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.

Yes, Germany is looking for 65.000 skilled workers and cannot find them in the homeland.  So it is calling for volunteers from abroad.

Why is that ?

Well there are several reasons :

1. Germany is the first exporting country in the world.  And it doesn’t export much raw material but manufactured goods and high value services. 
2. Germany has developed a protection policy for its workers and the recent economic crisis hardly affected its employment rate contrary to most European countries which are still facing high unemployment figures.
3. The German population is growing older and many of the so called “baby boomers” are going to retire very soon.  The current birthrate is not sufficient to replace people who are retiring, so the country is compelled to called for foreign skilled workers in order to sustain its huge and competitive industry…

What kind of workers are they searching for ?

 They are mostly looking for workers in these for fields :

1. Computer sciences
2. Natural sciences
3. Mechanics
4. Mathematics

What are the required procedure to work there ?

For workers from EU Member States, there are no special requirements : they can live and work in Germany without staying and/or working permit.  For people from outside EU (Chinese, Indian or Brasilian workers or students), authorities are considering creating a new specific working permit for skilled workers, something similar to the Canadian procedure.  So far, it is not clear if this will be the so-called European Blue Card or some local new system…

To discover more on visas and permit you can visit this page for tips or the official page of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

What are the working conditions in Germany ?

Actually, German working conditions are among the best in Europe :

•  Salary : German wages are amongst the highest in Europe.  German workers are well organized and their trade unions negotiate pay rises each year.
• Time tables : Germans seldom work more than 8 hours per day and it is forbidden to stay more than 10 hours at your workplace. 

What are the advantages and inconvenients ?

With the German wages you can really have a comfortable life.  German salaries generally come with some extra advantages such as company car, telephone, laptop, health insurances and so on.  The German welfare system is very generous and taxes vary according to your salary but also according to your family situation (working partner, number of children, etc.).

 Food tend to be cheaper than in France for instance, but it is also less varied.  As Germany hosts the broadest Turkish community in Europe, you can easily find halal food. 

Housing is rather cheap compared to European prices.   The heating cost are a little higher than in France or Belgium, but generally the German installations are more recent and therefore consume less energy.  Most German cities have plenty of green spaces, cultural and sports resorts.

The language, with its everlasting changing cases,  is pretty difficult : but, generally, people talk or at least understand English.  Germans, like Dutch people, tend to be pretty direct.  They also speak very loud : you get the impression they are always scolding you.  No : they just talk.  For people of Asian or Latin origin, this can be a little bit disturbing, but after a while you get used to it…

So we can say, that Germany can be a thriving and exciting experience for young skilled workers…

Some more tips to find a job in germany

To find a job anywhere in the European Economic Space, you can visite the Eures website.  For young Europeans who would like to discover the working life in another European country, the European Commission proposes stages through its Leonardo Program.

The main job boards have their own page in Germany, as StepStones or Monster.

During the seminar itself, some participants called the Safety Net Project an Eye-Opener !  We are very honored to be perceived as such !      

But what is it about ? 

Event before we created the Lingua Franca Foundation, we were worried about the fate of some Asian women we saw in dire strait around us, in the Netherland.  Some of them divorced in the most desperate – and more often then not – violent conditions.    We decided to react and to create a specific project to help these women : the Safety Net Project (more details about this project in these pages).      

 This project in multidimensional, we aim to contribute to :      

• prevention
• coaching, training & networking
• aid & empowerment
• information & training of the welcoming countries institutions
• partnership   

We went all the way to Malaysia and organize this seminar in order to reach two of these goals :      

• prevention : by giving the participants information about life in Europe and how to get married, to work or to set up a business there in the best possible conditions
• partnership : we wanted to meet NGO’s, local authorities and companies to agree on common resources and actions 

We coudn’t have done half of it without the patience and invaluable support of our local partner : Hotel Abadi Sdn Bhd (Hotel Abadi Melaka).  So we are deeply thankful to these wonderful people who helped to make this seminar a successful event !      

If you missed this seminar, here are the presentations we made that day :     

First, an introduction to the program of the day.      

Then, Suzi started the real presentation with a Prezi about the Lingua Franca Foundation and the Safety Net Project itself. (Cick on t the presentation).       

Safety Net Project Prezi

I, then, followed with a short (and boring, I warned you, people !) Prezi on Europe and its institutions…      

Europe Prezi

After that, I gave the floor back to Suzi who then presented the first part of this Powerpoint on Moving to Europe : she explained the European rules regarding marriage and relationship.  Everybody needed a pause after such an intense morning work  and we all enjoyed the delicious Malaysian cuisine served in the hotel restaurant before I presented the sequel of this combination of Mind mapping and PowerPoint about working and setting up a business in Europe.      

Frame Game : learning with fun 

After more than a half day of presentations, we all needed to move.   The (in)famous disease ALSS (After Lunch Sleeping Syndrom) was threatening everybody in the seminar room and we started the Frame Game : Let’s Net Together !      

This game is a personal adaptation of a Thiagi’s Frame Game.  We distributed 4 cards to the participants and asked them to write 4 items about the question : What can people expect from a project like Safety Net ?        

The goal was to collect the ideas of the group, to broaden our scope regarding the aims of the project and to validate our assumptions about the needs of people and the actions we started.        

