We’ve just published the final edition of our 3 part video guide to help HR and L&D professionals deal with developing a global workforce. ‘How to drive corporate training with big learner data’ gives an insight into how learner analytics benefit organisations in their training programmes and decision-making processes. It also lists practical tips on applying the right metrics and predicting learner behaviour in the future. There is a lot of talk about big data and how it will help businesses become more responsive to customer needs. The same thinking can be applied to corporate learning and development. To date, HR and L&D professionals have approached skills development from either a business need perspective or to meet demand from line managers. Now big data, revealing the way in which individual learners are embracing and using e-learning, is driving more effective workforce learning. Armin Hopp, Founder and President of Speexx, presents: Part 1: Succession planning and talent mobility: http://bit.ly/1HQ6ZA1 Part 2:Navigating data protection regulations for a global workforce:http://bit.ly/1MWgqR7 Part 3: How to drive corporate training with big learner data http://bit.ly/1JcN6pO. "Data analytics allows HR and L&D to respond to users much faster than would have been possible in the old days", says Armin Hopp, Founder and President of Speexx. "Big data allows us to control and measure learning results while steering learners along a learning path based on their results and achievements. With the help of cloud-based solutions, organisations are disseminating systems throughout their workforce and measuring the results against the standards that they’ve set." Like this topic? Then you might also like our white paper ‘Big Data and Talent Mobility to Drive Business in 2015’ which is available to you free here http://bit.ly/1WxRdm4.

The annual Speexx Exchange Survey has just gone live and we’d love for you to take part. Share your thoughts on the current state of talent management and e-learning and tell us what your company is doing right now. All it takes is 15 minutes of your time and you’ll have the chance to win a brand-new iPad Air 2 and a Speexx language course of your choice. The survey results will be shared with you exclusively on the conference day and in our next white papers. Start Survey   Last year, we got extremely valuable feedback from over 200 HR and L&D professionals from around the world. The results can be seen in our white papers and infographics. Here’s a summary of the main findings: Results from last year’s Speexx Exchange Survey 200+ survey participants, including Senior HR and L&D managers, C-level executives, e-learning strategy developers and learning consultants. 29% were multinationals with over 5,000 employees. The majority of respondents were from Europe and North America. E-Learning 92% have already implemented some form of e-learning (compared to 90% last year). Similar to 2013, 21% have embedded e-learning courses across the entire organisation Almost half (47%) do not plan to invest more than 10% of their training budgets on e-enabled learning in 2015, yet 63% plan to increase their e-learning budget by 2017, compared to just 57% in the previous year. E-learning adoption and investment are clearly growing. The top advantages organisations have registered from e-enabled learning are flexibility (cited by 57% - up from 51% last year), reduction of direct training costs (15% - down from 18% in 2013) and speeding up time to value (11% - up from 9%). Empowering Communication Strong communication as a competitive advantage is on the rise, with 92% rating business communication skills as important or very important for overall business success, up from 85% in 2013. Yet, there are still some obstacles that make good communication difficult for organisations, the top one being lack of foreign language skills, cited by 41%. Other factors include intercultural differences (20%) and lack of management support (18%). Getting the edge through good communications is certainly worthwhile, though - the top benefits that can be achieved with it include better collaboration across borders (31%), cost savings (30%) and better customer service (24%). Corporate MOOCs MOOCs are courses delivered over the web to potentially thousands of students at a time. Until recently, they have been predominantly found within higher education and had little impact on corporate learning. But this is now changing. 27% have already started using some form of corporate MOOC to train their workforce and 26% want to implement them by 2016. But almost half (47%) do not use them or plan to use them in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the data is encouraging and 31% rate the potential of corporate MOOCs as "high". Mobile and Social 79% of organisations allow and/or provide mobile devices in the workplace, up from 76% in 2013. However, just 32% use them for learning and development purposes, so there is still a gap that needs to be closed for offering a flexible and on-demand e-learning solution to employees. So what’s making the implementation of mobile learning difficult? Corporate data security issues are still the main obstacle, cited by 23%, slightly down from 24% in 2014. Other barriers named are the absence of a BYOD strategy and low user adoption rate (each cited by 19%). Mobile learning is all the rage and HR and L&D Managers are quick to demand a mobile solution when dealing with e-learning vendors, but many of them seem to go into this head first without looking at whether mobile learning is actually viable and desirable for their staff members. No student is an island. Social learning in the workplace builds connectivity among employees and can boost satisfaction and motivation. Despite these advantages, it’s difficult to put a figure on social learning and measure its outcome. In terms of social learning, 26% already have a social learning strategy, up from 22% in 2013, and 19% plan to implement social learning in the next three years. On the other hand, just 24% rate its potential as "very effective" and 50% rate it as "somewhat effective. If L&D managers want to implement social learning, they need to be clear about their desired goals and outcomes and not just go into it blindly because it’s a buzzword.

