The most frequently asked questions
from our clients
We get many questions from our clients! We’ve put together this list of FAQs to help you find quick answers about our programs, scheduling, and more.
Who are we?
Our method is based on common learning styles and effective strategies for acquiring language and culture. Our method mirrors first-language learning, using visual, auditory, and bodily-kinesthetic approaches, particularly in Phase 1. For those wanting to read and write, we’ve developed hundreds of hours of resources to support this from Phase 2.
“The Darija Connection” a WhatsApp group designed to facilitate communication between clients and the Administration and Scheduling Departments. We will add your WhatsApp number to this group once you enroll in sessions. 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.
The Darija Center is closed for one day on national holidays and two days for Muslim religious holidays, except for the First of Moharram, which is a 1-day holiday. (Muslim New Year) We also close for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (December 24/25). National and religious holidays that fall on Sunday are not deferred to Monday, unlike holidays such as Christmas, January 1st, July 4th, and Veteran’s Day in the USA. In addition, our offices are closed for vacation for two weeks at the beginning of August. We automatically pro-rate invoices for the month of August.
Why should I sign up?
Choose how many hours to commit each week according to your language goals, then fill out the contact form by clicking Book a Session. Our Scheduling Department will reach out to arrange your free orientation session. This will help you decide if our program fits your needs and shows you how to make the most of it.
A Taster Session is a 2-hour introduction for tourists and helpful for visiting family or friends. You’ll learn phrases like ‘What’s your name?’ and ‘Where are you from?’ and how to order coffee or tea, all based on Phase 1 principles. This gives your family and friends practical vocabulary and a taste of your language learning journey.
Email our scheduling department with the number of people attending and preferred dates for the Taster Session. The fee is 250 dirhams per person, payable in cash during the session. A 20% discount is available for friends and family of current clients.
How does language learning work?
Zoom sessions are available for clients in other cities or countries, and for corporate clients with two 1-hour sessions per week from their office. We cannot accommodate Zoom sessions for clients in Casablanca, particularly for last-minute requests. Our language coaches invest considerable time in preparing your sessions, and many activities are more effective in person. If you’re sick, please book a Fun Time session to make up for the missed class in person.
Our coaches are all exceptional! We want you to work with each of them. When schedules align, the Scheduling Department works hard to rotate language coaches every 4-6 weeks. This way, you benefit from hearing multiple voices and perspectives on what it means to be Moroccan throughout your time in our program. As clients progress through different phases and study varying hours, these factors influence how often we rotate coaches.
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, which means ensuring you have the opportunity to complete the hours you’ve paid for each month. If you need to cancel language sessions—whether for planned absences like vacations or visa runs, or unplanned ones like illness—Fun Time lets you make up sessions for free at your convenience.
Each week, we post available Fun Time hours in “The Darija Connection” WhatsApp group. To book a session, email our scheduling department with your coach’s name, the day, and the time you’d like. For example: “I’d like to do Fun Time with Simo on Wednesday from 1:30-3:30.”
We offer Fun Time slots on a first-come, first-served basis. You don’t have to reserve an entire time block—just choose what works for you. The Scheduling Department will email you to confirm whether your requested time is available. If another client has already reserved it, you can select a different time from the posted schedule in “The Darija Connection.”
We design Fun Time to help 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, send an email to our scheduling department to indicate your estimated absence, and we will inform the coach and their 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. You can make up missed and cancelled sessions 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 our scheduling department as soon as you make plans to travel and indicate the time frame 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, we may 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 The Darija Center, we ask that you send an email to our scheduling department 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 bank account of our parent company (Thrive Maroc, SARL) directly from your Moroccan bank account using the Thrive Maroc RIB (Relevé d’Identité Bancaire) printed on each invoice.
- 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.
The Darija Center 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. See our Pricing page.
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.
You pay the same invoice amount each month while enrolled in sessions at The Darija Center, except in August and December when we close for vacation.. We pro-rate those months.
If you plan to travel for a week or longer or need to pause your sessions, email our Scheduling Department at least one month in advance. This gives us time to adjust your recurring invoice if needed and reassign your coach’s hours.
If you’re away for more than two weeks, we may offer your session time to another client. Also, if you miss a session or notify the Scheduling Department less than 48 hours before, we will mark the session as missed. If you give more than 48 hours’ notice, we mark it as canceled. We do not pro-rate missed sessions.
We want to answer your questions! If you have a question that needs an answer, please send an email to our administration or scheduling departments 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!