In September 2010 BLS organised a Spanish language training intensive week for a member of staff of Veolia Environmental Services. The trainee travels extensively to South America and felt the need to be able to communicate with counterparts and the local population, in their native language. Three tutors were involved in the delivery of the course: one tutor originally from Peru, one from Barcelona and our own Senior Translation Project Manager, who has lived 4 years in Paraguay. This ensured diversity of accents and teaching styles. Although the trainee found the pace challenging, he had a very good overall impression of the course, saying: “The course was run well and the tutors had different styles which helped keep the course balanced”. His company has now funded 12 extra half-day sessions so that he can improve further, and has also commissioned translation work with us.