Few things in the corporate world generate such vociferous reactions as the performance review. Held annually, employees meet face-to-face with their judge, jury and potential executioner. Sometimes, the outcome is positive, with the employee relishing a well-earned pat on the back, hefty bonus or promise of better things to come. Other times, well, the experience is not quite so pleasant. Walking a tightrope Opponents of the performance review assert that the procedure is not just a waste of time, but a highly subjective, highly destructive process. Samuel Culbert, author of Get Rid of the Performance Review! How Companies Can Stop Intimidating, Start Managing - and Focus on What Really Matters and professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, claims that performance reviews ultimately destroy the trust between managers and their team and promote a culture that encourages employees to suck up to their boss rather than do what’s best for the company. Moreover, Culbert highlights the fact that performance reviews tend to deter people from voicing their concerns about problems because doing so may adversely affect their career path or compensation. Culbert points to the two high-profile cases, BP and the Japanese nuclear reactor site, where he says that employees knew about defects but undertook nothing. The reason for this, according to Culbert, lies in a lack of trust between management and employees. Yet, despite abundant criticism, over 90 percent of companies worldwide carry out performance reviews, in part because no better alternative is available and partly because enough employees actually want them. After years of having no performance review process in place, SAS, the global leader in business analytics, software and services, actually instituted a performance review system in response to repeated requests from employees. Most of these employees were university hires - more often than not PhDs - who had been used to regular feedback at university. This trend is also expected to increase as millennials - employees born between the late 1970s and early 1990s - permeate the workplace. Raised on a heavy diet of immediate feedback, millennials don’t expect to toil away in obscurity. They want to know how they’re doing and they want to know it now. So, if carrying out a review means cultivating the wrong kind of corporate culture, but not doing so means neglecting the employee’s need for feedback, not to mention failing to reward good work, how can HR managers successfully walk the performance review tightrope? Good reviewer is crucial Both industry professionals and employees agree that when it comes to the performance review, one thing is crucial: a well-trained reviewer. A good manager will provide constructive feedback and a clear direction to help employees achieve success. A poor manager will destroy confidence and look for someone to blame. The New York-based consulting group, Sibson Consulting, also advises upping the frequency by carrying out a review at the end of every project, instead of at the end of every year, while the performance being appraised is still fresh. Culbert takes this a step further and suggests dropping the reviews in favor of previews, which take place during a project, when there is still time to make adjustments to performance. Other non-traditional approaches to the appraisal process include peer reviews, and even a peer-to-peer bonus system whereby a team member can award another team member with a $50 cash bonus for excellent work - an instant tangible reward system. So, what’s the bottom line? Tread carefully.

If there’s one thing that will keep your organisation on the right track, it’s employee engagement. There are many definitions of engagement in the workplace, but most agree that it is represented by three main elements: Purpose, attachment to the company and the resulting effort employees invest in their daily tasks. To put this more simply, it’s about ‘happiness’ at work. Sounds easier than it is though, right? Everyone is talking about the Millennials as a demanding, easily distracted and hard-to-hold-down generation. One key prerequisite of the Millennial workforce is to have all content available anytime, anywhere and on any device. This goes for business-related topics as well as learning content. They also expect to be in direct touch with senior managers and consider them as their peers rather than bosses. Many companies are struggling to deal with this type of mind set - both on a business and cultural level. Capitalising on a cross-generational workforce Perhaps we need to stop separating generations altogether and accept the current workforce as it is - with a mix of age groups who all have strengths to offer. Building teams with a mix of age groups and encouraging cross-mentoring is one way to help people collaborate across generations. Another good starting point is to survey our employees’ wishes and needs. What do our people want out of their job and what will make them feel valued? Deloitte’s fourth annual Millennial Survey found that a staggering 72% of Millennials feel their employer isn’t making full use of their skills. This is a hugely missed opportunity and one that results in a lot of frustration. I’d be interested to see the same survey conducted among the Boomer generation. If they feel their skills are being utilised more effectively, why is that and what did we do differently? It’s worth finding out! Say we sort out the generational problems as an initial step, what’s next?  I think the real secret to engagement is having great leaders. These are the ones who listen to their teams and make them feel significant to the company as a whole. It’s not just about interesting tasks anymore, but about inspiring employees and making them realise why they as people matter, not just their line of work. Leaders also need to build trust in order for their employees to open up to them and express what they appreciate about their company or would like to change. For this to happen, our leaders need to have a high level of emotional intelligence and be truly aware of their people’s needs. It also requires strong communication skills. Communication is not just about expressing yourself well, but being able to read your surroundings and seamlessly adapting your message. It means the message has less to do with the speaker and more to do with the wishes and needs of the listeners. Will this be possible for the Millennials, who are so often accused of being "me-focussed" and so used to communicating via text that speaking to someone face-to-face has become the exception rather than the norm? Only time will tell, but the sooner we start addressing these issues, the more likely we are to overcome them. Start helping people to become better leaders and communicators and exchange skills and ideas across generations. It need not be a complicated process - it can be done through simple and cost-effective mentoring programmes within the company. Ask people

