Recent Work - Executive Languages

We were selected by competitive tender process by the UK's largest mobile telephony company, based in Newbury, to be their on-site languages services provider.

This involved us in the regular delivery by our tutoring team of total immersion, intensive, group and one-to-one language courses in 8 different languages over a period of five years.

During this time we also developed and implemented some uniquely sophisticated diagnostic techniquesas well as monitoring, control and reporting systems to ensure that the company derived the maximum benefit from the language services provided.

This contract was only lost because our web services supplier went bankrupt before delivering our on-line control and reporting system.

The MD of a Slough-based British subsidiary of a American multi-national was asked to transfer know-how to the sister subsidiary in Germany. He decided that the job would work much better if he could speak German.

Due to pressure on his diary, he decided to take our 2 week total immersion course at our preferred language centre in Belgium, followed up by a 6 month course on his return designed to consolidate and expand on what he had learned.

From a start of some very ancient, rusty, schoolboy German, he now copes well, albeit over a limited topic range with his colleagues in Germany, many of whom have no English at all, especially those at a senior level.

The British subsidiary of a US software firm had installed a highly sophisticated stock control programme in a leading Spanish supermarket chain. Minor faults were monitored and rectified from the UK via the telephone line.

The company used us to train a 4 man team to speak Spanish by means of a 6-week accelerated course, in their offices in Bracknell, at times that interfered least with normal working patterns.

After 80 hours’ intensive tuition, the team took the LCCI (London Chamber of Commerce International) exams and achieved 1 distinction, 2 credits and a pass. None of them spoke any Spanish at all at the outset.

A major company in the water treatment sector was taken over by a French multinational. It was decided, in order to ensure better collaboration, team-work and understanding that all employees dealing with French colleagues at any level should receive tuition in French by means of twice weekly, one hour classes over lunchtime.

After assessments, three levels were established, and the courses ran very successfully for a period of three years, during which time all participants sat LCCI exams with 100% pass rates.

A major multinational IT firm based in the Thames Valley runs a 24 hour global help-desk operation. Call centre staff in UK receive calls from anywhere in the world and are recruited partly because of their linguistic skills, which they are encouraged to develop and diversify by learning other languages. Language learning is hence very much part of their on-going responsibilities.

All staff in the unit are regularly audited to ensure that progress continues to be achieved.

The HR director of a major company in the telecommunications sector, with a substantial British operation, decided that he needed to improve his already good English and also achieve a better understanding of British business culture, management styles and working practices. Over a period of 18 months this enabled him to negotiate and implement some sensitive major changes within his organisation which he said would not have been possible for him without our training and briefing.

The company offers high-tech, short-cut solutions to manufacturers world-wide, and perceived a major market opportunity in mainland China. Selected members of its sales team were given intensive and extensive lessons in Mandarin (spoken and written) and were able to achieve significant penetration in their chosen market over a 5 year period. Often, commercial advantage was derived merely from the team's ability to understand what their opposite numbers in China were really talking about – in Mandarin !