Whether you decided to go with Face to Face training or E-Learning – the language providers should be able to accomplish your goals by the end of the course.  Attention to detail and personalization is essential in weeding out the good from the bad, and the great from the good.

We are all connected through the universal language of business – English – and we just need to work together to make sure we are all on the same page.

Check out these helpful blogs for Business students:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/01/the-five-best-books-on-english-for-business-students/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/01/top-3-tips-on-how-to-improve-your-spoken-english/

The value and importance that you put on these aspects of language learning will heavily influence the success of your training.  Designing a curriculum and “action plan” that is NOT a cookie cutter model for each course/corporation is important.  As mentioned in a previous post – telecommunications and medical supply salesmen have very little in common.  You need to be certain that what you are getting is beneficial and worthwhile, that your employees are developing the skills that they need to communicate in English.  And most importantly – that it is not considered a chore.

How we achieve this is different in each company – you need to feel out your options and select one that meets your needs – but beware – bigger doesn’t always mean better.

Learn more about the Dogme approach to learning:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/no-more-pencils-no-more-books-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/part-i-the-basics-of-dogme-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/part-ii-key-principles-of-the-dogme-language-learning-approach-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/part-iii-–-“to-structure-or-not-to-structure…-that-is-the-question…-”-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/part-iv-cookie-cutter-language-learning-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/part-v-using-the-dogme-approach-in-group-lessons-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/part-vi-–-modifying-the-dogme-approach-to-accommodate-your-students’-needs-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

Students who do register for just a 1 hour trial lesson, are usually very pleased with the results and we enjoy an over 90% registration rate after the trial lesson.  This goes to show you that a lot students are now seeing the possibilities and quality that can be obtained through an online English training company.

So if your on the fence and not sure about online English language learning with TalktoCanada.com the trial lesson is a great chance for you to test out our services without making a commitment.  One lesson will give you enough information to make an informed decision about our services, so I highly recommend you visit the link below to get started.

http://www.talktocanada.com/individual-training/user-fees/

A lot of our current students were just like you before they tried online learning.  They weren’t sure about TalktoCanada.com and they weren’t sure we could do what we said we could do.   Please register for our 1 hour trial lesson today and let us convince you that we are the right solution for your English learning needs.

Depending on the size of your training – it will heavily influence the “extras” that you will be paying for.

Some questions that you need to ask yourself:

• How many students will be trained and over what period of time?
• What “extras” are being offered or needed?
• What support or back up is offered – for e-learning, what technical support is available?

Sometimes money shouldn’t be the (only or most important) deciding factor – yes it is important obviously – but it shouldn’t be the “be all and end all” of your decision.  Reputation, support, flexibility, vision and initiative should also weigh into your decision.

Check out this blog about investing in English training:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/the-best-investment-you-can-make-when-learning-a-language-is-speaking-that-language-with-a-native-speaker/

Employees should understand that corporate language training is essential for their advancement in any company, and as such should be taken seriously with 100% participation.  You need to figure out how your employees will respond the best – either by face to face training or the increasingly common e-learning that is offered by TalktoCanada.com.

There are benefits to both – face to face training creates an atmosphere where students may take it more seriously – and put a little more effort in – it’s harder to not show up to a real class than to a virtual class.  E-learning however offers convenience, native speakers, and interactivity that a face to face setting wouldn’t be as easy to incorporate into the learning material.

E-learning also focuses a lot on pronunciation and fluency – which is extremely beneficial in all aspects of business.  Meeting simulation, role plays, debates, opinions, conversations…are all things that are present in an e-learning course EVERY SINGLE LESSON.  It’s impossible NOT to talk in a lesson – and actually having it virtually breaks down some of those barriers, and students feel more confident when participating.

Regardless of what training you decide on, it needs to satisfy all of your needs and accomplish your goals within a reasonable amount of time.  Corporate training that offers magical solutions in a short amount of time are probably too good to be true.  It takes time and energy – and as the saying goes “the more you give the more you get back in return.”

