What does a person feel having gotten long-expected promotion? Happiness, pride, satisfaction… and slight fear of coming changes connected with new duties and requirements.
Almost two months ago one friend of mine appeared in the situation like this. Having worked for one rather big bank for five years and a half, she finally reached that carrier step where, according to her words, ‘You can breathe freely under bigger load of responsibility.’ She surely managed to breathe freely, but only during first five minutes of being at the new post.
Plenty of meetings, change in communication style and keeping documentation, endless flow of different ‘we need your signature’, ‘it is necessary to meet you personally’, ‘could you please look through these applications’, and so on and so forth. But the most unexpected for my friend was the fact that she had to study the English language immediately! As I have been teaching this precise language for a long time, she certainly came to me for a piece of advice concerning places where one could study business-English in Kyiv.
At the moment there have been a great number of various courses and schools of studying the English language, so we at once defined the criteria for selection: speed, effectiveness, grammar and speaking skills development. The matter of time was solved – 90-120 minutes after work, i.e., within 18:30 – 21:00.
In the end we confined ourselves in three offers meeting the chosen demands.
1. Oxfordklass – the courses of English
I have first-hand knowledge of these courses – two former students of mine from the university where I had been teaching for, attended the classes, and they were very satisfied with both the process and result. Here the real native speakers take part in educational process, and some of them had finished the business school in Oxford. Flexible schedule (the groups are formed in convenient time periods from 8:00 till 21:00), not big number of listeners in a group (5 people maximum), standard length of mastering one level (from 3 months), and acceptable cost (two times a week – 900 hryvnyas, three times – 1300 hryvnyas). Using the original textbooks, working with audio and video materials favor the multisided mastering the language. Here is also a significant advantage for those who need special business English: banking direction, marketing, service industries, etc. What I personally liked are delivery and very lively teaching methods.
2. Znatok – the center of foreign languages
Here they have a special course of business English, intended for listeners with Intermediate basic knowledge of English. The classes at this school are held in the evening from 18:00 to 21:00. Each of offered six levels consists of 3 months and 48 academic hours (i.e., two-hour lessons two times a week).
There are maximally 5 people in one group, teaching follows good textbooks ( MARKET LEADER), and using various audio materials.
The cost of education here is higher: for each level you will have to pay 1240 hryvnyas.
On the whole, this center offers well-organized, structured and rather formal teaching business English.
3. LEE – courses of the English language
At these courses I had been teaching myself, so I know the system of education there perfectly.
In the first turn, an informal teaching style is the main point here. It means using various materials, not only educational, but also reflecting peculiarities of the modern live speech (movies, audio books, interviews with outstanding people, news from the web site Voice of America).
Education is possible for listeners of any level of basic knowledge, the whole course takes 2.5 years, consists of 5 semesters, each of them lasts 54 weeks. The lessons take place two times a week, they last three astronomic hours on any days from Monday till Saturday, in the morning or evening (from 10:00 till 13:00, or from 19:00 till 22:00). There are maximally 6 people in one group. The monthly cost is 600 hryvnyas.
The effectiveness of studying is reached by main stress on communication – discussions, problem situations, role games, etc., that give the results in first two-three weeks.
In any case, the process of studying the foreign language requires self preparation and serious motivation.
The latter was given to the newly-made boss by senior management, and concerning the self preparation – now my friend listens in her walkman not to the radio but to the audio books, and in the upper drawer of her desk there are textbooks on business English and a very thick notebook. May be, another promotion is not far off? :)
