Berlitz Story

How it all began and evolved…

After immigrating from Germany in 1870, our company founder, Maximilian Berlitz, took an opportunity giving language lessons in the United States. He used his exceptional skills to teach several languages from Europe including German, French, Greek and Latin.

After teaching languages for several years, Berlitz realized that the traditional teaching method based on grammar and translation was not effective. From then on, he began to use an immersive teaching technic that he developed, and the Berlitz Method was born.

1878 saw the launch of the first Berlitz School of Languages in Providence, Rhode Island.

Today Berlitz is one of the leading global players in the fields of language learning with 550 Berlitz Centers in over 70 countries.

For over 140 years, Berlitz has been delivering language lessons to help our students progress further.

Our philosophy

Progress starts with understanding

We take the experience we’ve gained over the last 140+ years to give you the language skills and confidence to open up a world full of new opportunities. We are thrilled to help you and your business.

Milestones

• 1878 – Maximillian Berlitz established the first Language School. (Rhode Island)
• 1888 – A Berlitz Center was opened in Europe for the first time. (Berlin)
• 1950 – A Berlitz Center was opened in Latin America for the first time. (Mexico)
• 1964 – Total Immersion system was developed.
• 1964 – A Berlitz Center was opened in Tokyo for the first time.
• 1970 – Multimedia compatible materials were developed.
• 1982 – Berlitz Junior&Kids was introduced to the world.
• 2003 – Under the name of ‘‘Virtual Classroom’’, a live online lesson was conducted by an actual teacher on the internet.
• 2012 – Berlitz Ankara was opened.
• 2018 – Berlitz Language Schools celebrated its 140th anniversary worldwide.