SKYLIGHT Blog

A Rewarding Challenge: Languages for Europe

Fri, 18 May 2012 12:51:00 +0200

In the year 2007, the European Commission chaired by José Manuel Barroso ordered a report on linguistic diversity in the European Union. The Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue leaded by the Franco-Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf consequently wrote the note “A Rewarding Challenge, How the Multiplicity of Languages Could Strengthen Europe."

The report basically states the difficulty of the EU in acknowledging and representing every language equally, leading to a feeling of disrespect among speakers of misrepresented languages. This feeling endangers the unity of Europe, whereas languages could be a great springboard towards a European identity. Building unity upon diversity is, frommy point of view, the best way to guarantee that this unity will last. And we urgently need it.

The principle upon which these intellectuals based their report is as follows. The EU should encourage everyone to chose an “adoptive language”, to learn and master. This choice should not be reduced to the main spoken languages in Europe, but include every possible spoken language. Every country should also host an “embassy” of every language and culture, an equivalent to the British Council or the Goethe-Institut. Thus, a tightly braided fabric would be woven across Europe preventing its breakdown and supporting its integration. This idea is moreover completely in line with that of the founding fathers of the EU: getting to know each other and doing things together to prevent conflicts and achieve common good.

Such a network should improve bilateral communication between countries. People transacting or negotiating together would be able to use their mother tongue, and not any other international third language. They will also possess a deeper understanding of the cultural background of their counterpart, which helps secure successful communication.

Many will however object to this plan: it is completely utopist, it is a nice dream, but it will never be implemented and reach the planned effects. Yes, that is true. But weneed an aim, we need a direction to help us order our thoughts and acts. Plan for the best and be ready to deal with the worst. Do the EU and the member states have the political will to foster such a project?

Live to eat or eat to live?

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:06:00 +0200

You just need to hear how often the French talk about food to be persuaded. Today, I will try to give you some points of reflection on the issue.

Apparently, the French like to eat since they were called Gauls. Read Asterix and Obelix, there is always a feast at the end, with plenty to eat, sing and celebrate! Besides, Obelix keeps being hungry during all adventures.

A friend of mine once commented: “it is no wonder that we have such a relationship with food, one of the first printed books in French were Pantagruel and Gargantua” (respectively in 1532 and 1534, by Rabelais). And indeed, these books are about giants who developed a passion for eating. The books contain numerous descriptions of huge gargantuan feasts. (see the picture)

This attitude towards food grew such that already in the 17^th century, the playwright Molière, seemed to call his audience to more moderation. The Miser says “One must eat to live, and not live to eat”.

But even though, the French are still crazy about food. They even talk about it while eating. And they are not referring to that in their plates! They also start relating their travels with telling what they had to eat. This is a never ending discussion if you consider the variety of cuisines in the world, but especially in the sole French territory. Each region has its own gastronomy, its own products and habits, which leaves much room for debate! Referring to this, the General de Gaulle once said “how can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”

The relationship with food does not however refer only to food. There are also other components in it. The table setting has a very precise etiquette and a meal consists at least of three courses (most of the time): starter, main dish, cheese and/or dessert. Food must also be savoured, so you need to take time and relax. For the French, it is important to share a meal seating around a table. It is the occasion for discussions and conviviality. As a matter of fact, many French families still eat together in the evening. It is an important social factor. Besides, I also think that this assertive and convivial relationship to food helps reduce some diseases such as obesity or anorexia.

For all these aspects, the UNESCO declared the French cuisine World Intangible Heritage in 2010. However, the “grande cuisine” is no longer cooked every day. The trends are rather towards dishes easier to prepare. So, even though the French still have their “special relationship” to food, it is slowly changing. I just hope that they will keep it. I personally will!

Nathalie Breysse

Picture: Gargantua, engraving by Gustave Doré

Ils sont fous ces Français! (These French are crazy!)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:24:00 +0200

Since Louis XIV, the French State has been centralised and has remained so until even today.

One of the consequences is that Paris is the centre for France. So, for example, if you want to travel from Lyon to Bordeaux, it is much quicker to change trains in Paris than to take the most direct one in terms of distance and logic. This also explains why most companies are located in the capital, including the language training market.

The main language schools are situated in Paris and are able to offer services throughout the whole of France. Basically, the language training market is composed of a few national and international companies based in Paris and of other smaller organisations over the regions, Rhône-Alpes being the most dynamic region after Paris. There are also many freelancers distributed throughout the whole country, but they have a much lower economic activity.