If I had the proverbial Dollar for every e-learning report that shows the number of hours used or the cost savings versus classroom….. These Numbers Prove Virtually Nothing. If I was a CFO and my Learning Director came to me with those kinds of numbers I would refuse to provide a budget for next year. I may also question why we haven’t employed someone more capable. Harsh? Perhaps, but we need to start to show that we have a purpose and can prove the actual worth of e-learning projects. Let’s face it, in most companies it can take a virtual act of Parliament to get something like e-learning approved in the first place. And after all the effort we often fail to adequately to show the return on the investment. So lets take a look at this more closely. Usage What does usage in terms of hours show? There is a belief there is a connection between the total number of hours and minutes that the company has accessed e-learning and how effective the learning has been. Simply Not True.  You can can cross your fingers and hope, but this is no way conclusive and I don’t know many CFO’s that take positive thinking as proof of a good return. One organization I know implemented a new version of Microsoft Office. To support this they provided the staff with e-learning rather than take them through lengthy classroom sessions. 3000 members of staff, accessed the courses an average of 20 times per person for an average of 10 minutes each time in the first month. A sample of the feedback from the staff showed that accesses were directly linked to a requirement to execute a task within the application. A perfect example of just-in-time learning, even if you don’t apply any financial return. Cost Savings There seems to be some belief that because e-learning is ‘cheaper’, the overall value of the experience is improved. Why would this be true? Walking is infinitely cheaper than air travel,  but the value surely needs to be assessed against the distance you need to travel. Just because you save money on travel, instructor costs and hotels does not make this necessarily a better choice. How the e-learning is employed is the key. Are the courses mapped to the role, the aspirations of the business and used in conjunction with instructor lead programs and coaching?  And remember balance is important also. If there is value in shipping your staff from Belgium to Bali for a learning experience then do it, but always show why. "Think about what your learners need to do with that information after the course is finished and design around that." - Matthew Guyan

This 26th September marks the 14th annual European Day of Languages. As part of this day, 800 million Europeans across all member states are encouraged to learn more languages - at any age, in or out of school.  I want to take this opportunity to revisit what makes languages so crucial for organisations, and why those with a global communication strategy will go further than the rest. No matter how large or small an organisation, whether it works online or offline, its employees will have to deal with a different culture or language at some point. This could be colleagues from abroad who haven’t fully mastered the local language yet, as well as partners, suppliers or customers in another country. Such encounters can be highly rewarding as they offer insights into a different culture and perspective. But they also leave much room for misunderstandings. Do you know how to greet someone senior from Japan without insulting them? How do Brazilians prefer to be addressed in an email? And what was that Spanish false friend you definitely had to avoid when speaking? A flexible world of learning The good news is that organisations can train their staff to deal with these issues more effectively on a daily basis. And training doesn’t need to take place in formal classrooms anymore. With the rise of cloud-based mobile learning solutions, languages and cultural concepts can be studied on a mobile phone, tablet or PC, be it at home, at work or while travelling. For HR and L&D managers, cloud-based learning means having standardised and measurable results across all borders. Our research shows that this kind of training will save costs compared to conventional classroom training, and people remember the content better because they can access it on their mobile devices at any time. Long-term, this will also help to get a better grasp of an internal talent pool, identify skill gaps and fill them with the appropriate training. Speaking your language It’s no secret that learning a foreign language will also boost your communication skills. Good communications create a positive working environment, reduce errors and misunderstandings and accelerate processes as a result. And as we know, quicker processes mean lower costs and better business. Ties with external partners or clients will be strengthened if they feel an organisation really speaks their language and has made an effort to take a step in their direction. This will give multilingual organisations a real competitive advantage as they will become the first port of call for their customers.  We just can’t expect everyone to speak fluent English anymore. So if you’re in charge of talent management in your organisation, I invite you to think about your language strategy because long-term, it will be your business strategy. Get an online language training solution in place with a  renowned provider, encourage business conversations in a foreign language and allow employees to spend some time on business abroad to boost their skills. Not only will this make communication more fluid and drive results, it will also motivate your workforce and give them a reason to stay.

