Gain confidence
Whether together others from the same team or company or in one-to-one coaching sessions, my clients become aware of their ‘blind spots’ when it comes to speaking and writing in English. I give them the tools they need to make specific and measurable improvements, and there are plenty of opportunities for supervised practice. The goal is to make everyone feel more confident in using English.
Learn to avoid pitfalls
People who use English as a second language often have no idea of the mistakes they commonly make. Those can range from subtle but significant grammatical errors to structural flaws in their pronunciation. Such pitfalls for non-native-speakers often form an obstacle to clear and efficient communication in both speech and writing. Sometimes they can even lead to embarrassing misunderstandings.
With over 25 years of experience in helping mainly Dutch speakers communicate more effectively in English, I am intimately familiar with the range of problems they typically face. Through one-to-one coaching I have also helped speakers of many other languages (e.g. Chinese, Arabic, Italian, Ukrainian) improve their pronunciation of English.
Sharpen your intercultural skills
Some of my Business English workshops are for Dutch speakers who need to communicate effectively in English with people from other cultures. In addition to refreshing and enhancing their knowledge of English, I also introduce them to models of intercultural communication and help them apply those to specific situations they face in their work.
I am very comfortable working with people from other cultures. Many of my workshops in the Netherlands include a mix of participants from both Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Africa. I have also given workshops for more homogenous groups in Albania, Germany, North Macedonia, Spain, Turkey and South Sudan, Ukraine.
My own experience of living as an expat in the Netherlands for the past 40 years has opened my eyes to a broad range of cultural differences. I use that experience in developing training programs to help people from all over the world improve their communication skills in international and/or intercultural contexts. Here, too, clear and effective communication in standard English is always the goal.
Johnston Text & Training 