This tailored language course focuses more on the trainees’ Achille’s heel. As a trainer, I have constructed a special test to determine the trainees’ level of language comprehension. After the assessment, the trainees are then being drilled intensively according to their level of understanding and capacity to learn- taking into account their personal ability, character, background and culture. Each learning scheme is uniquely design to fit the dress of the wearer.

After two consecutive months of intensive training with two different trainees, I honestly discovered that all roads lead to Rome. It is not at the end of the road yet, nevertheless, so far as I can tell, it has been a very fruitful journey for both the trainees and the trainer. 

Today, we offer you a free and very handy downloadable tool !

This is the self-evaluation grid that experts designed for the European Common Frame of Reference for Languages.  It allows you to self-evaluate your skill levels in any language.

So, before you subscribe for a language course or move to any European country, you can read the different items related to the level of understanding, speaking and writing skills.

This tool can also help you to fill in your CV correctly!  Yes, more often than not, I read what’s written on very brilliant and interesting CV’s :

• English : mother language,
• Italian : school level,
• Spanish : good.

All this doesn’t mean anything for your future boss !  So, instead of these generalities, fill in your CV with clear statements like :

• Italian : I can understand the main points of a clear standard speech, I can write standard business letters, and I can take an active part in familar professional context.

Doesn’t it sound more professional ?

You can read, dowload, share, print and embed the following document.  For a more comfortable reading, click on fullscreen and then adjust the zoom by clicking on the magnifying glass below, on the left.

Because of this great interest, the Foundation has created a club for kids – which one of the objectives is – to also initiate such project among children.  It is also another approach to reach out to all types of children despite their nationality, race and religion. What more of a better way than children reaching out to other children? They can learn to encourage and support each other – giving hand to-hand guidance – while having fun together and getting to know one another more thoroughly and put aside their differences to find a common ground between them so that they can live in a more harmonious way.

So, there it is! It’s now OFFICIAL ! The Stichting Lingua Franca Foundation is now a member and supporter of the Piccolingo Campaign. For your information, the Piccolingo Campaign is an initiative from the  European Union under Education and Culture DG.

Marco Bertolini, the co-Founder of Lingua Franca Foundation, has been appointed as a supporter  for the Piccolingo Campaign for Belgium from PICCOLINGO.

Stichting Lingua Franca Foundation realise the importance of  each client’s individuality and uniqueness. We acknowledge the existence of the client’s own specific needs and demands. We also acknowledge that each client needs to take total control on the development of his/her need(s) through out the entire course and everybody has his/her own pace to tackle the need(s) according to the level of understanding and acceptance.

Walking through the sand

We want the client to know that we actually understand their needs and the manner of wanting their needs to be fulfilled. Face-to-face interaction is one of the basic methods we use to penetrate the client’s true wish. Some people are afraid of spilling out what is truly in their hearts; thinking that others might make a mockery out of them. Some even think their needs and demands are too impossible to achieve. We are here to break that barrier of endless fear. We are here to assure them dreams can be realities if you work hard to achieve it. Dreams are not impossible. It is solely up to YOU to make the impossible possible.

Tailored Made Programme

The services offered by the Stichting Lingua Franca Foundation are specifically designed around YOUR NEEDS. Yes, YOUR NEEDS. We will propose to you a programme/service/workshop/course specially for YOU. A tailored made programme to solely suit YOUR EXACT NEEDS.  Considering all factors and wishes from YOU the client, the Foundation will evaluate seriously all levels of the individual’s potential and achievement. From there, we will create a course that you are comfortable with to enable you to  finally achieve your goals.

Personal Development and Performance

]]> http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2010/01/13/uniqueness-of-service/feed/ 0 Suziana Salleh walking through the sand personal development and performance http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2010/01/10/uuhh-uuuhh-mama-i-can-read/ http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2010/01/10/uuhh-uuuhh-mama-i-can-read/#comments Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:21:19 +0000 Suziana Salleh http://linguafrancafoundation.org/?p=880 Continue reading →]]> Have you ever witness little children who are able to read without having to teach them how to read the language in the first place? This is without sending them to a specific language school, or send them to special language class to enable them to learn to grasp the language and to fully understand the concept of the language itself. I am talking about literally putting a book in front of them and they start reading simultaneously, and surprisingly with almost no fault nor correction! I am not saying that you shouldn’t teach any language just by speaking alone, but believe me! It helps a lot in grasping the meaning and pronouncing the words faster than usual.

boy reading a book

I have been speaking English with my children since they were born. It’s not their only language since we speak more than three languages in the house. But to my astonishment, my children are able to recognise words and sentences from any English book and are able to read them fluently. All I know is that, all these years we never stop talking and practising the language. We speak English every single day.

