When times are hard…

There is a fair amount of doom and gloom in the world at the moment, or there seems to be. Although after my trip to Australia I realised that it is very much focussed on Europe and we hear about it all the time in Britain! We Brits love to moan and groan – we almost revel in bad news stories, so Europe and its debt crisis create a media frenzy!

Times like this give all of us (‘us’ – perhaps reserved for the Europeans among ‘us’) a moment to reflect and think about what should be done in times of crisis.

Things are quiet in London in terms of teaching over the Christmas period and ‘hearsay’ tells me that numbers of students are down by 50% on this time last year, because of the crisis. I am not sure whether our friend ‘hearsay’ is completely correct or not though. What to do, what to do?

My answer: use the time effectively and improve my skill-set. Due to fewer teaching hours I have been able to devote a great deal of time to improving the Monty website; the access, search engine optimisation and overall making Monty more approachable as an English language agency. I hope you all agree that it has worked! There are certainly more people accessing the site and Montyblog is starting to get a big following of English learners! So all great news!

By skill-set I mean something that really makes you attractive to potential employers. So adding to my Italian and Spanish (although this is still work in progress!) I am starting a course in German and one in French from January. Over the Christmas period I am planning to go to France or Germany or both in order to get some language practice. Making me a more attractive prospect to employers and having fun at the same time!

So what’s this got to do with the English language and English speaking? Well not everywhere is having a hard time at the moment – Australia is booming and is the only western economy that escaped recession. It is thanks to China that things are all going well but is it set to continue? The language of world business and communication: English…

What are the recognised English qualifications?

- IELTS Certificate
- TOEFL
- ESOL

All of which are highly recommended if you want some or all of the following:

- You wish to enter university in a native English-speaking country.
- You want an internationally recognised English qualification for your future profession.
- You want better career opportunities.
- You are serious about improving all areas of your English and gaining a highly respected qualification.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t sit on your hands! Beat the crowd and go for it!