Centralism also has its repercussions in the management of the training market. Quite often the State intervenes in the management of companies. For example, all French businesses have to pay a small percentage of total wages to an accredited collection organisation (OPCA) every year in order to participate in the vocational training of the French workforce. OPCAs are one of many French administrations and are managed by employer and employee unions. They collect these funds and, as insurance companies do, reallocate them to companies investing in training. Every employee is entitled by the State to 20 hours of training each year, which they can save up for to a maximum of 6 years. The employee can determine which training they would like to do and discuss their choice with the employer, who can’t refuse the training more than twice. Consequently, training taking place for employees may perhaps not be the most strategic to the company. However, this policy also has positive aspects: employees in France are given the opportunity to be trained and thus to adapt to the labour market. And they do not depend on the good will of their employers.

Another topic of importance is the 35-hour working week. According to a survey from January 2011, only 48 %[1] of the population would like the law implementing the 35 hour week to be repealed. Because the French are working less than in many other countries, it makes it more difficult to find a common time and location for group learning. As a result, training has to be flexible and tailor made to meet the time requirements of the employees. Due to very low attendance rate and low results, training managers tend however not to choose a 100 % e-learning system that offers high-quality training at the lowest possible price. It must be said that French training managers are now recognising the importance of qualified language trainers and therefore require that they have a teaching certificate and business experience.

Finally, another characteristic of the French market is that many small and middle organisations are not internationally oriented. Consequently, the demand for language and intercultural training is limited in this segment. The French government is well aware of this weakness and is trying to bring these small businesses to invest and expand more. If it will change? That is the question!

Nathalie Breysse

How does national history impact language learning?

nathalie.breysse@skylight.de — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:31:00 +0200

The French are known for being « language-proof ». Many have experienced the reluctance of the French to switch to English when asking them for directions in the streets of a French provincial city. Well, it might not be fair to give them the entire blame. National history is an important factor in explaining the relationship each people has with foreign languages. I will try in a very inexhaustive and unacademic way to shed some light on this fact.

I once heard a friend making a fair comment : «The English and the French have one thing in common, they don’t speak each other’s language very well.» The first thing to say about this statement is that it humorously puts in a nutshell the history of the two peoples and highlights aspects of their current relationship. It also outlines the difficulty often arising when learning a language from a different language family. So here we have one explanation why the French - but also the Spanish and Italians - are not very good at English, and vice versa.

If you look back in history, you can find a lot of explanations concerning people’s ability to learn other languages. For time reasons, I will keep to modern history and voluntarily remain vague. I would like to draw your attention to the repercussions of three major periods : the Enlightenment, the colonisation and World War 2.

During the Enlightenment, European philosophers , among them many French, wrote books that were read throughout Europe, spreading the use of French, English and German. French became a universal language for diplomacy and culture. Another explanation for the stubbornness of the French not to speak a foreign language lies in the fact that they have never really realised that this time is over.

Later, at the end of the 18th century, France, Spain and England conquered vast territories in the world and imposed their national culture as standard for the native populations. Thus, French, Spanish and English were languages of international importance. On the contrary, Germany’s dream of hegemony turned out to be World War 2 and its disastrous consequences. The Germans have consequently become very careful about their position in the world and are quite attentive to «the Other». They therefore tend to learn foreign languages more readily.

The consequences of WW2 on national pride in France are however totally different, due to the political choice of General de Gaulle. He decided to govern with a Government of National Unanimity to put France back on track for growth and development by fostering patriotism. This has had a certain influence on the development of chauvinism. At the same time, the always increasing influence of the USA has largely contributed to the installation of English as a global lingua franca. This reduced the need for English native speakers to learn another language and explains why English native speakers are often not very good at languages.

The increased power of English makes it an essential language in our globalized world. Trying to preserve the values, roles and use of her language, France set up institutions or laws to warn against anglicization. For example, the French language was enshrined in the national constitution as the language of the French Republic, making it therefore a component of national identity. As a consequence, great emphasis was put on the translation of movies, TV programs, advertisements, which means that the French do not often face other languages, especially during childhood. And so the French ear is not familiar with foreign sonorities and therefore the French have greater difficulty learning another language and losing their strong – but charming – accent.

However, the situation in France, as in the whole of Europe, is evolving towards a greater homogeneity. The implementation of EU exchange programs fosters and increases the student mobility. Beside, the «Ryanair factor» allows may more people to travel throughout the world, broadening their knowledge of foreign cultures and languages, which I think is very positive because a broader understanding of other cultures and languages leads to a better understanding of one’s own culture and own language.

