What we do

By tjolley on Jun 10, 2009 in Featured, What we do | 0 comments

A Typical Tonyversity Learning Programme Nature of Enquiry. Contacted by a Senior Manager / Account-Handler of an online marketing consultancy. Request for a relatively intensive programme of higher-level, Business English to be delivered over two months to a key, junior manager / technical specialist in web-design who was being groomed for a promotion to Account Handler. Already I was beginning to see a need for something rather more than the delivery of English teaching, as the leap from technical specialist to presenter, negotiator and relationship-builder would require the development and enhancement of a range of different capabilities (even if English would be the primary language through which these skills would be demonstrated. Initial Meeting with Potential Learner. (Free of charge) I consider that a good relationship between tutor and learner is of critical importance: the better the relationship, the faster and the more enjoyable and productive the learning experience. Accordingly I invited the junior manager to come to meet me and spend some time in English discussing his job, his career aspirations and his specific needs and targets for learning and those of his employer. The meeting was carried out in an informal atmosphere, after work and away from the office, over an apéro. There were no ‘tests’, just relaxed conversation wich developed into drawing together a programme outline that fit both learner and employer targets within the broad resource ‘envelope’ available. Speaking and discussing a little in English also enabled me to establish the existing degree of language confidence and capability. This process took some two hours. In this case (and every case is necessarily different: a Tonyversity programme is tailored to the learner’s individual and distinctive needs & constraints), a programme of 21 hours of face-to-face learning was determined on the basis of 7 weekly sessions of 3 hours duration, timed to complete prior to his Account Handler interview. These sessions took place in the evening at Tonyversity in Bruebach (just South of Mulhouse). In the event, some sessions lasted over 4 hours and some only 2 given the energy level of the learner after a hard day at work. This programme outline (see below), was then costed and submitted with an estimate to the company for...

By tjolley on May 14, 2009 in Featured, What we do | 0 comments

A service specifically for individuals wanting to develop and enhance their own management capabilities to be able to advance in the labour market through promotion or seeking higher-level opportunities elsewhere. [This facility is also available to companies who might require such training inputs and support for key individuals or small teams as part of a Professional Development Programme.]  This may involve:- Working with you on your cv and covering letter design, development and production for the global Anglophone market. Interview strategy development and rehearsal Development of higher-level capability in English applied to your particular business context, projects and priorities Development and enhancement of presentation, negotiation, strategic management and relationship-building skills Coaching, mentoring and advisory service – support and expertise from ‘outside’ the corporate ‘box’. English language and inter-cultural capability training to enable managers to apply and capitalise upon their existing language fluency in English in situations such as: Multi-cultural team participation and leadership Written and oral presentations in English Relationship-building and negotiation Interviews Adapting to life and work in the Anglophone world. Recently I have found myself working with: a manager seeking a career-change, preparing cvs and covering letters in English for multinational corporations where the working language is English.  This also incorporated the development of interview strategies and repeated rehearsal against the particular requirements of Job Descriptions and Person Specifications. a junior manager seeking a significant promotion who needed both to hone his English and to sharpen some aspects of his management capability. a leisure service manager and successful French actor needing support to take up the challenge of a TV series anda significant part in improvisational comedy play where he will need to think, speak, act and react in English and within a distinctively English context. These are, as you will see, each very different situations with very different requirements which lie beyond the realm of Management or English textbooks.  This is where Tonyversity experience ‘scores’ in being able to tailor things very much to client requirements. Links: An Illustration of a Tonyversity Learning Programme and its outcomes. Learning with Tonyversity: how we work...