here they are:
The most frequently asked questions from our clients
Who are we?
The Growing Participant Approach (GPA) is based on the most common learning styles and the most effective strategies for acquiring language and culture. The method mimics the way we learn our first language and is highly visual, auditory and bodily-kinesthetic, especially in Phase 1. For those who also want to be able to read and write, we have developed hundreds of hours of resources that will help you achieve those goals starting in Phase 2.
Thrive Connect is a WhatsApp group designed to facilitate communication between clients and the Thrive Administration and Scheduling Departments. Once you are enrolled in sessions, your WhatsApp number will be added to this group. Only administrators can post to this group with relevant announcements that are helpful to our clients. If you have a question about an announcement, you can contact the Administration or the Scheduling Department directly.
Thrive Maroc offices are closed for one day on national holidays and two days for Muslim religious holidays, with the exception of the First of Moharram, Muslim New Year, which is a 1-day religious holiday. We also close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24/25). Note that when national and religious holidays fall on a Sunday, they are not deferred or extended to Monday (as happens with Christmas, January 1st, July 4th and Veteran’s Day in the USA). In addition, Thrive Maroc offices are closed for vacation for two weeks at the beginning of August. Invoices are automatically pro-rated for the month of August.
Why should I sign up?
Decide how many hours you want to commit to each week based on your language goals and fill out the contact form by clicking on the Book a Session button. Our Scheduling Department will contact you to organize your free orientation session so that you can determine if our program is the right fit for you and make sure you know how to get the most out of our program.
A Taster Session is a 2-hour session that is designed for tourists and helpful for family and friends who are visiting Morocco: What’s your name? Where are you from? Please and thank you, as well as how to order coffee or tea at a café are all taught using the principles of Phase 1, so not only do your family and friends learn practical vocabulary, they also get a taste of what you’ve experienced in your language learning journey.
Send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com indicating how many people will be doing the Taster Session and the desired date(s) for the Taster Session. The fee is 250 dirhams per person, payable in cash at the time of the session, and we offer a 20% discount to friends and family of current clients.
How does language learning work?
Zoom sessions are reserved for clients in other cities and countries, and for corporate clients who do two 1-hour sessions per week from their office. Thrive does not have the capacity to accommodate the use of Zoom by clients who live in Casablanca, especially last-minute requests. Remember that our language coaches invest a lot of time and energy in preparing for your sessions and there are many activities that are more effective when done face-to-face. If you are sick, we ask that you book Fun Time to make up the session face-to-face.
Thrive Maroc is not designed to accommodate requests for specific coaches. Where schedules line up, the Scheduling Department will do their best to rotate language coaches every 4-6 weeks so that over the course of your time in our program you benefit from hearing multiple voices and perspectives on what it means to be Moroccan. The fact that not all clients are in the same phase of our program and not all clients study the same number of hours are factors that limit the frequency with which language coaches can be rotated.
Remember, our goal is to give you the best language experience possible. All our coaches are great. Each of them has different strengths and all of them are humble, teachable people who are committed to on-going coaching and upgrading. What you bring to your language sessions is also important because language learning is a partnership between client and coach. If you have questions, concerns or ideas, we ask that you take the initiative to bring them to the Thrive Administration or Scheduling Departments as soon as possible in order to make sure you’re obtaining the maximum benefit from our program.
Once you’ve started our program, we ask that you continue with the times that you committed to doing, especially if you are doing sessions in the morning. We prioritize morning sessions (9AM-1PM) for clients who are doing 20 hours per week and for families with children enrolled in local schools.
We want you to get the most out of our program, and that means making sure that you have opportunity to complete the hours that you’ve paid for each month. Whether you’ve had to cancel language sessions due to planned absences, such as vacations or visa runs, or due to unplanned absences, such as illness, Fun Time allows you to make up sessions for free when it is convenient for you.
Available Fun Time hours are posted each week in the Thrive Connect WhatsApp group. To book Fun Time, send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com indicating the name of the coach, the day of the week and the time of day that you would like to do Fun Time. For example: “I’d like to do Fun Time with Simo on Wednesday from 1:30-3:30.” These times are available on a first-come first-served basis. It is not necessary to reserve the entire block of time that is available. You will receive an email from the Scheduling Department confirming whether or not that session time has been reserved for you. If the time was already reserved by another client, you are welcome to pick a different time from the time slots posted in Thrive Connect.
