How to develop language skills through corporate training

With the expansion of the labour market, partnerships, international projects and teams in multinational organizations, new challenges in communication and implicitly in foreign languages have raised. Companies no longer request regular courses, but complex training programs, aimed at bringing their employees as close to their interlocutor as possible.

Tackling a language course for professionals must be customized, depending on the sector in which they carry out their daily activities: automotive, energy industry, pharma, telecom and IT, oil and gas, commerce, medicine, tourism, diplomacy or public services.

From the very beginning, the courses aim at developing the four language skills: writing, reading, listening and speaking. Depending on the industry and the company the trainees work for, the trainers identify topics and various conversational situations; then, through case studies and articles, through role play and relevant video presentations, they facilitate the trainees’ path to effective communication.

Beyond these basic skills, however, the participants acquire language tools which assist them in carrying out specific departmental tasks: accountancy or financial field, customer care or human resources, marketing and advertising, legal or sales and acquisitions. For example, they are guided to prepare a presentation of a marketing strategy in English, they are able to initiate and conclude a cooperation with German partners, can overcome the challenges of a telephone conversation with a new customer. Specifically, at the end of the course participants acquire skills such as:

– Drafting reports, financial documents, presentations;
– Directly relating by phone or in writing, on different levels of formality;
– Negotiating and concluding contracts of employment or business;
– Providing advice on rights and duties, examining the conditions of a merger of companies;
– Communicating, in the target language, advertising campaigns and strategies and drafting press releases;
– Networking formally and semi-formally in business contexts;
– Drafting offers, sales plans and taking orders.

Due to more frequent interactions with partners, colleagues, suppliers or customers who speak different languages, companies have turned to customized corporate training for their employees. Thus, they provide professionals with a new tool for successful communication in international business: foreign language knowledge.