Behavior and values are the source of every country’s culture, and are the building blocks for developing business culture. Cultural influences, attitudes and values vary across nations. The range of your knowledge of the culture of your business partners can be crucial when it comes to doing business or not. Nike experienced this when they brought patterned leggings onto the market whose design was inspired by the traditional tattoos of the Maori and other indigenous people of the Pacific. The sportswear company soon faced a petition objecting to the product, on the ground they were a violation of these peoples. Nike was forced to withdraw the leggings. Even when two English-speaking countries such as the USA and Great Britain are dealing with each other, cultural sensitivities come into play. This was the experience of pet nutrition company Hilton Herbs. Their product ‘Veteran’, for older pets, didn’t sell well in the US although it was doing well in other countries. They finally discovered that for Americans the word ‘veteran’ had connotations of war rather than older animals. The product is now called ‘Senior’ and is selling very well in America. That such a large cultural divide can exist between two nations that share the same language, just shows how much wider the gap is between countries that speak different languages. But cultural sensitivity is not only about speaking and writing. Body language is also very important when it comes to effective communication between two cultures. Bill Gates didn’t do his homework when he recently shook hands with the South Korean President Park Geun-hye while keeping his left hand in his pocket. This is a sign of disrespect in South Korea. Other examples are that in France, it is common for a man to greet a lady with a quick kiss on the cheek, even in a business setting. In China and India, that sort of familiar contact with business partners is frowned upon. In Saudi Arabia even offering your hand to a female colleague could be a terrible faux pas. Or staring into the eyes of your Chinese business associate while shaking his hand, can be regarded as a great insult. Neil Payne, director of "Kwintessential" - a UK based translation company which also offers cross-cultural awareness training - warns that working with colleagues from different cultures can be a minefield. He says: "Whether it’s localizing your website or sending people to conduct business abroad, being aware of things such as cultural, religious, moral, behavioral and linguistic differences is crucial". It’s not about learning a local language fluently and knowing all the customs. You should, however, know when to keep your hands out of your pockets and be able to speak a few phrases of your business partner’s language. This shows respect and that you are taking the relationship seriously. It’s possible to break down social barriers by learning local customs, this way you can gain trust and win business deals. So one of the most valuable investments you can make is to get to know your business partner’s basic social customs.

Every year there are new themes emerging in learning and development. Shortly after the 2008/9 crisis hit, everyone wanted ‘Finance for Non-Financial Managers’ type courses. Strategic Thinking also became a big topic there for a while. You couldn’t walk 15 feet through an office at that time without hearing someone using the word ‘Strategic’. So many companies clearly felt it was a good idea if some of their people actually knew what it meant. Although it’s clear that not everyone got the invite to that particular course. One topic that has stayed on the ‘Needs’ list for the last number of years is Leadership Development. However, developing leaders is tricky. It can be expensive, too. Go and get a quote from Insead  and you will see what I mean. Plus it’s hard to get the future leadership into the classroom, they often have short-term concerns that outweigh long-term requirements. There are ways to start the process more cheaply and in a way that the company can manage easily, but they require commitment. Once a week a senior, experienced leader in the organization gives up 30 minutes of their time. They are there to facilitate a discussion with the company’s high potentials. They throw a phrase out to the group like ‘ Leadership should be about relationship building, what do you think that means?’ The next week it’s the turn of one of the future leaders to come up with their own discussion point. 30 minutes a week. That’s all it takes, but it has to be something that is bought into at the top. They need to understand that part of their role is not just to lead but to coach and guide. Call them what you will, ‘Breakfast and Learn’, ‘Toolbox Talks’, but they can make difference in helping your high potentials understand the differences between management and leadership 30 minutes at a time. ‘You manage things; you lead people’. —Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

Great news, we’ve just opened our first US-based office! The presence in New York will help to provide on-the-ground services for our new and existing clients. Although a number of US corporations are already using our solutions for online business communication skills training, this step marks our official entrance into the US market. This is Speexx’s ninth office, with further subsidiaries up and running in China, Brazil, Singapore, France, Spain, Italy, the UK and Germany. The Speexx solution combines online and mobile courses and learning tools for all users across all devices, as well as business analytics and APIs for enterprise customers of all sizes, from SMB to Fortune 500. Armin Hopp, one of our Founders, said "The United States corporate market holds huge potential for Speexx and our blend of cloud-based language training solutions. Our New York office is the decisive building block in our strategy to bring the best language training experience to users in corporations all across the world. And as they say - ‘if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere’." The new office officially opens today and is located in midtown Manhattan. To get in touch, drop us a line at us@speexx.com. Bye for now!

