This fall, employees at 7 Austin businesses went back to school…at work! English at Work is currently providing work-based English classes at the following places:
Whole Foods
The Driskill
Seton Medical Center Williamson
Guero’s Taco Bar
Professional Janitorial Services
Austin Motel, and
Hotel San Jose
Employees enrolled in these classes are improving their basic English conversation skills, customer service skills, and problem-solving strategies. Over 9 countries are represented in this fall’s classes, including Russia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
Thanks to support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, English at Work has added an intake week to its 6-week courses. The goal of the intake week is to ease participants into the program. Intake activities include bilingual games and one-on-one interviews conducted in the native language. The interviews allow English at Work staff to identify the challenges a student faces outside of class. When possible, EW will offer resources to help the student tackle these challenges. The interviews also help students determine whether they are capable of committing to 6 weeks of instruction. So far, instructors think the intake week might be helping to improve attendance and participation in class.