If you’re a founder or CEO of a company, one of the best things you could do for your workforce is give them language classes.
There are many benefits not just for them as individuals, but also for your business. You’ll grow a lot, reach international markets, and become a culturally sensitive company.
Maybe you’ve already thought about doing this. But, as a leader, you have to consider everything! Even the disadvantages of corporate language training for your whole company. Are there even any?
Let’s find out and see if you can do something about them!
Busy Schedules
Every single person at a company, from employees to the CEO, has a very tight agenda. Not only do they have to work, they also have a life outside of work with families, friends, hobbies and responsibilities.
So, it’s not always easy for them to sign up for language classes. This can make them feel a bit discouraged, especially if they really need a new language for their job and career.
But a busy week doesn’t necessarily have to be a deal breaker. There are some things you and your employees can do to make some space for language learning.
If you need your employees to learn a second language, you should designate a time during work hours for them to get corporate language training. You should also offer an empty office or a boardroom for them to take the classes in.
Money
We know that you can think of language training as a potentially costly expense. Especially if you have many employees that need it.
In this case you have to think about the benefits of language learning for small businesses and large corporations. Because no matter how big your company already is, there’s some space for growth. And in today’s globalized world, bilingualism and multilingualism are important tools to achieve that.
So, if you analyze it, it might be better if you invest now in your workforce’s language skills. And get back your investment in the form of the benefits your company will get from having prepared personnel.
Of course, always look for teachers or a corporate language training company whose service is worth what you pay for.
General Language Classes
Learning all aspects of your target language is necessary for work. So general language classes that teach you the normal stuff, like grammar, verbs, vocabulary for everyday life, listening, reading, and more, are great. But the truth is, they might not be enough for business and work.
If you need your second language for your job, you’ll need classes aiming to teach you things you’ll use at your work. So, more like business English classes, French for business, business Spanish…
If you take general classes, you might struggle with some aspects of your work. Like the jargon used in your industry, business etiquette in your target language’s culture, proper communication practice for the office and to deal with clients…
But it’s not a hard problem to solve. Just make sure the language training program you hire gives personalized classes for your job industry. Like here at Fluency Corp, where we do exactly that. Our language classes are customized to your needs and job.
This way, you’ll fully see the results in your professional career and, therefore, in the way your business grows.
Lack of At-Home Practice
Employees might not keep practicing what they learn during their corporate language classes. Maybe it’s because they don’t have a lot of extra time before and after work, or because they’re not interested in learning a new language.
Whatever the reason, it’s always much better for their process and skills to keep practicing after each lesson.
Don’t worry, though. You can let them know they can keep practicing at home even with a busy schedule. Just by doing everyday activities, like listening to music and reading. This will not only make learning
If the reason is that they feel forced to take the classes for work but aren’t interested in languages. Tell them all the benefits they’ll get from it in their personal lives. It might make them more interested in learning.
Frustration
Learning languages is not easy and it doesn’t happen overnight, as much as we’d want to.
So, when you try to speak with foreign co-workers or clients, you might still struggle if you’re at the beginning of your journey. Or when you try to read some documents, you’ll probably still have to look for the meaning of some words.
Even as you advance, there’ll be things you don’t know how to pronounce or don’t understand.
This can make you all feel frustrated. And sometimes this leads to quitting.
Remember: It’s a process, you’ll get there. Don’t be discouraged! Just keep practicing. Today’s mistakes are a lesson and tomorrow’s wisdom.
Also, don’t be ashamed to practice at the office, speaking with fellow coworkers or bosses. It’s the best environment to learn language for business.
You must also make sure you get a language program where you can practice what you learn and especially your speaking skills. In fact, that’s one of our main focuses at Fluency Corp, getting you to speak. This way you can put that knowledge into practice in a safe space.
Picking the Language Your Company Needs
If your goal is to reach international markets or if you own a multilingual company, picking one language to learn can be difficult.
To do this, you’ll have to analyze your business’ needs and your employees’ needs. And which language will be better for them that will also help your company grow and achieve its goals.
You can also take into account which language predominates the most in your company. Do the vast majority of the foreign employees are from France? Are most of the clients from Japan?
Or you could also choose different languages depending on your employees’ needs. For this, of course, it’d be better if you hired a company expert in teaching different languages, like Fluency Corp.
Overall, there are many things you can think about when picking a language for your workforce to learn. Evaluate each one with great detail.
Fluency Corp Helps Your Company Become Multilingual
Now that you’ve seen all the challenges that come with trying to get language classes for your whole company, you also know there are solutions. But you need a strong and experienced team of teachers that will help you and your employees master your target language.
That’s where we come in! Fluency Corp offers corporate language training in more than 10 languages!
Our lessons are also instructed by experienced native teachers, so you’ll learn from people that know the language inside out. They’ve used it in all kinds of situations, including professional environments.
The best of all is that our lessons are completely customized to the job and your needs. So, you just have to tell us what you’re looking for in our classes, what you need and what your goals are. We’ll make a plan for you!
From accent training to vocabulary for a specific industry to language for expats. We can help you!
As if that weren’t enough, we base our classes in the Bellieu Method, which encourages you to speak in every class. It’s the best way to achieve language fluency!
Because we know you’re busy, we also have online or onsite classes. So you can choose the ones that adjust the best to your agenda. Plus, we offer flexible schedules!
Contact us for a free consultation now! We’re ready to help you find solutions to your challenges. As well as to answer any doubts that may be stopping you from taking the next step towards fluency.