With Online Educa Berlin fast approaching us in early December 2015, it’s hard to believe that the event is now in its 21st year. The conference brings together over 2,300 participants from 100 countries and is an annual fixture in my diary. Ahead of Speexx Exchange, which takes place on the eve of the OEB event, we’re running our annual audit of global CXOs, HR, L&D professionals and training consultants who are also scheduled to join the event. Early findings of the Speexx Exchange survey show some interesting insights which I’m excited to share today. E-enabled and mobile learning still front of mind The audit asked HR and L&D professionals about the main benefits they see in e-enabled learning. 45 per cent said that "Flexibility and instant accessibility" were the key advantages they gained, followed by a "Reduction of direct training costs" (cited by 15 per cent). It is encouraging to see HR and L&D registering financial benefits of e-learning programmes. In line with this tendency, almost a third of our respondents plan to spend over 30 per cent of their training budget on e-learning or blended learning projects. Next up are mobile and 70:20:10, which are gaining popularity, but still have some obstacles to overcome. 27 per cent of the HR and L&D managers we spoke to confirmed that they are actively supporting mobile learning within their organisation and 14 per cent plan to implement a mobile learning strategy within the foreseeable future. The main factors thought to be hampering mobile learning in the workplace were "Lack of integration" (23 per cent), "No BYOD policy in place" (18 per cent) and "Corporate data security issues" (17 per cent). For the 70:20:10 model and collaboration, things are looking a little brighter, 32 per cent have this framework embraced as part of their corporate learning culture and 11 per cent plan to apply it within the coming three years. At the same time, however, 30 per cent do not use it or plan to use it and 27 per cent are not sure. To me, these figures suggest that managers need to do much more to promote blended, social and mobile learning within their organisations, and to back HR and L&D managers in along the way. At the same time, none of this can really flourish if there isn’t a solid learning strategy in place. This strategy needs to be communicated clearly and transparently across all branches and departments. The importance of strong communications is reflected in the early findings of the survey: A staggering 97 per cent rate communications as important or very important for overall business success. It’s time to rethink how we communicate changes and strategies, and what effect our communication style has on those around us. This also means taking into account linguistic and cultural differences, which often leave room for potential misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Adapting to change As we move into 2016, the integration of multilingual and multicultural workers into an overall business strategy is crucial to sustain and grow a business. Many organisations are now actively incorporating communication skills training and language learning as part of their talent strategy, nurturing staff from the ground up and making talent accessible on a global scale. An organisation with an all-inclusive work culture that embraces diversity and effectively integrates multilingual workers will ultimately open its doors to better business - and is more likely to retain its top talent.

Mark your calendar as busy on December 2 and come meet your HR and L&D peers from all over the world at Speexx Exchange - just 5 weeks from now! Hosted by HR industry rockstar Laura Overton of Towards Maturity, Speexx Exchange is a unique talent management conference on the eve of Online Educa Berlin. Don’t miss your chance to get up to speed with the hottest industry trends and network with global thought leaders. Sign up now Speexx Exchange 2015 Wednesday, December 2, Hotel InterContinental Berlin _ Learn from the Best We have an amazing speaker line-up with Credit Suisse, LG Electronics, Linde, Adecco, European Climate Foundation and many more who will share exclusive tips and insights with you. _ Grow your Network Speexx Exchange is all about you getting to know your peers and finding out how they deal with challenges similar to your own. _ New! Crowdsourcing Live This will be the first time we launch a Speexx Exchange crowdsourcing activity to share top findings in interactive group sessions. _ Live Surveys and Results Our live surveys will keep your on your toes and showcase which solutions and ideas are shaping talent management in realtime. _ Five Star Food and Drinks Last but not least - enjoy a full day of first-class catering by the renowned Hotel InterContinental Berlin. By the way, as proud sponsors of Online Educa, we can offer you a 25% discount on your OEB conference ticket. Drop us a line to find out more!

