Strategic partner for your language policy.

We are the perfect partner for assessing the language skills your organisation can draw on. That is phase 1: determining the state of affairs today. 

In  phase 2 , we assist you in translating your organisation’s strategy into  actions  and growth.

Let us start by stressing a very important principle: achieving a target level for language proficiency is not an end in its own right. A training programme is successful if the learner has achieved their goal, namely doing their job in a foreign language. 

Let us start by stressing a very important principle: achieving a target level for language proficiency is not an end in its own right. A training programme is successful if the learner has achieved their goal, namely doing their job in a foreign language. 

Phase 1: survey of language skills

We determine jointly who we need to screen — everyone, one particular team, a few people in each team and so on. Depending on the size of the project and the context, the screening can take place on site, by phone or digitally.

We work with the L&D department and team managers to determine the language goal for each job. We give you guidance on how to decide what skills will be needed in the jobs of tomorrow in order to make an impact!

How is the language goal  linked to a final level?

Each language level is associated with certain skills and objectives. But achieving a certain CEFR level is not an end in itself. It is important to have a good idea beforehand of what that particular person needs to be able to do in that particular job.

For example, you may need to make phone calls at level A2 but to negotiate at level B2 (using nuances in speech).

In the screening, we produce a detailed, easy-to-understand report of the start level, the objectives and the associated end level.

Phase 2: Action!

We need to be realistic

Having an entire team take a training course during working hours on top of a busy job is often not a realistic option. Of course you want to make rapid progress, but priorities will have to be set.

Urgent/high priority?

We use a few key questions to arrive at a joint prioritisation.

Each organisation has its own approach. One may want to start with the lowest levels to give everyone a good basic proficiency, while another may want to be operational fast and therefore focus on training the people who are most likely to get to the target level quickly.

Which jobs are crucial in turning your strategy into concrete actions? “We expect to start with sales in that region and only then to get onto billing…” can be a good argument for focusing on the sales team first and then moving on to the accounts department.

Job-specific or general professional?

It is also important to assess how specific the use of the language needs to be to have the same impact when doing the job in the foreign language as in the person’s native language.

Do they already have the specific vocabulary, and is it mainly about how to use the terms correctly in sentences? Or is the basic command of the language good but the specific vocab lacking?

Classroom learning and e-learning: the perfect blend!

BLCC is a real believer in blended learning. We combine face-to-face contact in group and individual sessions with Skype sessions and e-mail. But  e-learning  is also an important component of our approach. 

We have an e-learning platform that was developed and validated by the university of KU Leuven.

It lets us track course participants’ activities at all time. E-learning is not an optional extra; it is an  essential element  in every training course. E-learning and classroom learning are fully integrated.
In addition to our generic content, we can also tailor the e-learning facilities to meet your organisation’s specific needs.

Another unique feature is our success coach. Language trainer and e-coach are two separate jobs at BLCC. They work together, but each has their own strengths. As the name implies, the success coach is there to make e-learning a success! How? By encouraging, assisting, coaching and mobilising every learner using the e-learning platform.

What if my staff work at different locations?

Location-independent training is not an issue thanks to virtual classes. Combining staff with the same language level and objectives in a virtual class is easy, even if one person works in Brussels, another in Liège and another colleague in Namur. And the Barcelonan and Parisian colleagues are welcome to join in too!

Exploit the strengths of each mode of learning

We believe that a  combination of learning modes  gives the best, most efficient result.

KU Leuven helps us stay ahead of the market in that regard with its research on the impact of virtual classes and e-learning.

A purchasing officer and salesperson with the same level? Then you should put them together for some fierce negotiations! But not without giving them individual guidance beforehand and preparing each from the perspective of their particular profession for the sessions together.

Project or partnership for the longer term

• Does your organisation want to develop new markets?

• Do you want to introduce a single language for internal communication throughout the organisation?

• Do you want one language partner with a solution for every situation?

• Do you want to assess your organisation’s language DNA and do something with the results?

If you gave an emphatic “Yes” to one or more of these questions, contact us to discuss things further.