English for the Public Sector

This course is for officials working in the state or public sectors who attend international meetings. It may also suit those who work alongside such people. Typical participants come from government ministries or other public authorities, and work with organisations such as EU, EEA, WTO, UN, NATO, World Bank and IMF.

Course participants can expect the following areas to be covered in the course:

• Presentation of one's own area of work and organisational structure
• Simulated negotiations and meetings
• Aspects of international relations including intercultural understanding
• Communication in an international context including lobbying

In order to give participants greater confidence in taking part in and chairing bilateral and multilateral meetings and negotiations, time is spent looking at appropriate communication strategies such as:

• agreeing and disagreeing
• interrupting
• clarifying and confirming
• asking for comments
• summarising
• asking appropriate questions
• challenging/defending an opinion
• persuading and compromising
• making proposals, offers, suggestions
• opening/closing meetings

Professional hospitality, entertaining visitors and handling social situations are important for many public officials as is confidence when using the telephone. The course therefore also covers:

• meeting and greeting
• receiving visitors
• socialising
• using the telephone effectively
• practice in communicating more complex ideas and discussing problems

You can expect to improve your English in the following ways:

• communicate more confidently
• speak more accurately and fluently
• participate more successfully in meetings
• improve your written English including emails
• expand your professional vocabulary
• improve your understanding of grammar
• socialise and network with greater confidence
• work successfully in a cross-cultural environment

In addition to the benefits outlined above, you can expect to participate in international meetings with greater confidence and effectiveness, chair international meetings more effectively and manage official texts and emails more quickly.