Good stuff, our list of international awards just received two shiny new members - from China and Spain! Brand of the Year First up was China’s ‘Brand of the Year Award’ which is run by Training Magazine each year. Over 300 organizations submitted projects, out of which 83 were shortlisted for the ‘Brand of the Year’ award. Speexx made it to the final round and secured the award in the ‘Corporate Training’ category. The award ceremony took place in Shanghai in October. Jun Zheng, Managing Director of Speexx China, commented: "We’re extremely grateful for this award. Blended learning in China is still in its early stages, and the corporate training industry is increasingly focussing on content. Many platform providers are committed to delivering a better overall training experience through innovative learning models. With the support of Training Magazine’s platform, Speexx will continue to deliver the most advanced ideas in the market, as well as efficient project management processes which are fully integrated into enterprise training services. On behalf of Speexx, I would like to thank Training Magazine China for this fantastic award." Check out the full press release here. Excellence in E-Learning Award  Then last week, we secured APel’s Excellence in E-Learning Award for the "Most innovative learning solution" category. Each year, the Association of E-Learning Providers (APel) rewards high quality e-learning solutions with its Excellence in E-Learning Award. This year’s winners were announced during the National E-learning Congress in Madrid, Spain. Elena Giménez, Managing Director of Speexx Spain, said: "We’re very proud to have won this award! It shows that APel is confident in our ability to continue delivering innovative online language training for large organisations worldwide. Our goal is to keep setting the standard for cutting-edge solutions which combine a self-paced learning method with personalised coaching as well as live training via virtual classroom, telephone or face-to-face training." You will find the press release here.

Do you think your employees are truly engaged in what they do? Employee engagement is a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, and are able to enhance their own sense of well-being. Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest discretionary effort to see that the organization succeeds. It is the official term used by talent developers to describe the process of motivating employees in order to increase employee retention and reduce turnover. In the light of the ongoing war for talent, companies struggle to attract the best college graduates and most talented workers on the market. To familiarize you with the ins and outs of employee engagement, we’ve created a brand-new HR webinar topic for you. In just 45 minutes you’ll discover the importance of engagement in the modern workplace and practical steps you can take to retain your employees on a long-term basis. At the same time, you’ll boost your Business English skills and meet HR and L&D experts from around the globe. Employee Engagement Thursday, 12th November, 11am and 4pm CET Sign up free   See you soon!

We’re all familiar with International Women’s Day on 8th March, but I bet not all of you knew that there’s an International Men’s Day, too - today! International Men’s Day also coincides with the month of Movember - a worldwide moustache-growing charity event each November which aims to raise awareness and funds for men’s health. So we thought we’d take a look at ‘gender from a linguistic perspective’, or ‘languages from a gender perspective’ - whichever you prefer! While gender plays an important grammatical role in most languages (with masculine, feminine and sometimes neuter nouns, as well as personal pronouns or verbs that change depending on the gender), English makes life a little easier for us in this respect. But this hasn’t always been the case. Up until the 11th Century, Old English had a grammatical gender system which was very similar to that of modern German - with masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. Some determiners and adjectives portrayed gender according to the noun which they modified. The nouns themselves also followed different declension patterns depending on their gender. For example, the word "engel" (nowdays angel) was masculine, the word "scip" (now ship) was neuter and "sorg" (now sorrow) was feminine . Interestingly, in Modern English, there are some word groups left which are considered ‘feminine’, at least in a poetic or quaint sense. These include ships, nations and churches, for example. So if you’re a non-native speaker of English and really want to impress someone with your linguistic knowledge, make a reference to a ship or country using the word ‘she’. "The Titanic sank in 1912, didn’t she?" But be warned, this might make you seem a tiny bit pretentious, too. Now finally, let’s take a look at English nouns which have a male and female form - note that there are relatively few compared to other languages. Widow / widower (not that in this case, the longer word is actually the male form!) Duke / duchess Actor / actress Bachelor / spinster Hero / heroine Master / mistress Nephew / niece Emperor / empress Wizard / witch There are many more of course (we didn’t want to patronize you with simple ones like girl/boy) but these are slightly obscure ones you might not hear every day. Hope this was useful for you. And Happy International Men’s Day / Happy Movember! By the way, if you want to improve your English on a regular basis with a professional trainer - on your mobile, tablet or desktop - take a look at our online language training solutions for organizations.

