Businesses compete in an interconnected global economy where, to be successful, business people need second language skills in order to maximize their contribution to the success of their companies. It is not enough that an internationally involved business person be able to speak a second language at a low level, but instead a business person must speak a second language at a high level using figurative language to develop personal lationships based on trust.
Employees are hired because of their business skills and experience, and also based on their likeability and trustworthiness. Likeability and trustworthiness are important because no employee can do their job well if they are not liked and trusted by colleagues, clients and customers. It is impossible to build a personal relationship based on trust unless communication skills are at a high enough level to develop meaningful personal relationships. If employees do not have sufficient communication skills, the student’s company is missing out on potentially valuable opportunities.
The truth is that adults are capable of learning a new language quicker than children. The real challenge is not for the student, but instead the student being immersed in the correct teaching methodology. The reason that children quickly and effortlessly learn their native language is because their parents do not make them memorize rules of grammar or vocabulary lists. Instead, parents teach language to their children in an environment that is natural, interesting and important for the child. Children learn how to tell parents that they are hungry, tired or sick because the child is motivated to express his physical and mental condition. Similarly, all BLT lessons are focused on the adult student learning how to express herself or himself speaking about common, everyday experiences without memorizing rules of grammar and syntax. In other words, BLT has developed a learning experience very similar to the way the student learned her or his native language.
It is important to keep in mind that employees’ real success for their company is only achieved if the employee is able to develop strong personal relationships with clients, customers and colleagues. To do so, the employee must speak a language in a figurative way using idiomatic expressions that are necessary when communicating in any language when developing personal relationships. BLT lessons are all focused on learning a second language with the goal of developing personal relationships, not simply communicating facts. Learning figurative language is easy for BLT students because each lesson is about a topic that is of interest to the specific student.
All BLT teachers are native speakers in the language they are teaching. Native speakers are better able to provide not only effective pronunciation instruction, but also real-life interaction that includes idiomatic expressions exactly as they are used in business and social settings. BLT teachers are continually updated in global business trends and technology so that they are aware of how students will be using their fluent second language skills in a rapidly changing global economy.