John Clements has an English Foundation!
by Carmen P. Hidalgo

At John Clements, we’re really enthused about our English Foundation. Through the Foundation’s Work Force Development Program—comprised of Foundation Training, Train-and-Hire, and Train the Trainer—we help employees and future employees communicate more effectively in English.

What makes our training so unique? Well, aside from teaching the usual English Polishing and Accent Reduction, we pay special attention to differences between American and Filipino culture, and the problems that can arise as a result. Rocky Peltzman, one of our American-born and raised English teachers, gives an example: “In Asia, silence means affirmation. Americans, however, can’t have more than a few seconds of silence. They need to know that they’ve been heard and understood.” This is why, in its module on American culture, the Foundation Training dedicates a segment to “Sustaining the Conversation,” in which students learn everyday American expressions used as quick replies and stalling techniques which help speakers buy time to think.

In our Train-and-Hire Program, we recruit, train, and pre-interview potential Customer Service Representatives. Training covers Communications Skills and Customer Service. “The idea behind this program,” says Grace S. Sorongon, Vice President/Managing Director of the Professional Staffers Division, “is that by getting candidates from our Train-and-Hire program, companies are effectively shortcutting the training process of their employees. The candidates can go straight into Client Specific Training, thereby saving the company two weeks. Companies get their customer service representatives on the floor sooner and increase their productivity.”

Our Train the Trainer program shows English Teachers how to teach English more effectively. “Most classrooms,” explains Rocky, “are frontally-oriented, with students sitting in rows, facing a teacher who spends most of the classroom time speaking.” In the Train the Trainer program, teachers are taught to use a more effective, practice-heavy methodology (for more on this see article What is Small Group Communicative Methodology?) which reduces Teacher Talking Time (TTT) and increases Student Talking Time (STT). It operates on the premise that classroom time should be broken down into the following:
90% = students talking
8% = teacher talking
2% = students writing in notebook

We truly feel that our English Foundation is making a difference, and we have the results to prove it. If you’re interested in setting up a presentation appointment, please contact:

Bona Macalintal, Sales Consultant 02-845-2093, 0917-825-4603

Rocky Peltzman, ESL Consultant 02-845-2117

Human Resources Development Consulting
A Division of John Clements
9th Floor Antel 200
121 Valero Street
Salcedo Village
Makati City