Are your trainees always present and in French class? Or do you often get a cancellation a few minutes before class starts? You are not alone! So much for the positive news 😊.
How is it anyway that people drop out even before a training session is over?
And more to the point, how does BLCC play a role in avoiding this scenario?
Finding 1: Learning a language requires effort, time and loads of motivation. Unlike a one-day course in Excel or a leadership workshop, you don't get rid of a language in one go. The sessions are short but come back every week. And for 10 to 20 weeks. They have an impact on your schedule, and sometimes on the functioning of your team. Not just once, but for several weeks.
Finding 2: Did you also think you could get away with lessons alone? Then you are well mistaken. Because learning a language is practising. Only by speaking in concrete situations will the language remain anchored in your brain. The homework of the past returns.
It goes as follows:
first you study at home in preparation for a subsequent lesson;
during the lesson, you practice what you learned in a safe environment;
after the lesson, you put into practice what you practised with your coach.
You soon understand that language training has more impact on your schedule than you first thought. At least...if you want to get out what's in it.
Finding 3: "I understand my colleagues but don't dare speak up during a meeting." Or "Every time the phone rings and I see a foreign number, I break out in an anxious sweat." For a lot of professionals, this is day-to-day reality.
During a language training course, we tackle this fear of speaking. Thoroughly! Because fear of speaking hinders progress and limits our learning opportunities. Week after week, you are taken out of your comfort zone...to feel more confident, and thus more practice and consequently more progress, week after week.
Do you already feel a little more understanding of your dropouts? Then let's see now, how what you can do to avoid cancellations!
1. Be involved through the entire process: the start of the training requires special attention. Is everyone aware of the planning? Does the trainer know the objectives? Are the classrooms reserved? And then we often let it go... while your trainees make an effort to come to class every week. A pat on the back along the way, asking once how the training is going shows your commitment and your appreciation for their efforts. Both HR but certainly also your trainees' managers can make a tangible difference here.
2. Good agreements make good friends: therefore be clear and concrete when it comes to the effort a trainee will make during his training. Take into account at least as many hours of study time as class time: 2 hours of class means at least 2 hours of studying in between.
3. Reminders and agendas are not for everyone: not every trainee has access to their agenda at all times. And not every trainee works with a perfectly developed diary. Think, for example, of people who work in production. Thus, they quickly risk forgetting when they have class, or are already on their way home when they suddenly think of it! Help them remember the class and find a way to remind them weekly. A text message or a phone call can work wonders!
4. Tailor content for top motivation: Note to self: make every lesson a top lesson! How? By tailoring the content maximally to each trainee's learning needs. After each lesson, we want each trainee to have learned new key phrases and vocabulary they can use at work. You can help us do this by sharing internal documents, manuals, meeting reports. This way, we work with authentic material. A great resource as the basis of the lesson.
5. Be understanding of speaking anxiety: It requires a great mental effort from some trainees to dare to speak in the other language. Be patient and understanding when he finally dares to address you in the other language. Conduct the first conversations one on one; do not throw him to the lions during a meeting with ten other colleagues. Speak slowly and in short sentences. This way, you will work together to gain more speaking courage.