Taleninstituut Nederland installed large, flat-screen interactive technology in its Keizersgracht training rooms in 2015. The devices screens are wireless and Bluetooth enable and can interact with a phone, tablet or laptop to share just about anything digital.
The screens are available for trainers to use with one-one-one clients as well as groups and are the ideal method to share visual and text based material with clients. But what benefits do these screens actually deliver to the clients?
“I really realised how effective interactive screens are during my work in-company. Today most of the business’s are technologically advanced,” remarks German language trainer Verena Bach, “It was so easy for the clients to share their work materials, share emails and discuss websites from their own devices with no fiddling in between.”
Aside from the ease of use, the screens are effective because of how our brains work. The human brain processes and remembers visual information faster and more efficiently than written or heard words. By utilising to put everything on a screen in from of clients, trainers are thereby able to tap into the visual learning ability of every client and make topics more memorable.
Verena continues, “They really are good for visual learning. Sometimes you need to actually SEE a word to remember it. The screen also shifts the psychological focus of lessons away from the trainer and onto the screens. Shifting the focus like this is an important part of holding attention and helping clients process that various data that makes up an effective language learning experience.”
As digital devices and media become more and more every-day in our lives, it is also important to use this kind of technology. The digital generation forms a growing part of the body of clients at Taleninstituut Nederland and it is important to provide lessons and materials in ways that this generation relates to.
Verena has found that, when working with fluency (a client’s ability to speak a language as opposed to working with grammar rules) the screens provide a unique space to work in. “The big screens gives a group of clients a new way to talk about their jobs and responsibilities,” says Verena. “When they share emails and documents on the screen they have to read, listen and speak in the target language. It’s also very practical as we now have the ability to read a document, review and re-write all in one space and time.”
Other uses include employing the screens to view maps and mapping to discuss locations, transport and access. By looking at Social media accounts we can unpack social and interactive language and practice it in many different situations.
A possibly less obvious application of the screen that Verena has discovered is using them to unpack cultural differences. “How people present themselves through images and words is one of the key differences between cultures,” she says, “You can really see this when you look at advertisements and media websites from different cultures. For example, in Dutch adverts tend to be humorous and tell a story, where as in German they are more direct and information driven. You can really see this play out on the big screen with a group of clients.”
Taleninstituut Free Tip
Using big screens helps language lesson through changing the point of focus and activating the visual learning abilities of clients. They also provide a hassle-free, up-to-date why of sharing learning materials, notes and exercises with clients. When combined with the fact that clients then can also easily share their own work materials and we have a powerful, interactive learning tool for business language lessons. You can use these benefits in your company too.
Here at TalenInstituut Nederland (The Dutch Language Institute) we understand the needs that companies face as well as the fears individual learners feel. This is why we offer flexible, fully customised Business language courses to businesses and individuals. Through a process of interviews and meetings we establish the unique needs and competence of our clients and design each and every course around those.
To find out more about our Business Language courses, visit our website and ask us for a quote: www.taleninstituut.nl.
© Taleninstituut Nederland
By: David Chislett
Trainer Business English