» Top Posts
“What Can You Do to Effectively Revise Or Build Your Business English?”
Do not fool yourself. You can’t do the English language course once or even twice a week. Too time pressing. You need something else. Like what? Please, read on.
The only problem that you might have about this is – the available time. There isn’t any you will say. Up to a certain extent this is true, beyond any doubt. What I also think is that anything you want to do in your life is a matter of priorities and smart goal setting, learning or revising English included.
The other disadvantage that learners come across in their learning endeavours is the promised magic potion or magic formula, which makes you learn the desired foreign language in a few weeks. No, unfortunately this is not true. It’s not. Say whatever you want, but it’s not. You need time to do a course or a workshop, do some homework, maybe read a bit and perhaps take a test. If you buy these empty promises, which then do not materialize, you’ll end up even more disappointed and frustrated and getting back to it will be more difficult. To avoid that, please, follow some of my suggestions, based on 15-year experience of teaching business English.
1) What do I need to learn?
A good needs analysis is a prerequisite to an effective learning. Long-lasting courses, once or twice a week, over a period of an academic year – forget it. An average person doesn’t make it. Too time pressing. You miss classes once, twice, lose track of the group and hate coming back, because it’s difficult to catch up.
Also if you already know some English, use it at work, what you need is a short, tailor-made course, which only includes areas of your interest.
2) Where do I go to get the knowledge I need?
If you really do not have any other option – do an open-public language course. A far better choice is an in-company course, tailored for your needs. The course will also take place at company facilities, which means no time wasted travelling to the other side of town, to a different location.
What is even better than a course is an intensive (full-immersion) workshop of no more than 20 academic lessons or a one-day workshop. ROI here is the best according to my experience. People who join these courses are highly motivated, concentrated, knowing that what they’re going to learn is exactly what they need.
If a workshop like this (1) includes well-prepared materials, (2) the group is of appropriate size (no more than 12 people) and (3) if the trainer knows the subject well, can motivate people is available and dynamic then the learning effects will be much better than joining a regular course.
If you would like to have a look at readily available courses, click here, for a tailor-made workshop for your organization, please, click here, to register for open-public workshops, starting this September click here for a course of business English for secretaries and personal assistants and here for a full-immersion business English course.
I am also available to train you online, one-on-one or in small groups, to contact me, please, click here.
3) How do I make sure that I’ll get the knowledge and skills I can actually use?
It’s an absolute must to include situations, materials, case studies from your working background. This is not always possible, however, if it is – do it. By all means. Insist on it. A workshop on persuasive presentations will like this be more effective if the participants hold short speeches themselves and receive feedback. A role-play included into a workshop on negotiations makes people see and feel how the strategies learnt are used in practice. And if you’ve decided for a workshop on proposal writing, have the trainer look at some of already made proposals to suggest improvements. The possibilities, as you can see, are endless.
4) What about international certificates and exams, e. g. Cambridge Exams?
Yes, makes sense, with a bit of a reservation on my part. One must be aware that they will have to follow a course, where the syllabus is already set, very little deviation for customized content is possible, if none. Like this you might be forced into learning things you do not need or already know.
The good thing about it is that you are tested by an independent institution, which give a clear picture and understanding where you are with your knowledge. And for Training Centres within companies and organizations this is a way how to measure and monitor learning effects.
If you would like to do a business English course with an international certificate or need more information about it, please, click here.
5) What’s the best time to learn English?
This questions does not refer to whether Mondays are better than Fridays or March is more suitable than September. The fact is that if you start learning or polishing your English when you already need it, it can and will be more stressful and most probably less effective.
So, let’s imagine that at this point you do not really hold business presentations in English, but have the chance to join such a workshop and have the time and money to do so, not to mention that one day you’d like to work in a marketing department, where this is a must-have skill – DO IT! NOW! You do not want to lost the opportunity when it comes knocking on your door just because you do not know how to speak in public, do you?!
