VLLC Case Studies

Amelia's amazing language journey ...

19/3/2024

I was checking in with a student recently and it reminded me what makes VLLC a success! Language really matters and bridges the gap in all walks of life. Amelia’s language journey started when she realised that 20% of her dialysis patients were of Greek heritage with minimal English. Amelia saw a need of patients not understanding medical processes and decided to act on it. She received a scholarship from the hospital where she works to complete a Certificate II in Applied Language in Greek. She has seen so many positive impacts with patient confidence and staff interaction. Some of the Greek patients are even teaching the other staff members simple greetings and words as this has become quite an exciting activity for the whole unit. As VLLC programs are individually based, her tutorials are able to be adapted to real life, practical scenarios which she can use in her work place. She has learned Greek with VLLC to benefit her Greek dialysis patients and it has proven to be a life-changing success! Thanks for sharing Amelia!

Lisa's Japanese journey with VLLC

7/11/2023

Lisa had always wanted to travel and explore new cultures, which is why she became an international flight attendant. She was excited to learn about the world and the people in it. Lisa was particularly interested in Japanese culture and language, so she started taking Japanese lessons with us. Lisa had been learning Japanese for 4 months and finally, the day came when she had a Tokyo leg. She was thrilled to finally use her Japanese skills in her job. As soon as she boarded the plane, she introduced herself to some of the passengers in Japanese. They were pleasantly surprised to hear her speak their language, and it immediately put them at ease. After the meal service, Lisa walked around the cabin, checking on the passengers. She noticed a couple speaking in Japanese and approached them. They were thrilled to have someone to talk to in their native language, and Lisa was happy to practice her skills.

During the flight, there was an announcement made in Japanese which prompted some confusion among the passengers. Lisa stepped in to provide clarification, explaining the situation in both English and Japanese. This made the passengers feel more at ease and comfortable.

As they landed in Tokyo, the passengers thanked Lisa for speaking Japanese and making their journey a more comfortable experience. Lisa was happy to have been able to use her language skills and connect with the passengers on a deeper level. It made her job as a flight attendant even more rewarding.

Learning Spanish with VLLC - Jeremy's story

9/8/2023

VLLC head office received this email from a student, Jeremy, who has just completed his Certificate in Intermediate Proficiency. (I have added in the photos :)) This is what he had to say:

I have recently completed a Certificate in Intermediate Proficiency in the Spanish language. I initially enrolled in the course to give me some leverage with the company I work for as being proficient in Spanish can open up a wide range of opportunities both domestically and internationally. With the increase in globalisation of business, being able to communicate with Spanish speaking clients has given me a competitive edge.

Even though the online sometimes became a bit of a task during a busy week at work, I truly believe that the repetition helped seal the language in my "Spanish language brain" as Jo calls it. The online helped me to consistently have the underpinning knowledge to improve and therefore be able to communicate effectively in my tutorials and have a fantastic language base with which to have discussions with my tutor. The tutorial component was also of great benefit to me and I found that the enthusiasm of the tutors and their commitment to my improvement to be something that motivated me greatly to continually get better and keep immersing myself in the Spanish language and culture (and homework). The tutorials helped me to apply what I had learned in the online and enforce it into my brain.

I found learning Spanish with VLLC to be a magnificent experience and something that I am genuinely proud of myself for doing. I am very satisfied with myself for acting on an idea I had to learning the language and I am more than pleased with my choice of where I would learn it. I have spoken with and met people who have done language courses with other language centres, and in comparison my Spanish communication level far exceeds theirs for over a similar period of learning time. Thanks VLLC for helping me reach my goal! Hasta luego, Jeremy

Can employing bilinguals improve your business?

30/5/2023

Having bilingual employees can improve your business in many ways. Firstly, it can help you to better communicate with customers who speak a different language, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Secondly, bilingual employees can help you to expand your business into new markets by facilitating communication with potential clients and partners who speak other languages.

Additionally, having bilingual employees can enhance your company's cultural competency and diversity, which can help you to attract and retain top talent from all backgrounds. Overall, having bilingual employees can be a valuable asset for any business looking to improve its communication, reach new customers, and stay competitive in today's global marketplace.

Sydney businessman learned to mix business with pleasure!

20/4/2023

Like many enterprising executives, Peter Dunham, operations manager for a medium software company based in Sydney, was surprised to find how much fun he had learning a new language. He learned to speak Japanese at VLLC to help him communicate with his Asian clients.

Paul said he had tried unsuccessfully to learn Japanese by traditional schoolroom methods and simple online apps as he was inhibited by the grammar, no structure and by trying to make interpretations word by word in his head, rather than allowing it to flow freely. He found VLLC's flexibility and the ability to do it anywhere to be very beneficial when you are trying to run a company at the same time. Paul said "It's just like meeting a lot of new people from other countries, and getting to know how they live, what they eat and drink and what makes them laugh! It felt like I was mixing business with pleasure".

