"Money is not an issue. Results are needed" - that is the task wealthy compatriots usually set for foreign schools. The most common misconception of our business elite heading for short-term study abroad: "If I have a lot of money, I can learn a language without making an effort." Timothy Blake, director of the oldest accredited English language school for business people in London, the London School of English, urges being realistic. To achieve results, you need to forget about status and get back into the student's shoes, unconditionally following the recommendations of teachers (or rather, trainers - that's what teachers of Executive programs are called).
How trainers fundamentally differ from teachers was told to me by a senior manager who studied at the Canning school in London. His first individual lesson at the Elementary level (when the learner understands something and can produce simple phrases in English) began with a firm handshake accompanied by 'How do you do' uttered by the trainer. The learner didn't get it for a few seconds: why did his answering 'Hello' not satisfy the trainer, who started shaking his hand again? On the fifth try, he guessed to say 'How do you do'. Thus, from the very first minutes, the client was taught the correct greeting in practice.
Straight to the point
The client of an Executive program must clearly set the task, and how to achieve results is the school's concern. As a rule, the learner is asked to fill out a questionnaire in advance with questions about work, learning goals, required skills, and existing problems with language learning. For example, if you need to prepare for an important presentation to a foreign audience, it is important not only to state the topic of the presentation but also to characterize the audience (number of listeners, their nationality, level of English, roles in the company), describe the desired outcome of the meeting, etc. The earlier the questionnaire (or a free-form training brief) is sent to the school, the more time the trainers have to develop a high-quality individual program.
A wealthy Spanish banker, a client of the London School of English, wanted to prepare for negotiations together with his financial director and meet with experts in banking to gain new ideas. As a result, they were trained simultaneously by three teachers: permanent school staff (specialists in language and development of necessary international communication skills) and an expert in banking who taught brainstorming and generating new ideas. Plus, every day an hour and a half of classes with experts in various fields of interest to the clients. After the bankers' conversation with the expert, a debriefing began - two trainers together with the learners analyzed what could be improved.
If the client is not sure that he can communicate with the school on his own, or if a professional consultation is needed, he can use the services of an educational agency in his home country, or even better, in London. It can also be useful on the spot - for providing ancillary services (transfers, country trips, entertainment), as well as for resolving various misunderstandings during training.
It also makes sense to turn to professionals because very often the learner does not quite exactly understand what he really needs. The school, of course, always respects the client's stated goals and priorities, but may recommend focusing on mastering other skills. It is better to listen to the recommendations, given the many years of experience of the trainers. For example, a company executive is about to travel to Germany to meet future customers, or, say, to an economic forum in London to make contacts with future investors, on whom he needs to make a proper impression. With an Intermediate level of language, he has only four weeks to prepare. In such a situation, a reputable school will advise not to focus on cramming business vocabulary (interpreters will help at meetings), but to concentrate on so-called social English – in order to win the hosts' sympathy during communication outside of formal meetings.
Not only business
Executive programs are sought not only by bankers and entrepreneurs, but also by all those who need an individual approach and the most efficient use of time spent. For example, a famous actress from China studied at one of the London schools. The goal was to prepare for filming a movie in the UK through a year of intensive study. She worked with a trainer who specializes in acting and diction training. In addition to studying at the school, the actress visited London theaters with the teacher.
If you need to take your spouse on business trips, it wouldn't hurt for her to acquire small talk skills. The London School of English has a popular individual program 'for spouses', within which they visit London galleries with the teacher during the day, musicals in Covent Garden and Soho in the evening, and in the morning learn to carry on a conversation about where they have been and what they have seen.
Many students come to schools not so much to study English within a specific subject area as to develop certain communication skills. A separate topic is the language of meetings. Ways of expressing disagreement is one of the delicate issues. For example, ahead of the upcoming presidency of the European Union in 2001, the Swedish government turned to the London School of English. They needed help in preparing a large team that would be responsible for 'managing' representatives of European countries for a year, discussing issues that are difficult to reach agreement on, and also holding 800 meetings involving officials and experts with different mentalities and temperaments. Of course, the Swedish team needed not only to improve their English, but also to learn how to reach consensus, resolve conflicts between interlocutors dissatisfied with each other. They had to master technical English in a wide variety of fields (e.g., fishing) and learn the professional jargon of the European Union, where, for example, the concept of 'pork' does not include 'bacon', because pork is considered meat that has not undergone any processing.
Particular attention had to be paid to the degree of formality of the upcoming meetings: the language used during sessions, and the language for conversations, for example, during a coffee break. To successfully accomplish this task, the London School of English (which has many teachers who have attended UN conferences where extremely formal language is used) sent one of its trainers to Brussels to familiarize himself with the format of EU meetings specifically. As it turned out in comparison, the language of EU meetings is not too formal, perhaps because colleagues meet every week and solve problems in a friendly atmosphere, including at evening business events. Sometimes instead of the expected 'I think the delegate is putting the case much stronger than it is justified', you can hear something like 'stop talking rubbish', said with a friendly, non-aggressive intonation. And among well-known colleagues, such a remark will be perceived better than the stilted language that would be inappropriate here.
Proper intonation is one of the most important aspects to pay attention to. Do not listen to those who say that the most important thing is to get rid of an accent! According to Timothy Blake, who has more than 20 years of experience working with the post-Soviet (there are also students from Central Asian countries) business and political elite, a much more dangerous enemy is intonation. Often, English words spoken with Russian intonation are perceived as a complaint or a claim - in Russian we speak at lower tones, which are characteristic only of those English people who are in deep depression.
If in the brief the client indicates that it is important for him to be aware of how he is perceived, the teacher will pay special attention to this. The difficulty is that not every 'very important person' will calmly accept a comment like: 'Here you behaved like a boor.' And even with a conscious approach, changing intonation will be more difficult than mastering vocabulary and grammar.
For Utility and Pleasure
Many come to language schools seeking to combine business with pleasure. For example, the main requirements of the chairman of the board of one of the largest Spanish banks, a recent client of the London School of English, were accommodation in a hotel with a golf course and training with a private tutor, alternating lessons with visits to restaurants and theaters. By the way, the terrace of the London School of English overlooks a private tennis club, of which many students become members. In addition, the school has an extracurricular activities program (restaurants, pubs, theaters, country trips) - an extra opportunity to practice English outside the classroom.
Any Whim for Your Money
The 'budget' version of the Executive program involves training in a group of no more than six foreigners. At the London School of English, such a program with an intensity of 30 hours of training per week will cost €760-890, not including accommodation and flight costs.
The 'golden mean' can be considered the so-called combined programs (15 hours in a group + 15 hours of individual lessons with a teacher) - from €1,000 per week. When it comes to exclusive packages that include an individually designed training program, accommodation, cultural and educational events, etc., the payment is usually hourly - €57 per hour for an individual lesson with one teacher plus payment of additional expenses (restaurants, theaters, etc.). For example, the Canning school offers individual training with a teacher from 9:00 to 16:30 Monday through Friday for €2,650 per week.
They come to language schools, seeking to combine business with pleasure. Many schools have extracurricular activity programs (restaurants, pubs, theaters, country trips). And this is another opportunity to practice English outside the classroom.