Virtual followenglish is intended to be a tool that provides learners with interesting and varied materials, and above all, a tool that offers them the opportunity to interact a bit more outside the classroom.

Outsourcing oral assessment services in English has become a common practice for many companies as it is important to be aware of how much they will need to invest in order to have their newly-recruited employees in an operational level. 

At followenglish we provide Oral assessment in English as a consultancy service for companies that need to hire employees who have a good command of English in a reliable way. We use a scale which was developed in accordance with international proficiency tests, such as TOEIC and IELTS.

Click on the link below to read more about the assessments we offer.

http://www.followenglish.com/index.php/en/consultancy/assessments.html

A Learning Management System is basically a software that you can install on your server to deliver content and interact with learners in a collaborative environment. Learning Management Systems can provide learners with opportunities to interact and practice their English at any time from anywhere they are. Nowadays most LMSs are integrated with social networks engaging learners in their learning process 24/7.

This reality has been drawing thousands of graduate students from several countries to US and UK to study business and management. Most of them look for MBAs or post-graduate programs to enhance their résumés and get a kickstart in their careers. But in order to find a good program, they need to demonstrate good language skills and therefore language schools have been designing programs for proficiency exams, such as IELTS, TOEFL and TOEIC not to mention tests like GMAT and GRE.

Watch the video below to learn more about the figures related to this phenomenon.

At followenglish we provide preparation for several proficiency exams. Click on the followenglish link to see the list of exams we work with.

http://www.followenglish.com/index.php/en/courses/proficiency-preparation.html

The advantages of implementing a corporate Business English training program in your organization are plenty as you can monitor your employees’ development along the course as well as set clear individual goals in accordance with their roles and duties.

The first step is to implement a training program is to establish a company language policy, which in turn, will set the grounds on which to create clear objectives and milestones. Companies with clear language policies are better able to identify their needs and plan their language training budgets.

In the implementation stage it is important to map out the skills that each participant of the program needs to develop and set individual goals. Then, as the training program starts off, it is necessary to monitor the performance of each participant and readjust the goals in case it is necessary.

At followenglish, we provide language consultancy for companies that want to follow their employees’ performance in the language training programs. The language consultancy involves a close follow-up which can be carried out with the human resources department of medium-size and large corporations so as to keep track of the performance of each participant of the program.

Click on the link below to read more..

• http://www.followenglish.com/index.php/en/consultancy.html

Proficiency exams are becoming more and more popular and widespread around the world. They can surely add flavor to your résumé and either help to get a better job or a vacancy in a post-graduate program at a fine university abroad. Nowadays there are specific proficiency exams for many different professional fields, such as: business, finance and law. Besides that, large corporations have started to see the value of standardized testing and are now using some of the proficiency exams in their in-company language training programs.

Each exam has a specific format and measures your competence in all four skills – speaking, listening, writing and reading. Many multinational companies around the world are using proficiency exams to measure their employees performance and learning progress in language training programs uniformly, i.e. this way corporations can measure performance using the same standards and scores in their different units around the world.

followenglish works with 13 internationally recognized proficiency exams. Check out the full list by clicking on the link below:

• http://www.followenglish.com/index.php/en/courses/proficiency-preparation.html

As far as I can see now Joomla is also a CMS (Content Management System), like WordPress, a lot more complex, though. Apparently, it is very complete and there are plenty of online tutorials as well. Hopefully, I can get through the basics in a couple of weeks and put up the site before August.

Now that I have chosen a name for the company and I have even created a logo, and most importantly, I have established the basis (set of ideas I mean) upon which to set up the company, I am ready to start this blog and announce the foundation of followenglish. By doing that I feel ready to share some thoughts and beliefs I have about how we learn a foreign language and on which grounds the company is going to stand upon.

followenglish is intended not only to be a company providing language programs for learners of English, but also one that can offer a more personal and customized language experience to them. There are several language schools and companies that offer language programs and they all claim to use some revolutionary approach through which learners will magically learn a foreign language without making any effort. I really don’t want followenglish to be one more of those. But on the other hand, I do have my own beliefs about teaching and learning a foreign language and I strongly believe that they work, even though they are far from revolutionary or miraculous.

First of all, I think it is essential for any language school or company in this field to have a set of beliefs in relation to language learning so as to establish which teaching approach best suits its purpose and build an identity as a company. In my opinion, this is exactly what many language institutions fail to do, they hire new teachers, but in terms of teaching, they end up taking an “anything goes” approach.

