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communicating with the new europe |
Guide
to communicating with the New Europe
A languages
at work guide by www.languageadvantage.com
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The
European Union enlarged its membership on 1 May 2004 to create
the New Europe. This is the biggest expansion in the history
of the EU when 10 countries join, taking the number of countries
up to 25.
The European
Union, with its 450 million citizens, will be an economic
strength bigger than the US, with a consumer base to challenge
those of those of China and India.
language
advantage gives you
advice on our top
ways to get the language
advantage for competitive
advantage by communicating with the New Europe.
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get
the competitive advantage for your business
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It is a historic
moment as the Old and New Europe unite once more, putting age-old
differences aside and changing the political map for ever. It hopes
to bring peace and stability to a whole continent and links together
many of Europe's most established trading and cultural centres.
So how can you
get the language advantage and make the most of the New Europe?
For your business,
you will find:
- new consumer markets to explore
- new labour markets to explore
- it is easier to import
- it is easier to export
- cheaper labour supplies
It may seem daunting at first to do business with another country,
but with a bit of research, planning and advice, you really could
find yourself with a competitive advantage. There are 5 things that
you could do this month to get the language advantage - and put
yourself on the track to getting your competitive advantage!
01
- Prepare a Language Strategy
At the most strategic
level, you should consider incorporating language and cultural considerations
into everything you do. This is a great way to build better communication
with your clients, employees and suppliers and any partner organisations
you may be working with. After all, we've all seen that better communication
leads to better relationships - and better relationships mean more
business! Tie your language strategy into your export sales strategy
and you'll be researching and understanding new markets proactively.
So language and culture really can improve your financial bottom
line. Find out how to prepare a language strategy>>
02
- Have a Communications Review
You could just
take a day to consider how well you communicate within your company,
with your clients and with your suppliers. Take a look at how you
use English (even before you start thinking about working in other
languages) and then work through a checklist of how you could improve
your global communications in easy steps - from having one page
on your website in another language to employing sales teams with
other language skills. You don't have to do it all at one time!
Find out more about having a communications
review>>
03
- Get Global English & Cultural Training
So you have decided
that you will continue to communicate with your customers, employees
and suppliers in English - and it is true that gaining business-level
language skills can take up to 10 years if you start from scratch.
Take some time to understand how easy it is for people with
English as a Second Language to communicate with you. Simple steps
like talking more slowly and avoiding lots of cultural references
to sport or TV personalities can make your English more easy to
understand. And don't forget to consider how you write English and
whether there are things you could do to make this clearer. Take
some time, too, to find out a bit about the countries and cultures
of the people you are working with, so you can consider how they
may interpret what you are saying to them. Find out more about getting
Global English training and cultural
training>>
04
- Hire Language Services
If you already
work or are considering working in new markets in the New Europe,
and you don't have the language skills in-house, then you would
most certainly benefit from hiring language services at some point.
You may like to use translators to produce your business cards and
brochures in another language or hire interpreters when you go abroad
to find new business partners. There are also specialists out there
that can provide your website in other languages and provide you
with a local sales presence in a new territory. Find out more about
hiring language services>>
05
- Learn a language
We understand
if this is not your first priority, and appreciate that it can take
some time to become business fluent in a language, so that you are
both comfortable and effective carrying out negotiations or presentations
in another language. However, if you already have some language
skills, now may be the time to build upon them and become business
fluent, particularly if you expect your business to have a longer-term
presence in a particular country. And if you make the effort to
learn just a little bit of the language - even just for social reasons
- you will find that your business colleagues will appreciate you
more and be more ready to do business with you, particularly in
those countries where building relationships is key to doing good
business. Find out more about courses available to learn
another language>>
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get
the competitive advantage for you
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For you, you
will find:
- more travel possibilities as borders open up
- opportunities to apply for jobs in different countries
- ability to move to a new country to live
- younger generations growing up in a more integrated multicultural
environment
So the possibilities
are endless, the opportunities are here today, and all you need
to do to get more out of your life is to get the language advantage!
Take a look at the 10 countries that are joining the EU this month
and see if you fancy learning one of their languages so that you
can holiday or move abroad. Take a look at our Language
Advantage Courses and our Language
List to find out the best and most innovative ways to learn
each language and browse through Language
Advantage Jobs if you fancy working in the New Europe.
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the
ascending countries & their languages
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The 10
ascending countries are listed here, along with the main languages
spoken - and to get you started - a set of quizzes to test your
knowledge about each country!
CYPRUS
Learn Greek & Turkish
...
don't forget to stop off here if you're visiting Greece for the
Olympics in 2004!
Test
your knowledge about Cyprus
in the BBC quiz
CZECH
REPUBLIC
Learn Czech
& other regional/native languages
Test
your knowledge about the
Czech Republic in the BBC quiz
ESTONIA
Learn Estonian
& Russian & other
regional/native languages
Test
your knowledge about Estonia
in the BBC quiz
HUNGARY
Learn Hungarian
& other regional/native languages
Test
your knowledge about Hungary
in the BBC quiz
LATVIA
Learn Latvian
& other regional/native languages
Test
your knowledge about Latvia
in the BBC quiz
LITHUANIA
Learn Lithuanian
& other regional/native languages
Test your knowledge about Lithuania
in the BBC quiz
MALTA
Learn Maltese
& English (& some
Italian)
Test
your knowledge about Malta
in the BBC quiz
POLAND
Learn Polish
& Russian
Test
your knowledge about Poland
in the BBC quiz
SLOVAKIA
Learn Slovak
& Hungarian
Test
your knowledge about Slovakia
in the BBC quiz
SLOVENIA
Learn Slovenian
& Serbo-Croatian
Test
your knowledge about Slovenia
in the BBC quiz
Also,
visit our Language Advantage Courses
for more of the best and most innovative language courses in the
world and Language Advantage at Work to
get the competitive advantage through the language advantage!
If you would like to find out more about doing business with the
New Europe, then contact us>>
Reference material:
European Union website
European
Union enlargement newsletter
UK
Chambers of Commerce EU Accession website
For
more Languages at Work Guides>>
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