We then collected all the cards.  We mixed them up and gave back two cards to each participant.        

They had to place their cards in order of preference.  If they didn’t like their cards, they could exchange them with the rest of the cards, which laid on a table.      

Then, the participants could exchange their remaining cards with another or several participants.  As much cards they wished, but one for one.        

We then asked them to read other people’s card and to gather with the ones who have the closest statements on their card to form several groups.  Three groups resulted of these exchanges, of very different sizes, between two and ten people !         

We, then, prompted the participants to determine the 3 favorite cards of each group.         

When this has been done, we proposed them to present their choice to the rest of the participants.  But… there were some rules they have to respect :         

• no words, no letters 
• No figures and as few symbols as possible 

• draw
• sing, but without lyrics
• mime
• imitate the noise of object 

After a few minutes of hesitations, all the groups endeavour their work with a great fun and a lot of creativity : we had drawings, mime, song (national anthems) and noise (a plane taking off and landing), etc.         

And we got the answers to our questions : yes, the Safety Net Project is an interesting one, it’s a eye-opener, it can give the right information, it can make life easier for people going abroad.     But it could also help student to move abroad, it could  make more taylored conferences and seminars for targeted audiences, it could give handouts at the end of the day, and so on…

 We

 We ended the day by thanking the participants for their pretty good job and with a warning : you thought you could get rid of us so easily, but actually we could be back at the end of the year, with a new conference…   

  Click to view slideshow.     

it’s time for us to reveal

 The Safety Net Project is a program associated between Lingua  Lingua Franca Foundation and Hotel Abadi Sdn Bhd (Hotel Abadi Melaka) to promote safe and harmonious ‘win-win’ international exchanges as well as diversity between nations. This project aims to deal with domestic violence against women from abroad and to help them to integrate in the welcoming country or to go back safely to their country of origin and to inform local authority, potential partners and contributors of the current situation and what plans for improvement. It is also a discussion platform for future collaboration from both sides to promote and maintain the durability of the project.

 “  Somebody you know may need these information badly. The speakers are people with first hand experience on the subject, and have worked with people with similar predicaments. The lesson from their experience is that some problems can be prevented, and it is best if you are prepared before making that big decision! Read the brochure to find out more! “

REGISTER NOW TO SECURE YOUR SEAT

Click here if you wish to pay with the credit card

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/2009/11/08/getting-a-job-in-europe-is-the-blue-card-magic/ http://linguafrancafoundation.org/2009/11/08/getting-a-job-in-europe-is-the-blue-card-magic/#comments Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:23:42 +0000 Marco Bertolini http://linguafrancafoundation.wordpress.com/?p=303 Continue reading →]]> If you sit down at the terrace of a “café branché” in Paris, you will hear people talk a lot about their “carte bleue”, their “blue card”.  This magic word is simply the name French people gave to their Visa Card according to the colour it bears there…

Carte bleue

But Europe is trying to give a little bit more of magic to the expression Blue Card.  The European Blue Card was adopted by the European Council on the 25th  May 2009.  It aims to attract and retain high skilled workers from outside the European Union.

But there is still a long road to go before the first immigrants get this card since the Member States have two years to implement this legislation into their national law, till 19th of June 2011.

Let’s have a look on this Blue Card and the changes it will bring to the European labour markets.

So, the purpose of this new system is to fight against the shortage of highly qualified workers. The official definition of a “highly qualified worker” is a person who owns an university degree and three years of experience.  So, doctors, engineers and ITC specialists will be heavily recruited among foreign students.

How will it work ?

So far, only 24 Member States have signed the agreement.  Restrictions are still applied to workers from former communist countries in Germany, for instance, and some fear a massive immigration of highly educated competitors.

The purpose of this new procedure is to make stay in Europe much faster and easier.  Theoretically, the applicant would enjoy equal treatment with nationals when it comes to “working conditions”, which, according to the conclusions of the European Council includes :

• “working conditions, including pay and dismissal;
• freedom of association;
• education, training and recognition of qualifications;
• a number of provisions of national law regarding social security and pensions;
• access to goods and services, including procedures for obtaining housing, information and counselling services;
• free access to the entire territory of the member state concerned within the limits provided for by national law.

After eighteen months of legal residence in the first member state as an EU Blue Card holder, the person concerned and his family members may move, under certain conditions, to a member state other than the first member state for the purpose of highly qualified employment.”

european flag

Criteria and conditions

The applicant must be offered a job in one of the participant Member States for at least one year.

The Blue Card is valid for one to four years.  The worker can apply in any Member State, except Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland.

The candidate must lodge his application to the Blue Card in the Member States which he wants to work in. The authorities have to answer within 90 days of the application being lodged.

The gross monthly wage must not be inferior to a national level defined by the EU member states which shall be at least 1.5 times the gross monthly or annual average wages in the member state in question.

The worker and his family will be allowed to travel in the Schengen Space for up to three month.

Some critics already raise their voices, comparing the European Blue Card with the American Green Card.  The latter allows permanent residence, while the European does not.   The Green Card is valid 10 years renewable, the Blue one allows only a maximum of for years, renewable.

But it is true that the Blue Card will also provide some social rights and lets any Member State the freedom to elaborate a more generous national labour market regulation.