Nathalie Breysse

Interview with Tim Hill on 'Training intercultural skills'

olga.annenko@skylight.de — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:57:00 +0200

Hi Tim, thank you for your time and for giving this interview. My first question is about the module ‘Training intercultural skills’ which you will be running on May, 5. Could you please specify exactly which aspects of intercultural skills you will be covering?
Tim Hill: Basically moving beyond the cognitive into the practical, such as helping [trainers] understand how communication at distance is affected by culture or how subtle changes in presentation structure, style or delivery can be made to have a better impact.

And will you put more emphasis on several particular cultures, or will you be speaking about the role of culture in typical scenarios which trainers’ clients may face?
T.H.: Well, undoubtedly equipping trainers to handle real scenarios their clients may face, though we have to remember a day can only provide some pointers in this direction.

One of the module objectives is key communication competencies for working across cultures. Are you going to teach trainers these competencies or show how they can teach their clients these communication skills?
T.H.: Well firstly, I am a bit adverse to the word ‘teach’ once we get beyond school or apprenticeship system since it suggests a curriculum to be imparted by an ‘expert’ up at the front of a room. I will certainly be training how to bring over competencies in a meaningful way to our clients to ensure a practical outcome. This means involving trainers to access their own ideas and experience.

And the last questions, but not least: What are the latest trends in intercultural training?
T.H.:We have moved a long way from country-specific dos and don’ts and the idea that ‘culture’ means just national culture. Fundamentally, modern IC training probably has more in common with Emotional Intelligence – ‘managing yourself and others’ for a positive business effect. What is more, understanding how to manage diversity in the wider sense (including differences between generation, gender and personality) is now part of a more holistic approach. For those trainers from a mainly language background, it is less an add-on to regular training and more of a fundamental shift in attitude about what you do. This means less focus on the client’s linguistic production and more focus on the impact they have in the global workplace in terms of their behaviour - which includes - but is not limited to - how they use English.

Thank you very much Tim!

Find out more about the module ‘Training intercultural skills’ here .

"The morality is not in the knife."

ben.zimmermann@skylight.de — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:54:00 +0100