Read some blogs about the benefits of E-Learning with TalktoCanada.com:

http://www.talktocanada.com/category/learning-english-online/page/5/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/03/moving-to-an-internet-enabled-english-training-program/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/how-talktocanada-com-makes-online-english-learning-personal/

Every company is different in it’s needs, some need to train very large amounts of workers while some only need to train a few.  Sometimes the training is very specific, such as, English telephone etiquette or very broad such as general intermediate business English conversation.  On an operational level, TalktoCanada.com can work with very large amounts of students to a small number of students.  Before  you consider enrolling your company in any type of English language services, I recommend you answer as many questions of the following as you can.  By being clear and having a focus to your training at your company, you will be better able to find the right solution and even more importantly the correct company.

• How many of your staff need to be trained?
• Are they all the same level of English or very different?
• Will they all be learning the same content or does there need to be some variety?
• Are you looking for a mass-market cheap solution with a high student to teacher ratio or are you looking for something more, where students are able to talk to the teacher in a low student to teacher ratio such as at TalktoCanada.com?
• What is the time commitment you expect your workers to give to an English training program?
• Most importantly of all, what are your expectations.  Always discuss your expectations with your training provider so that there is no confusion.

Corporations interested in English language training should always take the time to learn a little more about the details.  Without knowing all the details yourself, you may find yourself in a situation of not getting the results that you are expecting.  When it comes to training, it’s all about the results and comes down to, and whether or not all of my staff can speak English fluently as expected or not.

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/why-canadian-accents-are-the-best-and-the-easiest-to-learn-and-understand-for-esl-learners/

It is unrealistic to assume that employees will take it upon themselves and enroll in an English course – outside of working hours, and out of their own pocket no less.  As it is also a misconception to believe that everyone in business has a functional level of English.

There are many language training providers out there – face to face – telephone training – and e-learning.  All offer a different approach and cater to different groups in different ways.  As a company, you need to decide what your goals are and how you are best able to achieve them.

In this 4 part series I will go over the different aspects of corporate language training to help you understand the different aspects and importance of selecting the appropriate corporate language training providers for your employees.

Have a look at these previous blogs to get an idea about how TalktoCanada.com can meet your corporate training needs:

http://www.talktocanada.com/2010/05/getting-to-know-talktocanada-com-how-do-we-teach-english-online/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/11/how-talktocanada-com-makes-online-english-learning-personal/

http://www.talktocanada.com/2009/12/part-v-using-the-dogme-approach-in-group-lessons-putting-a-name-to-the-methodologies-that-talktocanada-com-uses-to-teach-esl-online/

In my typing it has become almost habit to include the “:)” as part of everything.  I have to make sure that my mood is being displayed and in the right way.  I hate getting into the whole he said/she said things, especially online.  Talk about headache!

I also think that although smiley faces may not be 100% professional I think that they lighten up the mood a bit and make things fun.  Of course it depends on the situation — sometimes first communications with super important business people the smiley faces are non existent.  But after a meeting or two out they come :) (just now.. that was a random reflex) I’m happy and I want you to know! :) (again!!!)

Now on chat programs there are a ton of fun emoticons available — I just figured out a few cool hidden skype ones, and some facebook ones.  Yes, they add a little LOL to the chat messages but for me just basic :) works just fine.

What do you think? Are emoticons only for teeny boppers? Or can someone use them in a semi professional way as well? I’d like to hear your thoughts — leave me a comment!! :)

If you had asked me 3 years ago what a blackberry was — out of all honesty — I wouldn’t know- A friend of mine emailed saying she and her boyfriend got blackberries and I wrote back saying “oh! that’s great! You found a nice patch in Ontario? I thought there were only wild in British Columbia – Did you make pancakes?” ha! Now I know better and am wowed by all of the features, and oh how can I forget the BlackBerry messenger??!! Emails that come in a flash — and ability to stay connected literally ALL THE TIME.  Yes BB is great!  It has that sleek business feel to it – that the iPhone doesn’t – It is made for business and I would venture to say that everyone who is in business should get one.

Of course it takes some getting used to – on my way home after picking it up and signing my life/freedom away – I started the long trek home 2hs on the bus – what fun – but this time round it was! I was able to chat and send pictures to my boss (ok not so cool but kind of if you have a boss like mine) it was like I was a little kid in a candy store.

BB is great – it is kind of funny – now I look at myself — and I compare myself to 3 years ago.  Sure I had a laptop but I didn’t know much about technology — but NOW – I am such a techy – actually it is scary!  Scary — but cool.. and expensive!

Now enough about me talking about how in love I am with my Blackberry…tell me how you feel about your Blackberry in the comments below.