Best Learning English At Work Idea

Do you have employees who don’t speak English well or not at all? How are you dealing with it now?

What’s your solution?

How does it affect you and your business?

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Are you or someone else in the company qualified to teach English to the employees whose English is either poor or non-existent?

How do you think it would affect your bottom line if all your employees spoke English well?

It’s entirely possible that I am already working with your employees by teaching them in the ESL class where I teach at the adult school near your company.

I can tell you that they want to learn and are doing their best but we have some issues that maybe you and I can work together to eliminate them:

• Their school schedule and work schedule often conflict with one another and so they often miss class.
• They often come to class hungry and tired.
• Maybe you need these employees to learn English that is more specific to your business.
• I don’t know what your business is and therefore don’t know what your/their specific needs are.

I have what may be the best learning English at work idea you’ve heard yet.

Have You Considered Having A Teacher Teach Them At Work?

That’s right!

Teach them English at work.

It can be either before work, after work, during work, or duing meal time.

Nowadays, just about everyone has access to the internet that can be accessed from a cell phone, a computer, or tablet etc.

Teachers like myself were forced to learn how to teach online via Zoom and other similar methods during the 2020 pandemic and lockdown.

As it turned out, many students and teachers realized they actually preferred to not have to go to a specific location to attend school.

Furthermore, many people who found themselves working from home are still working from home.  It works well for both the employees and the employers.

The questions you need to ask yourself are:

• How much of a problem is it for you and your company that employees don’t speak English well?
• What are you willing to do about it?
• Is it worth it for you to invest some time and/or money to resolve the problem?

If it’s a major problem, one that would improve your business if it was resolved, or both, and you’re willing to invest some time and/or money to resolve it, we need to talk.

I can help.

As I’ve already said, I, or someone like me may already be helping you but with a more focused approach, we will be able to reduce or completely eliminate your problem.

If it’s important that English is spoken in the workplace, read on.

Here Is How It Works

I need to learn more about you, your company, and your needs.

You can learn all you want or need to know about me. Just ask. There is plenty of information available about me.

As I said, if you want your students to learn English, and if you want it to be customized and more specific to your business, I need to know what your business is.

• Do you want your employees to be better able to deal with one another in English?
• Do you want them to be better able to deal with customers in English?
• Do you want them to be better able to understand company policies in English?
• Do you want them to speak more or better English?
• Do you want them to better understand more spoken English?
• Do you want them to be more able to read English?
• Do you want them to be able to write in English?
• Do you want them to be able to do all of the above?
• Are your employees mostly beginner, intermediate, or advanced learners?
• What is most important to you?
• What are your needs?
• How much time in a day or week can you devote for them to learn English?
  

Once I know the answer to the questions, I am better able to develop a curriculum that is specific to you and your company.

Here is a picture of a group of beginners from around the world from a past class.

I have taught all levels of ESL, from beginners who know no English at all and who don’t read or write in their native language, let alone English, to advanced level students who are either fluent or close to it.  However, I’ve worked with students who speak well in English but can’t or don’t read or write well. I’ve also worked with students who are just the opposite.  They understand pretty well when someone speaks to them in English, they read and write fairly to moderately well, but they either don’t speak well, or they are very dificult to understand.

Furthermore, I’ve worked with students from all around the world whose first language is:

• Spanish
• Chinese
• Vietnamese
• Japanese
• Korean
• Cambodian (Khmer)
• Arabic
• Persian
• Russian
• Many more

Yes, it’s a challenge.  It’s easier when they all speak the same language, but that rarely happens. I’ve had as many as seven different native languages in one class of about 20 students.  It’s almost always three or four.

It doesn’t matter.

My secret weapon is Google Translate.  It’s not always 100% accurate but it works well enough that I can get my points across to people who speak different languages and they can use it to translate from their languages to English to be able to correspond with me.

I currently teach beginners but I’ve taught as many as three different levels in one class.  I’ve taught levels 1,2, and 3 who are in the same class and I’ve taught levels 4, 5, and 6 who are in the same class.  I’ve taught all the combinations between those as well, which includes teaching employees at work.

This picture is of a group of employees at a well-known national company, all of who are different levels of proficiency, whom I taught in the past.

In the case where a student does not read or write in his/her first/native language, it presents a problem. It works best to separate them from the others, although anyone who wants to learn and is willing to put in the time and do the work, is teachable.

Students who don’t read or write in any language need a different and more focused level of attention.

The bottom line is, I need to understand the problem and what I’m dealing with to be able to effect a solution.  One thing is for sure.  It can be done.

What Do We Do In The Classes?

There is not a one-size-fits-all answer to that question but there are some common denominators.

Before being able to answer the question at all, the first thing that needs to be done is to assess each studen’t abilities in English.

There are four basic elements of every English class, whether ESL or not:

• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening

Those four elements are broken down further but I won’t go into that here and now.

The initial assessment is given to all students, using the same questions as prompts for everyone, that assesses each of the four elements above.

From there, it depends on if all the levels will be in the same class, if they will be separated by each level, or if there will be more than one level in a group.

What I’ve found is that not all students are the same and that not all testing results are 100% reliable. Everyone learns differently.

For example, I’ve dealt with students who so-called advanced, but who don’t know some very basic things.  I’ve also dealt with students who are so-called beginners but they seem to speak and understand well. I’ve dealt with every kind of combination imagineable.

I’m a proponent of fundementals such as:

• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Sentence structure
• Pronunciation

I at least review if not actually teach all of these things with all levels of students. I find that students help each other as much as I do. They learn as much, if not more, from each other than what they learn from me.

My job is to moderate and direct in order to keep them on track.

I also use a picture dictionary and recommend that all students have access to one at all times. Being able to visualize words and terms helps immensely when trying to learn a language.  That includes English learning.

The bottom line is, what I teach is what they can relate to and utilize in their everyday, real lives.

When working with a company’s employees that can be vastly different from working with students in a regular adult school.

If I am to work with your employees, I will need to work with as many people in your company to be able to better understand the students and how best to teach them, as well as what to teach.

This Is Why I Like To Teach Adults Instead Of Kids.

As a teacher, it’s much more fulfilling to work with and/or teach things to people who are receptive and who want to learn what is being taught.

Adult students and I have adulthood in common.

We have:

• Families
• Jobs
• Life experience
• Life issues and problems
• Desire for better lives
• Willingness to do what is necessary to improve

We may not all share all of those things but chances are, we probably all share at least some of them and can relate to one another in a way it’s rare for kids and adults to relate with one another.  At least, that’s my experience.

In this case, you need your employees to be more valuable to your company.

Your employees understand that. They probably know more than you realize about several things.

However, they have an obstacle that stands between them and you-their level of understanding and speaking English or lack thereof.

Let’s lay our cards on the table and figure how best to move forward to address your specific needs and desires as they apply to English.

Closing Remarks

I ask you. Is this not the best learning English at work idea you’ve heard yet?

I hope I have addressed the points necessary to help you see where and how I can help solve your problem of employees’ lack of ability to speak and understand English.

If you are willing to invest some time and money to resolve the problem and improve the quality of your, your company’s, and employees’ future, we need to talk.

Let’s dive in and figure out what’s best for you and your company.

Leave questions and comments in the comments section below and I will promptly reply.