What kind of experience in your career guided you through to provide NLP workshops like the Business Diploma? Paul: We first came across NLP in the mid 1980’s and have been highly engaged with it ever since. Our exploration and work has focussed on supporting people to realise their potential individually and together; to be the best they can be. NLP is such an effective approach and set of tools and techniques for making a difference to performance, communication and relationships. Our Business Diploma focuses on those aspects of NLP which in our opinion are most relevant and important for day to day application in business, rather than some of the coaching and therapeutic aspects and techniques. For me NLP offers the best set of tools I know for facilitating human interaction and developing people. It’s highly practical and very effective for people working in business.Marie: The distinction Paul makes between the therapeutic applications of NLP and the day to day business and human communication applications is one well made. Our longer NLP Practitioner programme covers that broader syllabus and is 18 days long. There is so much material now around that we could easily run an even longer NLP Practitioner. There are short Practitioner programs offered by other organisations, which we do not want to disparage or decry, a little bit of something is better than a lot of nothing, but what we feel is that people only really get to understand and expertly apply NLP if they get it in the muscle and these short Practitioner programmes offer too much information in too short a time. If people get time to practice NLP, try things out and come back with their questions, then it lives and the learning stays, rather than just being a case of, ‘Oh, yes, I’ve done a NLP course, it was quite interesting’. NLP becomes much more transformational, when people truly get the depth of application. That was the idea behind the Business Diploma, a focussed course of business relevant material that participants will explore, practice and learn to get in the muscle. During the course we will constantly reference how the skills can be applied in practice to the work the participants do. If Diploma participants want to continue their NLP learning they can go on to join our Practitioner programme at module 3. In the UK as an organization and as individuals we are accredited and recognized by two major professional bodies for NLP. One is ANLP; the other is The Professional Guild for NLP. You both underlined the relevance of human interaction and developing people with NLP. Maybe you could go into depth, how can knowledge of NLP support a coach or a trainer, especially a language trainer to achieve his goals? Marie: There are so many ways of answering this question. There is very little in the NLP Practitioner syllabus that isn’t of direct relevance to the coach or the trainer. In the Business Diploma, what we intend to do, is to put in the things that are most business relevant. Some of those are about influencing people, the impactful use of language, enhancing listening skills, understanding what makes someone else tick, building rapport, setting and achieving outcomes and resourcefulness. One of the questions that NLP is really great in answering is, ‘what’s the difference that makes the difference?’ So for example, what is it that that one person is doing in a situation that means they are really successful at getting their message across, when someone else in exactly in the same context, seemingly with the same skill set, doesn’t get the same result. Over the years with this sort of question in mind NLP has modelled excellence. It looks at people, who do things really well and asks, how come? How are they doing what they are doing? If I find that out, I can do it too. NLP is great at what we call codifying what it is that people are doing, this offers the possibility to replicate what others do or to make an effective change to alter or improve what you are doing..Paul: One of the definitions of NLP is that it is the study of subjective experience. As Marie said, it has developed ways of codifying that subjective experience. This can involve how mapping people use their senses, whether they prefer to be visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, which criteria are important to them, what beliefs and values they are working from. At the end of the diploma participants will better understand how a person constructs their reality which will aid them to communicate more effectively and facilitate change. This is one of NLP’s major gifts. This technique of codifying seems to me very effectual for a trainer or coach in the classroom. Could you please explain what it is exactly about? Marie: Well, at a NLP Practitioner level and at a Diploma level what we teach is the output of the modelling NLP has done over the years. At the advanced NLP Masters level we teach people how to do the modelling. By the way, I hate the expression of codifying, because it makes people sound like they are computers and of course they are not. But it means that we can understand what someone does, what process someone follows and how people are thinking about their world. This means to find out the assumptions somebody is making about the world and by doing so that changes their experience and changes the experience of others around them. For example: One of our Practitioners took a look at entrepreneurs, at what some of the differences were about entrepreneurs who were really successful. It sounds so obvious, when I say it, but in order to be a really successful entrepreneur you don’t have the same thinking around failure. Because they see it in a way like ‘O.K, that didn’t work.’ For them it is part of a process, while a lot of other people find the experience of failure very difficult and are reluctant to have another go. But if you are really wanted to be entrepreneurial, then you have to make a shift in your own thinking and feeling concerning the nature of failure. Paul: Of course there are a lot of other applications including working with how people learn, how they make decisions, how they commit, how they are motivated and other such fundamental drivers that lead people to behave in the way that they do. On a Diploma course we naturally cannot cover everything, but as we have said what we do is to cover some of the real fundamental foundations. We want people to get practical tools and approaches they can take away and use immediately with clients in the training room or 1:1. Is the content of the workshop mainly theoretical, practical or a well-balanced mixture of both? Will the trainers have the opportunity to try out in small groups what they’ve just learned? Marie: All of it. Obviously on the first day, we will talk a lot about NLP and what people want to get out of the program. For instance we will present a particular model which is about how people who are successful at getting what they want seem to get it. And that’s probably where we’ll start. The model is called ‘outcome thinking’ and it fits alongside what a lot of people already know about outcome; things like smart objectives which became fashionable and very useful, but there are some particular add-ons to that, which makes for what we call a well-formed outcome. This is a very powerful tool for the individuals who are on the program personally, it is also a great model for them to use with their clients and participants.Paul: We will teach something, we’ll demonstrate it and then people will practise it. So it’s a mixture of classroom based theory, a demonstration and then people will work in small groups with our support and then come back and ask questions and debrief. That is a very typical process and loop to go through. Marie: It is usual that a little bit of theory, a demonstration and a bit of practice will be done every hour and a half. Probably not the first morning but by the time we are into the first afternoon, we will almost certainly complete least one of these cycles on the first day and on the second day we’ll be doing two or three of those. Paul: The key about NLP is about getting change through into behaviour. Therefore, behaviour is a key aspect of how we structure the training. So, we always get people to do what we are talking about because we want them to have the experience and start the process of getting it in their system and in their behaviour. NLP it’s not just about theory in head; it’s about learning behaviours so that when you go out in the world you have had that practical experience and you can practice and apply NLP skilfully and effectively. . Between the two modules we will encourage people to practice and come back to the second module with their questions. As we also mentioned we will offer a conference call between the two modules where people can share their experiences and ask their questions.How do you see this conference or telephone call? Marie: We would probably go for a group conference because then people can check in with each other. We do that on another long programme where there is a big gap between two modules. It works very effectively for people to check in and keep it alive. Yes, Paul mentioned that already. I would try to put that also in our training description and see how we can deliver this. Marie: I don’t know whether you do but we use Skype quite a lot.You’ve already said a lot concerning the methodology of the workshop and I think this is a part of it that you don’t loose someone’s interest and attention in the long time period between May and July. DELETE THIS Marie: We also would be available if individuals had a question that was burning for them, they would be welcome to email us with those questions and we would respond. If anybody in advance of coming on a programme wants to set up a brief telephone call with us we would be very happy to speak to them; if they wanted to know a little more or just want to make human contact with us.Paul: We have a lot of experience working with NLP in organisations. We know how effective it is. It is always a great pleasure to support people’s development and growth. In a 6 day Diploma there is such a lot that people can get to take away and practice. We want to support that between the modules. It is fun as well as being full of learning and really practical application.That raises one last question for me: Which development, which changes have you seen in the last 25 years of doing NLP? Are there one or two things, which you can say, have changed completely in the practice of NLP? Marie: When Paul and I first started in NLP it was very new, less than ten years old; there were a very limited number of books, so there was a very limited number of techniques and models at that time. Since then there has been a huge increase in the development of NLP. I think the other thing I would say about NLP is that Paul and I don’t hold it as the only thing that is useful to people. We just think that it is a very powerful way of thinking about some of the issues that cause challenges and conflicts in our world. And the way in which people choose to use NLP is very varied. So, some people use NLP with a little less integrity than we would like. They do use it manipulatively. Lots people ask whether NLP is manipulative, and the answer to that question we always give is: “if you have a sharp knife, it’s your choice what to do with it; you can use it to cut up your food, to open an envelope, to kill someone or in the hands of a skilled surgeon you could save someone’s life. The morality is not in the knife.I agree totally, it is very similar to the role of communication. It’s an abstract example, but I understand, what you mean. Marie: And so we teach it with as much integrity as we can and invite people to use it with integrity. It’s a downside of any growth that you get growth in both directions; you get growth of its use for good and you also get growth of its use for what we could consider manipulation.Paul: What I would add is that certainly in the UK and in other countries NLP is now found quite widely applied within organisations. In the 80’s early 90’s this wasn’t the case but now it is both explicitly used in business and applied within training programmes without naming it as NLP. A sales training almost inevitably contains some NLP although it may not be described as such. Similarly communication skills may well include some insights from NLP. So, its influence has certainly grown over the years as well as its knowledge base. As Marie said, people use it in different ways. Some people use it as a quick fix, saying, I can change your life in three days using NLP - that kind of approach is a typical quick fix of modern society, but in our experience it rarely sustains. Personally we are about giving people substantial skills and a meaningful and valuable learning experience which stays with the person.. Marie, Paul, thank you very much for this extensive insight in the methodology and potential of NLP. The interview was conducted by Ben Zimmermann, Public Relations SKYLIGHT.