One thing here that I feel the urge to mention is that I make sure the children speak proper English. Not any ‘broken’ English as most people put it. I have the tendency to keep correcting their sentences whenever there is the need for correction. This is because I know for a fact that it is crucial to speak the language correctly so that the person receiving the information will benefit from understanding fully what you want to relay in the first place – hopefully without having to repeat over and over again for clarity.

boy and girl reading a book

Now, it seems that my hard work has been paid off – slowly (I am waiting for a big fat cheque at the end of all this! Haha, just kidding…) Honestly, I am genuinely happy to see that my children are benefiting our endless effort all these years.   There are a lot of sweat and tears along the journey, however, I am more than satisfied with the fruitful result. Imagine that throughout the years,  it was I  who read the books to the children almost every night. And now? Now, it’s totally a different story altogether. It’s a total opposite, really!  The children are the ones who read pirate adventures books, or stories about beautiful princesses and the ever lasting Prince Charming. Or stories about little boys and girls, or stories about frogs and swans, gnomes and fairies and even funny comic books to me instead! You should have seen the look in their eyes once they start reading on their own. As if they have found the long lost treasure  from Treasure Island. They are so proud to tell me, ” I can read, mama…. I can read!”

With this, I am now teaching the children the proper structure of the language through writing. I do not have to start at the very beginning since this is no longer an unfamiliar territory.  I am sure that the children will have more pleasure in learning the language  thoroughly since I am already seeing signs of ‘having so much fun‘ while they are reading and writing English. I am entirely convinced that the children will be able to read, write, speak and hear the language in full gear in the very near future! Never under estimate the power of the mind of a child….

]]> http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2010/01/10/uuhh-uuuhh-mama-i-can-read/feed/ 0 Suziana Salleh boy reading book boy and girl reading http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/12/17/a-newcomer-in-the-lingua-franca-foundation-trouve-ta-voie/ http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/12/17/a-newcomer-in-the-lingua-franca-foundation-trouve-ta-voie/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:50:15 +0000 Marco Bertolini http://linguafrancafoundation.org/?p=728 Continue reading →]]> In French, “Trouve ta voie” means “Find your Way“. This is a new blog in French, destined to people in Belgium and France who want to know better about job search, job coaching, business creation, communication techniques, positive thinking and much more.

The Lingua Franca Academy will soon develop activities in Brussels, the Belgian capital, and this blog is aimed to inform Brusselers about our courses, job opportunities, coaching, and the goals of the Lingua Franca Foundation.

We will tell you soon where we will settle our Academy in Brussels.  You can already find this blog by cliking here.

Apparently that somehow caused some sort a chain reaction since, mysteriously out of the blue, she suddenly told me that she (and other colleagues) are in the process of trying to propose some sort of programme to develop children’s mind from birth till they are 4 years old.

Unfortunately we had to cut our conversation short due to appointments we both had to attend (but at different location with different people), but now it gives me a very strong impression that people do think the idea of teaching children and exposing them to new methods of learning, or a new language, etc. is extremely important in order to maximise the potential of the child’s mind and to gear it up to its fullest capacity. I have to say; I got excited! And I fully support this notion.

I have seen that plenty of kindergartens (pre-school) here are making groups therapy for little children to stimulate communication skills. This is mainly because the society is fully mixed structured with people coming from every part and everywhere on the planet. Not only that, mixed couples are considered very common nowadays that you can easily see the result of such mixed relationship walking and running practically almost everywhere.

Verbal communication not only derive from one source – I mean – not coming from only one language. There is no such thing as one language or the ‘master’ of all languages. If you are only capable of mastering just one language, the chances of you flying out of your nest are next to zero. You have clip your wings entirely.

Since plenty of children globally know more than one language since birth , it is important to keep encouraging them to continue using and practicing multiple language on a daily basis. This helps to stimulate the fluency of the language, and the importance of knowing how to use the language in the correct manner and grammar. Some parents tend to put one language above the other as being the dominant language. They stress the point that the dominant language has more significance compared to the other.

As a matter of fact, each language has its own unique identity. Nobody could claim that his/her language is superior to the other. Knowing and having the skill of mastering more languages enable all of us to better understand and respect one another despite of all the differences that exist in this world,  thus,  help us to live prosperously with each other.

Multi-lingual children are the children of the future. These children should be given the chance to blossom in the most cherishable fashion, therefore the future that we would like to create could be very fruitful at the end.

Measuring the language skills of their public servants is also a matter of importance as they have to cope with so many complex topics in so many languages.

So the European institutions have created DIALANG in order to help trainers, trainees and institutions to evaluate and adapt the level of language knowledge.

These tools help professional to create language learning courses.  But some of them, like the DIALANG Self Assessment Statements help you to evaluate your own command of a language.

European Language and Job Search Training and Coaching

The Lingua Franca Academy is preparing a series of language courses as well as specialized Job Coaching for people who aim to work in the European Institutions. Some courses will be on site learning courses and some will be online packages.

In order to help you to assess yourself your command of a language, we publish here two free tools that you can download and use to evaluate your command of any language.  It is not a test, but an evaluation tool, a series of assessemnt you make yourself regarding your skills in a language.

