Barriers to language learning
“The French are really terrible at English” (Slate, 20/02/2012); “Why are the French so bad at foreign languages?” (BFMTV, 27/09/2017)… When it comes to criticising language proficiency, French bashing is rampant. Whether the consequence of a set of deficient factors or the cause of deep-seated discomfort, our conviction about ourselves and our counterparts regarding our […]
How to Learn a Foreign Language? Our 8 Essential Tips.
A recent Eurobarometer 54 study “Europeans and Languages” revealed that nearly 47% of Europeans surveyed do not speak any foreign language. However, 71% state that “everyone in the European Union should be able to speak a community language in addition to their mother tongue”. Unsurprisingly, for 75% of Europeans, English remains the most useful language. […]
Why is multilingualism in business important?
Why is multilingualism in business important? 7000! That’s the number of languages (excluding dialects) spoken worldwide¹. Today, more and more businesses are internationalised, requiring employees to use multiple languages. This phenomenon is called multilingualism. It refers to a community or country where several languages are spoken. Be careful not to confuse this with plurilingualism, which […]
How to evaluate skills and performance?
The expectations of corporate training departments In the first part of this article, we observed that the expectations of training departments in terms of language training results are often unrealistic, disconnected from the actual objectives of the training, and induce perverse effects on learning. The specifications in the profession’s calls for tender are full of […]
How many hours of training for an operational level in English? For what budget?
Why can learning time vary from simple to quadruple depending on the learning method? Many companies provide English training without a clearly established objective by either the company or the training organisation. Yet, the simplest objective is to target C1 level (“operational”) as defined on the ALTE scale, as it allows for real productivity gains […]
Should companies train their employees in English?
Everyone agrees that the level of English among employees in France is penalising for their companies. A study on English proficiency, conducted by Education First, even ranks France in 29th and last position among European countries. The Harvard Business Review establishes a flagrant correlation between improved English skills and increased profits generated in international trade. […]