At Speexx, we know a thing or two about online language training and business communication for organizations. But recently, we’ve also been turning into specialists for combining cooking delicious food and exchanging conversations, thanks to our Let’s COOK Together event, which happened in Madrid last week. So on 17th November, we got together for a wonderful afternoon with friends and clients of Speexx at Kitchen Club. Here, we discovered the world of spherification, liquid nitrogen and other new cooking techniques which the world’s most visionary chefs have brought into fashion. A group of 20 people, we enjoyed a highly interactive event with with lots of networking opportunities, followed by a cooking session guided by professional chefs. We created two aperitifs (spherification of olives and Ibero-Thai burritos) and a dessert (cheesecake foam, bizcocho and red fruits). Another spectacular highlight was watching the experts themselves work on the liquid nitrogen, which resulted in a tiny aperitif called "Blue Dragon" (which you exhale through your mouth and noise as white smoke while you eat!). We love creating events where HR and learning professionals exchange can experiences and knowledge, and build their contacts at the same time. All of this happens in an informal environment where people can relax, laugh, chat and network. See you very soon for the next event!

This Friday is Black Friday. In the US and increasingly in the rest of the world, the holiday retail season kicks off on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Black Friday is the day when eager bargain hunters fill the streets en masse to find the lowest prices and best offers on Christmas gifts. And although we can’t offer you a deal on an amazing flatscreen TV this week, we want to give you a little literary inspiration - related to the color black in different languages. Here are 10 expressions you may not have known in 5 different languages. Enjoy! English "Pot is calling the kettle black" (Any excuse for the Anglo-Saxons to make a tea-related reference!) Meaning: You should not criticize someone for a fault that you have too. A bit like, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. "To be in the black" Meaning: To show a financial profit.   French "Le petit noir" (Literally: The little black) A small cup of black coffee in a barrista. "Broyer du noir" (Literally: To crush black) Meaning: To have the blues.   German "Ins Schwarze treffen" (Literally: To hit the black) Meaning: To hit the mark or get something just right. "Schwarz-weiß denken" (Literally: To think black and white) Meaning: To see everything very simplistically   Italian "Mettere nero su bianco" (Literally: To put black on white) Meaning: To put the details of something down on paper. "Non distinguere il bianco dal nero" (Literally: To not distinguish white from black). Meaning : To not see things clearly.   Spanish "Negro sobre blanco" (Literally: Black on white) Meaning: When something is expressed clearly, and documented / recorded "Ser la oveja negra de la familia" (Literally: To be the black sheep of the family - which is of course used in many languages) Meaning: To be an outcast / bad character in an otherwise respectable group.   That’s all from us! You can probably think of loads more colorful expressions - just drop us a line. Happy Black Friday. And if you want to improve your language skills with a flexible online solution, check out Speexx.

Speexx Exchange is over for this year and once again it’s been an amazing experience filled with learning, discussion and networking. The first edition kicked off in Paris on 5th November. Here, a group of 50 senior HR and L&D professionals gathered at the Maison des Polytechniciens for some intensive sessions on building an effective language training strategy and the opportunities offered to organizations by blended learning. The feedback was fantastic and the morning ended with some great cocktails and networking sessions. Next up was Berlin on 2nd December. This was possibly the liveliest event in the history of Speexx Exchange. Every seat was taken long before the 10am kick-off. A total of 100 guests, partners and speakers from 15 different countries joined in. Once again, the conference was chaired by the one and only Laura Overton of Towards Maturity, who opened the conference with some deep insights into what’s driving HR and L&D professionals right now and what the top deck organizations are doing differently in terms of talent management. Laura was followed by Victoria Bethlehem of Adecco. Victoria is in charge of the learning and development of 32,000 employees and  showed us strategies for maximizing talent, with first-hand advice from Adecco. Next was Yves Boudib of LG Electronics who gave some expert advice about embedding 70:20:10 in a business context. It turned out that a large number of people in the room had already heard of 70:20:10, but just a handful actually used it. After a delicious lunch, Peter Fox of Credit Suisse presented how his company has switched from a local to a cloud-based learning management system and established a global e-learning environment. Sina Bader was next, and she gave us some detailed insights into how to build a successful competency model, based on Linde MH‘s example, as well as finding the right people for the right role. The final session was held by Nicole Smit of European Climate Foundation and Filip Moriau of AGILON. Together, they showed us how they have successfully developed a leadership lab at the ECF with the help of AGILON.  In between the sessions, we had live reality check surveys, networking opportunities and great food and refreshments. The day was wrapped up with an exciting crowdsourcing activity where guests split into four groups and interviewed each other about tackling current talent management issues. The final Speexx Exchange edition was held in Shanghai on 3rd December, with over 100 HR professionals, experts speakers and partners. A truly global event, Speexx Exchange is all about collaborating, communicating and exchanging great ideas to shape the future of talent management. We’re always on the look-out for great speakers and partners, so if you’re interested in contributing, drop us a line!    

