Why does your company need language training?

A recent survey showed that 48% of European small- and medium-sized companies offer language courses to their employees. It also found that the companies doing so were generally more successful all round.
This is hardly surprising. The business world is fast becoming more and more international. A good knowledge of foreign languages, especially for negotiation purposes, is therefore crucial.
The same holds true for your company. So why not get in touch with us? We will help you and your colleagues to speak and think in English – and give you that all-important competitive edge.

Our references

For over 60 years, we have been striving to improve communication in the corporate world. Just some of the top performing international companies among our loyal clients include: ING bank, Bristol-Myers Squibb, eBay, Alcatel, BASF, KBC Bank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Wolters-Kluwer, Monsanto, Esso, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Bosch, Toyota, Swiss Life, etc.

Other satisfied clients are large international organizations with a vital need for multilingual communication: the European Parliament, the European Commission, NATO, FAO, dozens of embassies and hundreds of representation offices.
Many small- and medium-sized companies have also looked to us for training in one or more foreign languages. These are companies active in IT, trade and commerce, the legal or medical sectors, as well as in a variety of other professional fields.

Which languages do we offer?

The English Academy is of course reputed for teaching ENGLISH thanks to the high calibre of its experienced professional team. Hence the name ‘English Academy’, by virtue of our core activity.
We also, however, have considerable experience in other languages such as FRENCH, GERMAN, SPANISH, RUSSIAN, DUTCH, CHINESE and ITALIAN, working with an extensive team of native speakers.
The same rules and prices apply for these languages. Tuition in other languages is also available. Just e-mail for further details.

An employer or training manager has to know and check what is going on.

As a manager paying for a language course for your employees, you will naturally be asking yourself questions such as: “When do the lessons take place? Are the participants punctual and motivated? Are they making good progress? Are the teachers any good? Are the lessons tailored to what our company needs?”
You can rest assured. Our solutions for companies are set up in such a way that you get all the answers you are looking for.

1. The course will focus on your objectives.

When considering language training for your company, you have certain needs in mind: negotiating, telephoning, selling, presenting products or services, writing e-mails, etc. You want optimum learning for optimum results.
All too often, most language courses do not address corporate needs, focusing as they do on general and non-business topics, sports, movies, literature, and so on. Not exactly the vocabulary needed day-to-day in the workplace…
We at The English Academy fully understand this, which is why we first LISTEN to your professional requirements instead of imposing such a standard course.
This is how we do it:

• a. The student and the company first explain their needs
  By phone and/or via our online needs analysis form, you tell us what you and your employees expect, before they start the course. We then compile an initial report so as to fully brief the designated teacher before he or she works with the student for the first time.
  If you so wish, we can also develop an overall language training plan for your company.
• b. We test the starting level
  The online level test on our website gives us a good idea of the general level and specific problem areas of each student. If necessary, this can be supplemented by a short oral test to identify any special linguistic aspects the teacher needs to address, e.g. phrasal verbs, word order, conjugation, pronunciation, business vocabulary, etc. This information will also help us to determine the duration, intensity, and schedule of the programme should you decide to assign us the additional task of language training consultant.
• c. You can determine the intensity
  We do not impose a given number of hours per week. You decide on the frequency of the lessons. As a rule, students take 4 hours a week, but we can schedule as many lessons as you want. Some people want only one 90-minute lesson a week, while others prefer 4 hours a day.
  For fully intensive training weeks, meaning every day from 9 am to 6 pm, we can offer you an alternative worth considering: our intensive individual residential courses. These are very popular with our business clientele.
• d. We select the right material
  Our collaboration with the ‘Cambridge University Press’ ensures that we have the most appropriate course materials for students studying English with us. We often use course books focusing on the practical use of English in a general professional environment, such as ‘English 365’ which comes in different levels and which is included in the course fee.
  Thanks to their extensive catalogue, we have a variety of business-oriented English books to choose from covering different professions and different levels. We can thus offer you a truly personalized English course to meet your requirements.
  These books are shipped directly to the students; prices range from 30 to 60 € per book.
  In addition to the course books, we use interactive learning material geared to specific individual needs. We can even incorporate company documents so that the focus really is on the practical vocabulary needed in the workplace.
  We have similar resources for other languages.
• e. The course content remains flexible
  Even though the teacher has a great deal of information about the students before they actually start (based on the test results and needs analysis form), lesson planning remains flexible enough to adapt to their personal interests and needs as the course progresses. Our highly experienced tutors soon pinpoint the weaknesses to be worked on. This is precisely why we do not pre-determine the entire content of the courses we offer.

2. You can check the frequency and evolution of each course

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation, as well as feedback from our language instructors, ensures that they apply the most advanced teaching techniques and very latest teaching tools. To help you track attendance and punctuality, we send you an overview for each course every month. You thus also have a clear idea of how long the overall course is likely to take.

3. You get a detailed progress report

After a 30-hour course, you will receive a progress report giving you an overview of the course content, motivation, participation, interest and progress of the student, including recommendations for the future.

4. You get a copy of the student’s feedback

At the end of each course, students are asked to fill out an evaluation form. It gives them the opportunity to comment on all aspects of the language course.
You will be sent a copy of their feedback so that you know what your colleagues and/or employees thought about the course.
This information also enables us to keep constantly enhancing the quality of our tuition and teaching material.

So how much does it cost?

As you can see, we offer a full service package for our corporate clients.
And the good news is that there is no extra charge for our solutions for companies. Our standard rates remain applicable.
And our prices are all-inclusive.

• Student evaluation tests
• Programme development
• Standard course material
• Detailed reports for company management.

With no hidden costs – and no V.A.T.
You also receive a tax-deductible invoice for every payment made. Because billing is done in Belgium, where language courses are not liable for value added tax, this is one more thing you do not have to worry about.

Why not give us a call and find out more about The ENGLISH ACADEMY? You won’t be disappointed.