Paola's Italian journey...

12/4/2023

I love sharing stories about Italy with my students. Food is one of the things I miss the most about my home country, as you can see from these photos... I especially love a traditional Easter tart called "pastiera" (or "pastone" in some parts of Puglia), made of wheat and ricotta cheese.

Italian Tutor

During my last visit to Calabria, I have also tried some homemade "morzello" ("morzeddhu" in dialect). It is a meat soup that people eat in a special bread called "pitta", which is like a wheel shaped focaccia. Morzello used to be a peasant dish. These days it is part of the traditional Christmas Eve supper. Ciao! Paola 😊

Speak Italian Native Speaker

David adds a language to his trade

7/2/2023

David is employed with an Australian company that carries over 20,000 quality spare parts, engines and transmissions for import and export for Japanese, European and Australian trucks and buses. His job requires regular visits to Japan and he says that in the past he sometimes had the feeling that, because of the language and culture barrier he was not getting through to his Japanese business colleagues. Back home in New South Wales, he decided to enrol in a Certificate in Social Proficiency with VLLC.

David said his next visit to Japan was most successful, because he understood more about the Japanese approach to business. At the end of the visit, the business man he was dealing with, through an interpreter, spoke in English for the first time and congratulated him on his courtesy in making the effort to learn the language and to understand something of the local culture.

After almost completing his Japanese course David says "Now I am able to communicate quite comfortably, both in weekly zoom calls and on personal visits to our suppliers in Japan. It is a much more professional arrangement." He is convinced that his Japanese course with VLLC is a sound investment in future business communications. "It works two way, of course. The Japanese counterparts also feel more comfortable with us, when they understand more about us, through relaxed conversation."

Megan's Spanish journey.....

1/11/2022

South America is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome! Everyone should spend some time exploring this part of the world. Here you will find the remains of ancient civilisations, amazing wildlife, friendly people, tasty food and beautiful landscapes and sceneries including mountains, rainforests, coasts, deserts, lakes and plains. I spent 7 weeks travelling with my friend through Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. There were so many interesting places that we visited but the highlights for me were the Nazca Lines, Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, the Amazon, the Galapagos Islands, the museum and city at the Middle of the World (La Mitad del Mundo) and Cartagena. During my personal experience and speaking with other travellers it was obvious that being able to speak some Spanish was very useful, particularly when travelling on a tight budget as many hostel owners don’t speak much, if any, English. It also made getting around in taxis, asking for directions, enquiring about costs of tours and other things and ordering food easier (especially since I am vegetarian). Speaking Spanish made the trip more enjoyable and I really felt that I had left the shores of Australia and landed in a magical, foreign place. Thank you to VLLC for helping me learn Spanish for this trip. Please share my experience and photos on your website as I hope this will inspire others to visit this amazing and interesting continent. Now time to finish sorting through my photos and start planning my South America Part 2 adventures.

Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru. A 4 day hike starting from Cuzco. .

Swimming in the Amazon River, Iquitos, Peru whilst watching dolphins swim in the river nearby. Thankfully there were no piranhas out here in the middle of the river.

Doing a cruise in the Galapagos Islands will allow you to visit the uninhabited islands and see lots of these cute little fellas close up as well as many other animals including iguanas, giant sea turtles, giant tortoises and many species of birds. You can even go snorkelling with giant sea turtles, rays, sea lions and fish. If you are lucky you might even see a shy white-tipped reef shark.

Stand up paddle boarding at Isla Grande, Cartagena, Colombia. You will never complain of the water being too cold here.

Hiie's Language Journey

31/5/2022

We have had a lovely lady from Sweden with us to do some intensive English training and we have asked her to give us a little feedback on how she found VLLC.

What do you do for a living? I work as a Psychiatrist.

What languages do you speak? I speak Estonian, Swedish and English.

Why did you start to learn English and how quickly did you get to your goal? I studied some vocational English at your place in order to improve my English. I would eventually like to work as a doctor in Australia at some point, though it is not easy to get permission for this.

What tools do you use to practice your language? I am using the tools to practice English which I got from my Tutor during our sessions, tools related to some English tests, for instance TOEFL.

Where did you hear about VLLC and how did VLLC help you achieve your goal? It was just a coincidence that I found VLLC online. I was searching for possibilities for language studies in Melbourne and saw an ad about VLLC and emailed you. I received an email straight away and organised a chat over Skype.

What other languages would you like to learn? I would like to continue with English studies...... my long term aim is to learn Japanese.

