The language training industry is facing unprecedented challenges, with great downward pressure on fees driven by current economic realities. Government budgets are stretched more than ever before, and corporate clients are likely to be reducing spend on training in the months ahead.

Against this economic backdrop, fewer and fewer schoolchildren in Britain are choosing to study foreign languages, and the need for a national capability in languages is recognised by the government as a priority. In a post-brexit Europe, UK government representatives and senior business managers are more likely to need greater language skills than before. Senior staff representing the UK in meetings with European counterparts are likely to face much less willingness to conduct meetings in English in the future. See our article about the National Language Crisis

The virtual classroom

Due to covid-19, all our training was converted from face-to-face delivery to being delivered remotely practically overnight. This involved the teachers learning new technical skills of course, but more importantly it also required a rethink of the structure and content of lessons, as the nature of the interaction with the students was fundamentally changed.

Virtual classrooms can mimic physical classrooms with a range of functions, such as interactive whiteboards, screen-sharing, virtual break out rooms, live chat, and resource sharing.  The face to face contact with teachers is invaluable in developing the 4 skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing), as well as your communicative strategies and cultural agility.

We anticipate that some of the logistical benefits of remote delivery, such as removing the problem of finding a vacant meeting room, or a local teacher, will continue to be prized by customers, and that remote delivery will become a much more standard part of the offering which customers expect. You can find out more about online language classes with PLS here.

Blended learning

Combining digital content with live online virtual classes offers students maximum flexibility and convenience. By blending digital content with traditional face to face training, customers can achieve global coverage, and students can enjoy increased accessibility of language training.

Our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) hosts study activities, learning pathways, assessments and curated resources. These all help our students and teachers to follow a modern, “flipped classroom” approach to learning a language.

Our customised Client Hub allows our clients to conveniently access their students’ course plans, progress reports and attendance and spend data, along with any other tailored MI reporting, all from one platform. Alongside this, the innovative online portal provides students with 24/7 access to learning materials, reports and feedback from their teachers. We believe that this will only become more important in the future, as L&D and training professionals look to improve value for money and return on investment. 

Tailored e-learning

We are excited by the upcoming market developments and are currently working on a number of projects which will help us bring more online products to the market. The ease of access for self-paced online courses makes them especially desirable for the busy corporate lifestyle many of us are situated in.

In the future we anticipate that customers will expect more targeted course content, moving away from generic textbooks to multi-media content that focuses more closely on language skills relevant to the specific areas their staff operate in. PLS is already responding to this by developing a suite of customer-focused online placement tests in numerous foreign languages, as well as e-learning courses for very specific target groups of students. More information on products is available on our website. 

So are you excited about the future of the professional language training industry? We are!

About the author:

Crispin set up Langsols over 30 years ago and has since driven innovation in all our language training programmes.

PLS can assist you with any language learning goal. We teach all world languages and have an army of over 500 qualified and experienced teachers. Get in touch today to see how we can help your delegates learn a language for business!