Fun Time is designed as a way to make up cancelled or missed sessions, so we ask that you only complete enough Fun Time hours to make up the sessions that you didn’t do. If you cancel or miss two hours of sessions, you can do two hours of Fun Time. If at any time you decide you want to do more hours per week than the hours included in your invoice, we will adjust your invoice accordingly.
If you are sick, please send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com indicating your estimated absence so that the Scheduling Department can inform the coach and the coach’s hours can be utilized in other ways. When you don’t show up for a session or you let the Scheduling Department know less than 48 hours before a session, that session will be considered missed. When you give more than 48 hours’ notice, the session is considered cancelled. Missed and cancelled sessions can both be made up with Fun Time. However, if the sessions are recorded as missed, the invoice is not eligible to be pro-rated.
If you are traveling for a visa run or for vacation, you can continue to do your sessions via Zoom. If you won’t be able to attend your sessions, please send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com as soon as you make plans to travel and indicate the timeframe in which you will be gone (from first date of absence to last date of absence), as well was what date you will be resuming in-person sessions. This allows the Scheduling Department to inform the coach and make sure the coach’s hours are utilized in other ways.
If you are gone longer than two weeks, Thrive Maroc reserves the right to give your session time to a different client, especially if it is in the morning because morning sessions are in high demand. When you don’t show up for a session or you let the Scheduling Department know less than 48 hours before a session, that session will be considered missed. When you give more than 48 hours’ notice, the session is considered cancelled. Missed and cancelled sessions can both be made up with Fun Time. However, if the sessions are recorded as missed, the invoice is not eligible to be pro-rated.
If you need to pause your sessions for an extended period of time, or if you want to stop doing sessions at Thrive Maroc, we ask that you send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com at least one month in advance. Our language coaches are not paid hourly; they receive a monthly salary, and this advance notice gives us time to find other clients to fill their schedule. If you are pausing sessions, your recurring invoices will also be paused until you return. Please note that your session times will be subject to availability at the time of your return. Anyone who decides to pause or end their enrollment is welcome back at any time!
How do payments work?
There are three ways to pay for your invoice:
- Make a transfer to the Thrive Maroc bank account directly from your Moroccan bank account using the Thrive Maroc RIB (Relevé d’Identité Bancaire).
- Make a transfer to the Thrive Maroc bank account from your foreign bank account via Wise using the Thrive Maroc RIB.
- Take your cash payment and the Thrive Maroc RIB to the nearest branch of Banque Populaire and say that you would like to make a payment to the Thrive Maroc account.
Once you’ve started our program, your recurring invoice will be emailed on the 20th of every month for the next month’s sessions. We ask that you pay your invoice by the last day of the month in order to avoid the 5% late fee per week for each unpaid invoice. If you’re experiencing complications with your payment, please make arrangements with the Administration before the last day of the month. Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this area.
Thrive Maroc is a small company and on-time payment of invoices ensures that we can fulfill our obligations to pay our language coaches by the last day of the month.
Your invoice is based on you completing four weeks of sessions per month. For example:
20 hours per week x4 = 80 hours per month
15 hours per week x4 = 60 hours per month
10 hours per week x4 = 40 hours per month
4 hours per week x4 = 16 hours per month
Most months have 4.3 weeks, which means that in general you’ll be finishing more hours each month than you’ve paid for. The Scheduling Department tracks the number of hours that you’ve completed each month to make sure that your monthly average stays at or above the goal listed above. Remember that if you drop below that number, you can always book Fun Time to make up the hours that you didn’t do.
Once you’ve begun sessions with Thrive Maroc, your invoice will be the same every month that you are enrolled in sessions, with the exception of August and December. Those months are pro-rated because that is when Thrive Maroc offices are closed for vacation. If you will be traveling for a week or longer, or if you will be pausing sessions for a period of time, we ask that you send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com at least one month in advance so that adjustments can be made to your recurring invoice if needed and so that the Scheduling Department can make sure the coach’s hours are utilized in other ways.
Remember that if you are gone longer than two weeks, Thrive Maroc reserves the right to give your session time to a different client. Also, remember that when you don’t show up for a session or you let the Scheduling Department know less than 48 hours before a session, that session will be considered missed. When you give more than 48 hours’ notice, the session is considered cancelled. If the sessions are recorded as missed, the invoice is not eligible to be pro-rated.
We want to answer your questions! If you have a question that needs an answer, please send an email to scheduling@thrivemaroc.com to receive an answer to your question. And if you think other clients would benefit from your question, you can request that it be added to our list of FAQs!