Getting to the nitty-gritty...

olga.annenko@skylight.de — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:19:00 +0100

In the first you will learn more about the workshop modules “ Communicating Internationally in English ” and about the methodology of the course in general.The second video is entitled “ Getting to the nitty-gritty ”. To find out what lies behind this somewhat cryptic name you’ll have to visit us on YouTube! And this is not a trick to lure you onto YouTube. It’s just that due to a technical issue, it isn’t possible to upload two videos on one page here on the blog.So enjoy viewing us on YouTube at TheSKYLIGHTTube!

About Communicating Internationally in English in-depth Part 2

olga.annenko@skylight.de — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:15:00 +0100

This week Bob talks about modules 3 and 4 taking place on 14 July and 8 September respectively. He will explain the reason why he combined giving and getting feedback with coaching in the third module and communicating virtually with working with international teams in the fourth one. Next video will give you some insights into the structure of the modules.

About Communicating Internationally in English in-depth Part 1

olga.annenko@skylight.de — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:35:00 +0100

It is high time we started publishing videos in which Bob Dignen speaks about each separate module of the course Communicating Internationally in English . This time we took the workshop modules 1 and 2 taking place on 31 March and 26 May respectively. In this video Bob explains why he has chosen to combine such topics as speaking transparently and listening effectively with building relationships in the first module and decision making and influencing with managing conflicts in the second one. Stay with us and next week you will learn more about the workshop module 3 and 4.

Bob Dignen about interpersonal skills

olga.annenko@skylight.de — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:21:00 +0100

In this second video that you can also find on YouTube, Bob Dignen is talking about interpersonal skills he will cover in his workshop Communicating Internationally in English . Are they universal? Where is their place in human and business interaction? And what is important – would reading the book Communicating Internationally in English suffice to master these skills?