5 Tips When Choosing A Business English Language Training Programme In England

Posted: Feb 25, 2010 |Comments: 0 |

As the international language of business communication, there has clearly never before been a greater need for a manager to upgrade his English language skills. However, most non-native English speaking executives these days would also agree that they have precious little time to spare when it comes to training. To leave your family and your desk for just one week means a big sacrifice for the contemporary manager. Similarly,the company making a training investment in a particular member of staff needs to see a measurable and noticeable return on their training investment. How can both be sure that a particular business English training programme will not just be a big waste of time and money ? Surprising then that so few HR / Training Managers, and the executive staff that they are advising and sponsoring, take such a small amount of time to ensure that they have settled on the best intensive Business English language training programme in England for an individual staff member's needs. The advice given below is meant to act as an easily useable "Check List" for those having to make such decisions. Ask the questions, do your homework and you will be rewarded with a culturally rich training experience of potentially life-changing proportions:

1 Is the English language school accredited?

Credible English language schools in Britain will are now accredited by an external body. This means that their staff and all of their systems and procedures have been subject to a thorough quality audit. A widely popular and globally recognised scheme for UK English Langauage Schoolsis run by the British Council. An accredited school will be listed as approved by English UK on their website and in their brochure. There is a no more highly coveted kitemark as "Accredited by the British Council" it is a real guarantee of quality. The very best schools will even give clients an unconditional guarantee of quality and should a client or his or her sponsor not be 100% happy with the training provided, will return fees in full.

2 Can the school provide contact details of ex-clients happy to make a personal recommendation?

Any school worth its salt must be able to refer you to some of their previous executive clients, living in your country, who were so happy with the service they received at the school, that they are willing to speak to you directly. Would you make a significant and expensive purchase for any other product or service from abroad if a company could not refer you to such satisified customers beforehand? Probably not, so take your time and seek referrals directly.

3 Does the school maximise your "out of class" exposure to English?

As an international business person you will be used to visiting comfortable hotels and relaxing in your room at the end of a busy day. However, remember why you are going to the UK this time! Didn't you need to really make a fast and lasting improvement to your spoken English fluency and confidence for the sake of improving your personal performance and career prospects? So clearly you would benefit more by staying with a carefully selected local host family, from a similar professional background as you, offering you a room with private bathroom, rather than a lonely hotel room! Also, when choosing an English language school in the UK it would be useful to see what is organsied to ensure that you have maximum exposure to the language outside of the classroom as well as in. Does the school have a sample weekly activity programme of all the events guaranteed to take place every week? Are these events led by the school staff? Do they allow you to practise your English in the contexts that you need for work eg meetings, presentations and social networking? Will the school make an effort to set up meetings and visits to local companies in the same field as you during your stay? Again, look carefully! The best schools out there will do all of these things for you!

4 Does the school take care to identify and agree a client's specific needs and wants?

When you have just one week to spare and your company is investing heavily in your business English skills the last thing that you want to do is simply follow the same old English grammar course that failed to teach you English when you were at school. Any valid programme that is designed to maximise your progress in a limited period will take time to assess your level of English, paying attention to your specific and individual strengths and weaknesses even before you leave home. The best schools will even arrange to do this with you at your desk. VOIP allows quick, cheap and easy video conferencing for a Needs Analysis interview so that the areas that you need to focus on for your job can be covered in your programme. That way, if you need to make a big presentation the week after your course finishes, that is what you concentrate on during your intensive week in England.

5 Are there any hidden costs connected with attending a particular English language school?

A lot of English language schools will make extra charges for certain things that are not obvious at the point of sale. A common one is an "Accommodation Arrangement Fee" on top of the weekly charge for the host family accommodation. Another is a "Registration Fee". Any decent tax lawyer knows that these are clearly just "stealthy" ways to make extra profit. It's also worth checking the cost of an airport taxi transfer from your UK destination airport ot the school. Why spend ages finding a

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