People, not courses
We do not teach courses, we coach people.
The learner, alone or in a group, is the starting point of all our activities. We find out:
- his goals
- his strengths and weaknesses
How can we work with the latter to achieve the former?
Our coaches answer these questions creatively in order to plan and implement the courses, to increase learner skills and so to build confidence.
Location and structure
Flexibility is the key. Not only do we tailor-make the content of your course, we ensure that its location and structure precisely meets your needs:
- Most courses are in-house
- Presentation Skills can be out-of-house or residential
- Individual or group sessions are available
- When and how frequently sessions are held is negotiable and flexible
- Postponement – we are flexible but prefer at least one hour's notice before the start of the session
All arrangements are negotiable.
Course types
We have structured our language services so you can immediately see how your needs can be met. We are currently offering four types:
- Spoken English
- Written English
- Presentation Skills
- Mixed Course
The first three types are explained in detail elsewhere on the site. If your needs are not completely met by 1, 2 or 3, you will be considering:
Mixed Course
This course is for people with a wider range of needs than covered by 1, 2 or 3 above. You might need to, for example
- attend a meeting held in English, at which you will discuss a number of technical points with colleagues from different countries
- go with those colleagues to a restaurant, where the conversation will move continually from the professional to the social and semi-personal
- email some follow-up information to one of the meeting participants
- make a short presentation of a project on which you are working at the next meeting
To deal with the above situations you need:
- meeting skills and vocabulary in English, including how to get your point across with impact
- social, inter-cultural linguistic skills
- writing skills covering emails
- basic presentation skills to meet your specific challenge
We will tailor-make a course to meet all your needs in communicating in English.
Pre-course interview
When the coach and the learner meet for the first time, the coach asks about the learner's professional and personal goals. Professional goals could include for example, being able to answer telephone enquiries in English from customers in Germany, Canada and Kazakhstan, while also being able to send emails confirming or questioning details about these telecons. A personal goal could be to feel more confident while talking on the phone in English.
This interview is important. It is the first goal setting that the learner does, while the coach uses it to assess the learner's starting point. The coach and learner together assess ongoing progress towards the goals from this point. This interview is free. Sometimes it rolls over into the first actual learning sesssion.