Be honest : don’t try to trick yourself and, at the end of the process, you’ll get a clear and complete image of your command of this language.

Téléchargez en français

Download in English

The Piccolingo logo

As you have read about the Piccolingo – an European program aimed to promote early language learning for preschool children; I am wondering  and strongly hoping that this sort of project is achievable and manageable in the Dutch region.

The Lingua Franca Foundation (Lingua Franca Academy) – is seriously promoting such cause – wanting full exposure for very young children to adapt to more than one language. Having to master more than one language is considered a skill – and to be able to learn and sharpen one skill at a very tender age is a long lasting investment! Not many children having this unique advantage, but those who do, should be given full boost to further their knowledge in this field.

From my understanding and observation all these years, I can conclude that foreigners come to settle in this land of tulips for plenty of reasons. Some for work and business opportunity, some for furthering their education and knowledge, others for private reasons; for example wanting to re-connect to families who migrated  to the the Netherlands long ago, and most of them come to this country for the sake of love. Here in the Netherlands, it is common to see many ‘mixed’ couple with ‘mixed’ children strolling down the street. Seeing that many children come from a ‘mixed’ environment – having families coming from diverse backgrounds and speak with more than one language – this environment should be more encouraging – and not being oppressed nor ignored! – to suit the need of the present and the future. It is proven worldwide that people who possess and practice more than one language can benefit more in life.

Most pre-schools here in the Netherlands only stress the importance of one language; the Dutch language. Learning another language is only stressed upon after the age of 10 in the dutch school system. This is definitely not an ideal learning environment since brain stimulation for languages starts at a very tender age. It is  not a complicated manner. It’s rather simple actually. The younger you are, the easier and faster your brain capacity to absorb all information – ESPECIALLY when it comes to language. The brain works as a sponge – absorbing every word and store them all. The understanding of the word comes a bit later, but the very least is that the brain has been exposed to a ‘new’ word every time permissible!

It would be an idealistic world if you could see all generations able to socialize respectfully and with tolerance. Can this be possible? I surely think it is! If so, how? Well, personally, I think having knowledge of more than one language can break that barrier that keeps us apart and being ignorant. Language is a means of communicating; and to know more languages  brings people closer and open their minds to the differences they have and learn to understand how to live with one another respectfully and harmoniously.

Everything has to start from somewhere. So, I think it is  extremely crucial to start to learn another language from a very tender age. Not only the children learn another language and having fun by doing it, in addition and most importantly, they also learn that the world do not only revolve around them and they have to learn to live together and respect each other’s differences despite colour, race, religion etc.  After all, at that tender age, children see pass the differences and the colour of the skin due to their  purified souls. Then, perhaps, this idealistic world I mentioned before can actually exist…. Don’t you think so?

You can give us your opinion by completing the poll below…

You can also contribute to the discussion on our FaceBook Page here.

We appreciate your collaboration and we are really thankful for any ideas or suggestions, so don’t hesitate to make your opinion known to us.  Thank you.

]]> http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/11/18/piccolingo-in-the-netherlands/feed/ 0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 Suziana Salleh logo_boca small world http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/11/17/bilingual-children-learn-better/ http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/11/17/bilingual-children-learn-better/#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:56:12 +0000 Marco Bertolini http://linguafrancafoundation.wordpress.com/?p=409 Continue reading →]]> Two days ago, I published a post about Piccolingo, an European program aimed to promote early language learning for preschool children.  Here, is an article I wrote several month ago on early language learning and its benefits.

Some myths and legends about language learning seem very difficult to eradicate…

One of the most ancient and long-lasting wrong idea about bilingualism is that children who are exposed to several languages at home face learning problems and are retarded in their acquisition of their mother tongue.

A new study of the Sissa (Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati – International High School for Advanced Studies) just demonstrates the opposite : children early exposed to bilingualism at home develop earlier and better learning capacities than monolingual kiddies…

Experiments carried on by Professor Jacques Mehler and Agnes Melinda Kovacs show that bilingual young children cope easier with some verbal stimuli based tests.

In one of these tests, children have to associate a sequence of sounds with the position of images on a screen.  For instance, when the  baby hears a sounds sequence based on a AAB pattern (like loloba), a puppet appears on the left of the screen.  When the sequence follows another pattern, ABA (like lobalo), the puppet appears on the right side of the screen.

Monolingual one year old children  can only anticipate the apparition of the puppet according to the AAB sequel while bilingual kids are able to predict the position of the puppet in both sequences.

According to the researchers, bilingual children develop an early ability to take in consideration the important things in a determined context, while their monolingual colleagues are lost in a dark forest of details…

Theses children, also develop – even before they talk ! – a capacity to observe the tiny linguistic nuances of the parents languages and can learn foreign languages easier and faster than monolingual children.

A good news for language lovers, isn’t it ?

If you want to know more about this research, you can read the press release of the Sissa or go to the Science Magazine website to read the abstract or purchase the full article.