Download - How does France rank?
William BirdwellFounder and President of Birdwell Institute
I recently had the opportunity to accompany a
group of extremely bright, highly educated,
young French professionals ages (23-26) on a
week-long professional field trip to New York
City.
New York Immersion Programs
This program included visits to
companies in their sector of activity and
consisted of a series of presentations
and debates with peers at Columbia
University.
● All students had at least 10 years training
● Most had participated in short immersions programs before
Question?
How many of the 14 participants do you think
were efficient in English?
Proficiency Rate
Of the 14 French professionals probably only
4 were really effective in English!
What is English proficiency?
For me, being proficient in English means:
● Being able to express ideas clearly with
appropriate social or professional
vocabulary.
● Being able to understand native speakers
with a minimum amount of repetition.
How is this possible?
How can so many highly educated young
French professionals be so poor at the
English language?
I have seen the overall level increase and it is
pretty safe to say that real beginners are very
rare these days. Despite this overall
improvement in English, the French are still
lagging behind almost all other European
countries.
Over the last 30 years...
France Ranks
● France ranks 23rd out of 24 in Europe.
● France ranks 35th out of 60 in the world.
● On the EF EPI Index, the English
communication skills of the French actually
regressed in 2012.
The French Paradox
The French realize the importance of English
in professional life, but...
They are often content with a “good-enough”
attitude.
The French problems
● The belief that “We are not good at learning
languages” is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
● They believe that language learning is an
academic pursuit, rather than a natural form
of human behavior.
The solutions
● Finding the right mix of educational resources
● Discipline, rigor, and organization
● Develop a positive can-do-attitude “Life begins at the
end of your comfort zone”
● Think of training as a financial investment and demand
a ROI from your language service provider and yourself!
Birdwell Language Training Courses
Get up to speed with the rest of your colleagues
You can read the full article here:
http://www.birdwell.fr/en/how-does-france-rank
Visit LinkedIn Profile:
William BirdwellFounder and President of Birdwell Institute
I have over 30 years experience in intercultural
management and language training in the
business service sector. I am specialized in
professional coaching, intercultural
communication and multicultural team building.
