CASES

 

   

A large multi-state bank identified the need to gain a larger share of the rapidly expanding Hispanic market. This market expects to conduct business in its native language. The challenge was to quickly empower English-speaking business development and telesales personnel to be able to communicate directly with customers in Spanish. Short term Spanish for Banking and Finance courses were able to remove this language barrier to increased revenue.

A corporation identified a need for many foreign-born workers to improve their ability to clearly pronounce American English. A customized program was designed to implement targeted classes in Accent Modification.

A restaurant chain was experiencing language barriers to communication between Spanish-speaking kitchen workers and the English-speaking supervisors who managed them. Language Directions implemented a two-prong approach by using bi-lingual trainers to teach basic ESL to the workers and Spanish for Restaurants to management. These parallel activities improved productivity in the workplace by reducing the gap in communication.

A foreign-based financial institution wanted to be able to have better relationships with non-ethnic clients and vendors. The target group was already at an advanced level of English, but had problems with idioms, pronunciation and some advanced grammar. We designed a 10 week course which included all of these elements, customized to the participants in the course.

The world headquarters of a large corporation employed a large number of foreign-born technology staff. Managers had difficulty communicating with them and the staff had difficulty in making presentations to non-technology personnel. A 30 hour course funded by the corporation and held after hours on a volunteer basis, enabled them to gain confidence and competence in their use of American business English.

The patient base of an inner city hospital had changed to mostly Hispanic. Neither the medical nor administrative staff of the hospital was Spanish-speaking, and the few bi-lingual nurses were stretched thin. The hospital was forced to use a translation phone service at a significant cost. The implementation of a 20 hour healthcare-specific course in Spanish for the medical, admitting, and billing staff resulted in their ability to perform basic care and secure essential information directly without need for translation or interpretation. This course was grant-funded at no cost to the hospital.

A French company with a US office had language issues. A newly-arrived salesperson from France needed to improve his skills in American English. The American staff wanted to learn conversational French in order to better relate to their French counterparts with whom they spoke every day by phone. The manager of the facility wanted to improve his command of business French to be able to communicate with French executives in meetings and via e-mail. One trainer with strong French and English skills was able to address all parts of the company's need on-site at an affordable cost.

 

TESTIMONIALS

"Our staff enthusiastically responded when Spanish Class was offered on site, and 50 staff members signed up immediately.  The instructor was knowledgeable and kept class interesting and fun and the flexible scheduling enabled staff to work around the needs of the nursing units.  Now that the word is out, other staff members are asking when it will be offered again! "

Patricia Schepis, MS, RN,C
Director, Staff Education
Carrier Clinic


"The Spanish for Medical Personnel courses are extremely popular at our Medical Center. Clinical and administrative staff have showed great interest in this course. We hope to continue offering the class in the future."

Eva Matos-Botex
Director of Organizational Development and Patient Relations
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center


"The class was fantastic. As someone who only took French in High School and College, I thought I would be lost. Sharlene however, moved at a pace that was challenging yet realistic and I never felt "left behind'. The Spanish words and phrases I learned have helped me in business, personal interactions with merchants and even vacations. I found that with a basic foundation, I am able to comprehend both written and verbal communication. It is amazing how much you can grasp in just a couple of months. Learning a new language is invigorating because it empowers you to communicate and interact in an environment that you were unable to before. I would highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to refresh their Spanish speaking skills as well as anyone interested in starting from the beginning. Speaking another language is a valuable and rewarding skill and I'm thankful to Sharlene for sharing her knowledge with me!"

Victoria Martin
New Jersey Regional Administration, MBNA America

''I thank Sharlene for her help in assisting me to gain my confidence in communicating fearlessly. Language Directions helped me in improving my communication in English. Though I had good skills, I was bit a shy talking in public. The 12 week course helped me to overcome my fear and shyness."

Gopala Kurra
Automated Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)

"I had been working with Irina prior to her taking the English grammar course. It's apparent that she did benefit from taking the course because she is now better able to explain situations and problems in writing and verbally. Since taking the course she has been more involved in writing technical documents than in the past. There is an improvement here too in terms of clarity and conciseness."

Patricia Kennedy, supervisor of Irina Popova
Automated Data Processing, Inc. (ADP)

'If you're looking for an effective tutor to reduce your accent, Sharlene is the right person for you. If you already know how your accent affects your communication, you would understand the excellent value Sharlene could possibly bring to your life. Sharlene is not only a good tutor. More importantly, she is also a responsible good friend to me. I enjoy every joyful lesson with her. Thank you Sharlene!"

Yang Li
Internet Engineer
Verisign, Inc.

''I want to thank you for improving my English pronunciation dramatically.  I've tried so many different things in the past but none of them helped as much as your program.  Your understanding of individual needs, your dedication, and your experience surpassed all my expectations.  Thanks once again." 

Dave Yoon, CPA
RosenfarbWinters, LLC

''To pronounce correctly and have the right intonation is essential to get the attention of your questioner in what you are telling him or her. That is essential  in a job interview, where you have to convince your interviewers that you are the best person they could hire for the job. That is not possible if they cannot understand what  you try  to say. If you have problems with the American pronunciation, Sharlene Vichness has the ability to identify rapidly your problem. She is a master  at helping  you to understand it, and  she motivates you to correct it. With extraordinary patience and kindness, Sharlene puts you on the right pathway,  and you make progress almost without knowing it. I was really surprised when after a few lessons the people around me told me how big an improvement I was showing. 'We could not really understand you before, but now it is easy' they said to me. That motivated me really very much to continue the work. Today I have a job where communication is an important part of the work and I'm totally convinced that without Sharlene's help I never would have gotten this job. Sharlene Vichness courses were without doubt my best investment in searching for a job."

Ramón Sánchez-Morillo
Chemical Engineer
DeGussa AG

"My experience with Language Directions has been great.  I feel more confident about speaking Spanish to native speakers and I am willing to initiate conversations in Spanish now.  I am looking forward to continuing my Spanish education with Language Directions to gain fluency."

Tanya Sanchez
Recruiting Manager
MBNA America

"Participants were very enthusiastic about the classes and what they were learning. Subject matter was very relevant... they were able to use some phrases immediately. The classes were organized and punctual, and the instructor held their interest at all times"

Terry Adelgais
Director of Education
Barnert Hospital

"Sharlene's accent reduction program is extremely useful and allows each one of the students to position themselves and to work on their own weaknesses. Sharlene is always there to provide everyday examples and do the extra step to explain and demonstrate the proper way pronunciation. Improvement is 100% guaranteed!"

Jacob Nuta
Automatic Data Processing, Inc.