How effective was VLLC in helping you learn your new language? The studies at VLLC were highly effective, thanks to the individual one on one tutoring. I am very pleased about the opportunity I had to do this.

I sent my highest gratitude to my Tutor and staff at VLLC and I am looking forward to continuing my studies through Skype.
Hiie

Simon's Language Journey.

4/5/2022

We have a lovely student Simon who has just completed a Certificate in Intermediate Proficiency in Mandarin Chinese and is now starting French. We asked him some questions so he could tell us about his language journey, here are his responses:

Bonjour, Hola and 你好
What do you do for a living?
Je suis un clown, yo soy un payaso, 我是小丑。 I am a clown.

What languages do you speak?
I speak Spanish, Chinese, just started learning French and I speak fair dinkum Australian aka bad English.

Why did you start to learn Chinese and how quickly did you get to your goal?
I started learning Chinese because my unicycle coach was Chinese and he didn't speak any English. So I quickly learnt some bare basics of counting to 20, if something I did was good, bad or average "马马虎虎“ in pinyin.... ma ma hu hu. If you say this to a Chinese person and follow up with the English of "horse horse tiger tiger" which is what the characters mean. They will laugh and tell you your Chinese is very good.

I graduated from the National Institute of Circus Art (NICA) in 2012 in Prahran, which is a 3 year bachelor degree in circus. I was cast as one of the main characters in ABC kids TV show Hoopla Doopla. Which was a co-production with ABC and China Central Television (CCTV). It was filmed in Beijing for 7 months and there were only ever 4 other native English speakers on set who were all older than me, so I would end up hanging out with the Chinese film crew, who would teach me the important things in any language, how to swear, how to order beer, how to order food, more swearing. By the end of the 7 months I had what I call "survival Chinese" I could order a bus ticket, I could order food but not being exactly sure what kind of chicken and noodle dish I had ordered, I could ask where the nearest toilet was and I knew when people were talking about me when they said "老外" Lao Wai (outsider). Then I would respond to them with a cheerful ni hao and tell them I was Australian which would lead into a conversation and usually some tea or beer.

Since this first encounter with China, I was enraptured with the people and the culture. They were always so excited to speak to someone who was foreign and knew more than Ni Hao and Xie Xie. Even if I knew not much more. I continued to study it online, and I tried a couple of different Apps. I also returned to China for different Comedy or Clowning Festivals. Physical theatre is very big in China and Chinese audiences are very rowdy, like to laugh and if you are not careful you might get pinched on the bottom by some old 奶奶 nai nai (grandmother). And with each tour my Chinese would get a little bit better. The last time I was there I could hold basic conversations about politics and the environment etc. But I didn't know how to read or write characters.

Then in 2020 when the first lockdown started and all my touring work evaporated in about a week. I decided to use the time to learn Chinese characters and begin studying Spanish. I asked a friend whose Chinese was really good and they recommended VLLC and I was hooked. I would use the slides to copy by writing out the characters with the pinyin under them so slowly I learnt to recognise the Chinese characters. I would hijack the Chinese class from my teacher Xiu Fang by elaborating about a topic we were discussing and keep running the conversation until I had ran out of vocabulary. Fast forward to 2022 I now have my intermediate certificate and can read and write text messages and maybe write by hand 50-70 characters. I am dying to go back to China to test out my new skills and vocabulary now.

What other languages would you like to learn?
Na'vi, Klingon and Dothraki. Someone should talk to Jo about why we don't have these as options at VLLC.

What tools did you use to practice your language?
I am not afraid to make mistakes or to travel outside of the tourist hotspots, as soon as I can say half a muddled sentence I go for it. Despite my pronunciation. I also love just talking to people, market/shop owners are excellent targets because they cannot escape you and you can practice the same conversation multiple times just by walking from one shop to the next. I carry a notebook wherever I go and scrawl or get a native speaker to scrawl words and sentences for me. Plus, I like to listen to language podcasts when I am driving somewhere.

Where did you hear about VLLC and how did VLLC help you achieve your goal?
I heard about VLLC through a circus friend of mine who had studied at the Beijing Acrobatics school and has amazing Mandarin, she recommended it to me because of the excellent course structure. I thought the slides were weird at first but found that they worked really well for me if I wrote out every slide.

How effective was VLLC in helping you learn your new language?
The best thing for me was VLLC made sure I didn't take shortcuts in my language learning. Now I don't have huge gaping holes in my Chinese and now my sentence structures are more Chinese and less English. My teacher Xiu Fang was very kind but also strict with me to fix my bad habits. Plus now I can recognise a lot of characters which I would be interested in returning to China to test it out on some menus.

We are so excited to see where Simon's language skills take him.