Auteur: Nicci Severens

What was the challenge? The buyers and lawyers of the Ministry of Defense communicate a lot about different contracts. This happens worldwide, and is often in English. Because these are serious conversations, especially negotiations, they would like to improve their legal English. This is why the Ministry of Defence came...

There is a common cliché that says: people don’t quit a job, they quit their boss. While the statistics on this fluctuate, the idea remains true. People want to work for an organisation which treats them equally and inspires them to be their best. Empowering managers who have high employee...

As more and more is being written about various cultures and working amongst them, there are certain words and phrases that keep popping up quite often. Terms such as multicultural communication and cross cultural communication and intercultural communication are used almost interchangeably. Is there a difference? If so, what is...

“During 32 years I was employed by Heineken, for many years responsible for the Asia Pacific. During most of those years I either travelled fifty percent of my time or lived and worked in the outside country.” What you’ve just read is the ‘Before Word’ from the book I Always...

When learning a new language, or anything new really, there are certain thought patterns that can reduce brain drain while making your efforts more efficient. Knowing how to learn and study is just as important as knowing how not to learn or study. Here are some tips and tricks to...

FAQ about Intercultural Communication (IC) In our second article highlighting FAQs we’ll explore the most commonly searched for questions relating to intercultural communication, or IC. We were able to group the IC related FAQs into two themes, the first being leading an intercultural team.  Before we get into it, we’ll...

In our first article covering FAQs , we will share some of the most commonly searched for questions by students who want to learn a language. Some are specific to a particular language while others relate to general language learning. Our experience has also shown us that the following questions...

As the world continues to become more connected and interdependent, the need for awareness, collaboration, and understanding only increases. An organisation whose executives are in the top quartile of gender diversity, is 28% more likely to financially outperform their competitors. That number only goes up when you add ethnic diversity...

An abbreviation is a shortened word or phrase, for example, est. is a common abbreviation in English and is used to shorten the word established. Acronyms and Initialisms are different types of abbreviations.  An acronym is made up of the first letter from each word in a phrase, such as...

A frequently asked and logical question is: “How can I expand my vocabulary?” Language is a means of communication and in order to express thoughts you need words, preferably as many as possible. Even if someone knows perfectly well how the subjunctive works in French, without words to make a...