Of course, in followenglish‘s case, at the beginning I am going to be working alone and it is going to be quite easy to stick to the right approach and keep the standards. However, I am well aware that with time, if the company ever grows I mean, I will have to deal with management issues not only in terms of teaching methodology, but also in regards to organizational aspects and the accounting of the company.

I am actually sharing all these thoughts because I truly believe that by doing so I can both clear things up myself and also because I see no reason why not to share my ideas at this crucial moment in which followenglish is being conceived. Besides that, sharing is one of the key principles of learning. So here are some ideas I have about teaching methodology and the role of teachers and learners in the learning process.

• The role of teachers

In relation to language teaching methodology I believe that modern teachers have to be flexible and able to adapt quickly to their learners’ profiles. They also have to be leaders who can guide their learners along the learning process naturally. They have to be passionate about their work and about English – even contagious I would say, since in my opinion motivation takes an important role in language learning, not to mention the everyday contact we need to have to learn a language. So teachers have to act as facilitators co-constructing knowledge with learners and keeping them engaged in the process. They also need to be perceptive and insightful to identify opportunities in the learning process which are meaningful to learners.

Good teachers are always willing to help and to share their own experiences with learners so as to provide real-life situation models and enrich the learners experience along the process. They are also able to identify learners weaknesses not only in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but also in relation to social skills. Learning comes from the interaction among learners and teacher, therefore knowledge is to be seeked and co-constructed and not simply acquired or memorized.

Nowadays teachers have to have a capacity for learning and adapting, and above all they have to be sociallly active and always ready to learn more. They look at learners as a whole taking into account their educational background as well as their professional and personal life experience.

• The role of learners

Ideally learners have to engage in their own learning process and be curious and willing to interact as much as possible with their peers and teachers. They have to be open to new learning experiences and ready to share their personal and professional experiences with the group. Good learners are always willing to engage in discussions and give their opinions no matter what topics are being discussed.

Outside the classroom good learners seek autonomy and do not do only what teachers assign them to do, they go beyond that, they keep contact with the target language in their daily routine. They bring doubts and relevant issues to class. Also, good learners keep a trusting and open relationship with the teacher, and are not afraid to discuss their difficulties and weaknesses.

• The role of materials

Regarding materials, obviously choosing the right materials depends a lot on the learners’ goals. When preparing learners for a proficiency test, for instance, it is essential to choose the right materials as we have a short-term goal and need to train the learners for a very specific and well-defined purpose. In other cases the role of materials is simply to provide a background to the discussions and topics dealt with in class. Materials should always be chosen in accordance with learners goals and/or professional and educational background. Teachers have to follow some criteria in order to choose or create materials appropriately. These criteria include level of difficulty, relevance, authenticity, adaptability, length, informativeness, freshness and reusability. Good materials generate discussion and involve the learners.

Most language schools still offer textbook-driven syllabi in which students cover 5 units of a given textbook every six months. I don’t believe that such approach to the use of materials really makes any difference in the learning process. In fact I strongly believe that the possibility and authority to make changes in the way things are going is crucial for teachers to develop a good job. Of course, when teaching groups teachers have to follow a program and in this case textbooks make our life easier. But this does not mean that teachers have to strictly follow the book page by page exercise by exercise. Teachers should be able to adapt the contents of the textbook to their learners reality, point of view or position.

• The role of technology

The role of technology in language learning is to provide opportunities for teachers and learners to improve their command of the language. In other words, technology can empower teachers and learners to learn faster and more consistently. The Internet and the devices that enable us to connect to it can be used to strengthen the bonds teachers and learners have with English as it is a great source of authentic materials. Therefore, there is no reason not to use technology in the classroom and outside as well. Social networking and mobile devices can help teachers build a more consistent relationship with learners, which in turn, contributes to creating a nice classroom atmosphere and a stronger sense of belonging.

Teachers can also make use of technology to find authentic materials for their lessons. The Internet is nowadays certainly the most complete library and source of information one can find. Besides, there are several life skills which can be taught through the use of the web and computers which are relevant for any professional of the most various fields.

• Further thoughts on methodology

Nowadays teaching methods have to cater for learners individualities and specific needs. So, there is a lot more to it than a nicely designed textbook with a good-quality set of CDs. Good teachers have to be able to sense the need for changes and adapt the materials accordingly. They have to be able to find and design materials easily so as to get the most out of their learners.

Hopefully followenglish will bring these ideas together to provide high quality and meaningful services in the professional field and create ways to effectively engage learners in their learning process. As mentioned above, technology plays an important role here, providing both teachers and learners with the missing linchpin that connects us to the language in our busy everyday lives.