevitability."

For this intensive refresher course, count on nearly 2,000 euros for four months, training eligible for the CPF.