LITTLE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOL

Chamber Gibraltar The

of Commerce

A LITTLE ENGLISH FOR CHAMBER MEMBERS

Chamber to offer free English language classes to its members.

The Gibraltar Chamber of Commerce is launching a new initiative for its members to help their employees improve their English language skills.

The main focus will be on frontline staff who are in customer facing roles, particularly those in the retail and hospitality sectors. Members from other sectors will also be eligible, but priority will be given to those in these sectors at the outset.

The overall objective is to help nonnative English speakers improve their spoken English skills and in turn, give customers a better shopping experience. Classes will be for basic, intermediate and advanced levels of spoken English. The Chamber has teamed up with local language school, Little English, which is based in the centre of town and is convenient for many people who are expected to take up this offer.

The school has a short online test which interested candidates can use to assess their current language level: www.littleenglish.eu/english-level-test

Employees of Chamber members who are interested in taking these classes are asked to email info@littleenglish.eu stating their preferred time (early morning, afternoon or evening) and the school will do its best to accommodate their requests.

Little English will use each candidates’ test scores to assess their level and assign them a timetable slot. Within two weeks they should hear back from the school with the allocated date and time of their class.

Classes will last for 45 minutes each and will be held once a week, although this might be increased depending on the initial take up.

Chamber members will also need to give their staff permission to attend the classes. The Chamber is limiting the number of staff which each member can send to these classes. Initially this will be limited to a total of five employees per company.

The Chamber will provide six free classes of 45 minutes each. Each class will be limited in size to a maximum of ten people but ideally no class will have more than eight people attending. This is to ensure that those attending have several opportunities to practise speaking during each 45-minute lesson.

The main objectives of this initiative are to help non-native English speakers a chance to gain confidence in their spoken English and have many more satisfied customers.