by John Newsom, News & Record N.C. A&T last year became the largest historically black college in the nation. This year, A&T thinks it can grow even bigger. University officials said Friday that A&T will emphasize — and expand — its online course offerings and degree programs to better meet the area’s educational needs and increase enrollment. A&T in its long-range plan set a goal of growing to 13,500 students by 2020 and to 15,000 students in the decade after that. But enrollment growth in recent years has been slow. http://www.greensboro.com/news/schools/looking-to-boost-enrollment-n-c-a-t-turns-to/article_b419f1f7-0081-5434-8997-55a3c2949ddc.html Share on Facebook

by John LaMar, US News A full-time job and a full-time course load aren’t workable for every online student. After closing five tabs on my Chrome Web browser and another eight course documents, I looked at my schedule for the upcoming week: three and a half hours of free time left - not for a day, but for the entire week. My typical day as an online bachelor’s student was looking like this: wake up at 5:45 a.m., get to work by 7 a.m. at the latest, do an hour of class work before starting my job at 8 a.m., work eight hours while taking an hour lunch break to study, go home, take a 20-minute power nap before eating, then do another three to four hours of studying before falling asleep. The next day, the routine began again. http://www.usnews.com/education/online-learning-lessons/2015/09/11/know-your-time-management-limits-as-an-online-student Share on Facebook

by Karen MacGregor, University World News People from across the world have been collaborating to develop policies and actions that will chart the future for higher education, says Professor Mandla Makhanya, vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa. A high-level policy forum at next month’s conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education, or ICDE, will apply regional lenses to help forge the way ahead for online, open and flexible learning. The collaboration is sparking something great and innovative in the higher education environment, Makhanya told University World News. Also: "Technology is bringing about a rethink of the missions of universities, and of business models. http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20150912090319378 Share on Facebook

by Carl Straumsheim, Inside Higher Ed Modern States Education Alliance, an organization initially billed as an accreditor for nontraditional providers of education, is changing its focus and taking a more direct route to increasing access to higher education, its founders say. Last week, the organization recruited another set of institutions to join in that effort: the Texas State University System. Freshman Year for Free is one step toward Modern States’ goal. Starting next year, the initiative will offer about 30 massive open online courses designed to help students pass standardized placement tests for which many colleges award credit. "We want to be an on-ramp to college education for students of varying backgrounds and ages," Vise said, adding that the courses could benefit high school students, members of the military, adult learners and students looking to complete degrees. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/14/modern-states-education-alliance-shifts-focus-away-accreditation Share on Facebook

by Seth Slabaugh, Star-Press On-campus enrollment at Ball State University has dropped for the fourth consecutive year, but overall enrollment is up as the number of online students grows. The school has 16,602 on-campus students this fall, down from 18,241 in the fall of 2011. That means 1,639 fewer students are taking classes on the main campus this fall than four years ago, a decrease of 9 percent. One faculty member is calling the trend "pretty worrisome," another says it is typical for schools such as Ball State and a third attributes the decline to the high cost of a college education and concerns over student debt. http://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2015/09/12/bsu-campus-enrollment-total/72157660/ Share on Facebook

By The Texas Tribune The Texas State University System has an idea for future students busy with families and jobs: Don’t even show up on campus freshman year. Starting next fall, the system plans to encourage nontraditional students to take free massive open online courses, known as MOOCs, before arriving on campus. If they take 10 courses and pass tests for college credit, students could show up at school with a year’s work complete before paying a single tuition bill. The courses will be run by the New York-based nonprofit the Modern States Education Alliance through a program called Freshman Year for Free. The group plans to launch a free online portal providing access to about three dozen free online courses next fall. http://amarillo.com/news/latest-news/2015-09-13/texas-try-free-freshman-online-courses Share on Facebook

By Beth Luberecki, Washington Post If you’re considering getting a graduate degree, a MOOC (massive open online course) can be one way to check out a university or program. Completing a MOOC can give you an indication of whether you want to enroll in a traditional master’s program. "They can be a great way to find out in a short period of time if that subject interests you or not," says Elaine Shuck, president of the U.S. Distance Learning Association. These free online courses help give you an indication of a professor’s teaching style and expertise. "You could get a good sense of what a particular faculty member is like and whether or not it’s someone you want to work with," says Edward Maloney, executive director of the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University. https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2015/09/14/massive-open-online-courses-moocs-can-help-you-achieve-the-next-step-in-your-career/ Share on Facebook