Don't make a mountain out of a molehill!

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Hi! Cheerio! Bloke. Tube. Boxing day, Bangers & mash. Yorkshire pudding. It's my round, what's your poison and do you fancy a Chinese later?

Driving regulations... The National Health Service... Dentists... Political parties.... National and Local Government... Council Tax... Water Rates... Primary and Secondary schooling, GCSE'S and A-levels... hospitality... pubs... the obsession with the weather... dry humour... leg-pulling... the reaction when someone from Glasgow is called English!

How many of the above words or issues would you understand if you were newly arrived in the UK?

And that is not all, how about the working environment ‰ business customs and ethics, meeting and negotiation protocol, communication styles, formality and informality, power structures and hierarchies, flat management structures, empowerment?

Things that the British all take so much for granted are confusing and sometimes frightening to someone newly arrived in the UK. Even those who believe that their English is good enough find themselves totally confused on a personal level and quite out of their depth in the working environment.

Getting briefed

For this reason, Farnham Castle has developed an English Language Plus programme to cover all aspects of living and working effectively in the UK as well as concentrating on key areas of terminology and specific skills-related vocabulary in use in the particular working environment that the assignee will be operating. Being fully briefed on current living conditions and working practices at the outset avoids many difficulties and misunderstandings and makes the settling in period much more enjoyable for both the working and non-working partner. Having a neutral and unbiased introduction into British working practices, political and economic structure, working relationships and attitudes to foreigners enables the working partner to adapt to the workplace far more easily without making mistakes and avoiding loss of face.

Word power

Effective communication is vital in settling quickly and effectively. Our experience shows that the first few weeks of an assignment is the key learning period when the assignee is required to assimilate hundreds of different systems, words and terminology and working practices and if their English is not of a high standard, much of this valuable learning period will be wasted. The British use so many colloquial or slang expressions in the working day without realising how strange and confusing these words are to a foreigner and the fear of losing face or slowing up a meeting in progress prevents them from asking for an explanation at the time.