Language is Everything

Chairman's Awards: in pictures

In May we won the Chairman's Award for enhancing the economy of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The Chairman's Awards are presented by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, with nominations coming from both the public and from council employees.

Here are two pictures from the presentation ceremony at Bridlington Spa.

 

 

And here you can download a short film about us that was shown on the night (download time with a 1Mbps connection: 3 minutes).

Download Language is Everything (short film)

Biz Week in pictures (part 2)

More of our favourite pictures from the Humber Economic Partnership's photographic review of Business Week 2009, which was sponsored by Language is Everything.

 

 

Biz Week in pictures (part 1)

The Humber Economic Partnership has produced an interactive newsletter showcasing photos from Business Week 2009, which was sponsored by Language is Everything. You can download the newsletter here, or you can check out some of our favourites below...

 

 

 

Aim high and don't give in

Paul Duffen — who in the two years since he became chairman of Hull City has seen the football club gain and retain Premiership status — gave a typically 'can-do' talk at our 'Biz Week Extra' event at Vermuyden School in Goole yesterday.

"He was an amazing hit with the kids," said Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec). "The key message was aim high and don't give in when people say you'll never do it."

Our picture shows Paul Duffen with Carolyn (right) and Danuta Tomasz, the school's headteacher.

Business Week 2009, which was based on the theme of 'can-do' and sponsored by Language is Everything, officially came to an end last Friday. Yesterday's 'bonus' event took the multilingual, multicultural world of football as a starting point for introducing children to the challenges and opportunities of the global village of the 21st century (see our post below).

Language, culture, the global village ... and football

If you thought that Business Week 2009 was over: think again! Language is Everything, the main sponsors of this year's festival, are holding a 'Biz Week Extra' event later today with Hull City chairman and Humber hero Paul Duffen.

This afternoon's invitation-only session at Vermuyden School in Goole will continue the 'big conversation' that Language is Everything launched during Business Week: how can we best prepare our children for the global village of the 21st century?

The English Premier League is a perfect example of the multilingual, multicultural world in which we now live. Mr Duffen, a former Tottenham fan, remembers the shock and awe when Spurs signed two Argentinean stars in 1978 (Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa). Today, by contrast, more than half the players in the Premiership are from outside Britain, and the Hull City squad is made up of players from 11 countries across 5 continents.

So what kind of language and cultural barriers has Hull City faced? How have these been overcome? What has the club learned during its rollercoaster ride of a season? A specially invited audience of young people will be finding out the answers to these and other questions.

Carolyn Burgess, our chief exec, said: "The theme of this year's Business Week has been can-do, and I can't think of two better words to describe Paul Duffen. This event is going to be something that a group of young people remember for a very long time. Children are fascinated by language and culture, and football is a brilliant way to introduce them to the global village of the 21st century."

That was the Biz Week that was

Business Week 2009, sponsored by Language is Everything, came to a spectacular end on Friday at the Yorkshire International Business Convention in Bridlington. The all-star line-up of speakers included John Cleese, Dave Stewart and 'Matt' Pritchett, and Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) gave a speech that touched on language, culture and her recent trip to the Victoria Climbié School in Côte d'Ivoire.

Language is Everything hosted two events on the Thursday, both of which were headlined by the irrepressible author and public speaker Tim Sanders. In the evening, the Language is Everything dinner took place in the magnificent 18th-century surroundings of Carlton Towers. But the focus was very much on the 21st century and beyond as leading experts from education, business and government took part in a debate on the future of communication.

On the Thursday afternoon, 'The Language is Everything Challenge' (see below) proved that learning a language isn't as difficult as most people think! Three courageous contestants — Tim Sanders, Fay Edwards from KCFM 99.8 and Jessica Goulden, a language student at Vermuyden School — received 20 minutes' professional coaching in a brand new language. They then called a 'real life' place overseas and found out what time it closed, without using any English.

"It was a fantastic event," said Oxana Cookson, one of our Russian linguists, who spent 20 minutes preparing Jessica for a call to the GUM Department Store in Moscow. "Jessica's task was twice as difficult because Russians use the 24-hour clock as well as the more informal 12-hour one. But Jessica managed to complete her task despite all the difficulties. She was very brave!"

You can have a look a the briefing sheet that Oxana put together for Jessica using the link below.

Download Russian_notes

Can-do Language is Everything!

The Language is Everything Challenge: is it possible to learn a language — well enough to carry out a basic telephone task — in 20 minutes?

The when and the where: the Thursday afternoon of Business Week 2009 at Goole College.

The languages: Arabic, Chinese Mandarin and Russian.

The contestants: Tim Sanders, bestselling American author; Fay Edwards, from KCFM 99.8; and Jessica Goulden, a language student from Vermuyden School in Goole.

The result: a success!

Yesterday afternoon at Business Week, three intrepid contestants received 20 minutes' professional coaching in a language they had never studied before. They then called a 'real life' place somewhere in the world, and attempted a basic telephone task.

"We had lots and lots of fun, and the whole thing was extremely successful," said Coco Zhao, one of our interpreters, who spent 20 minutes training Tim Sanders to speak and understand Chinese Mandarin. "Tim phoned a McDonald's in Beijing to ask what time they closed. He delivered the question in excellent Chinese, and he got the right answer — in Chinese."

Speaking later on KCFM 99.8, Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) said it showed that investing a little time studying language can produce big results.

Business Week 2009 comes to an end today with the Yorkshire International Business Convention in Bridlington, starring John Cleese, Dave Stewart and 'Matt' Pritchett. Tim Sanders will also be appearing, and Carolyn will be on stage to talk about her recent trip to Cóte d'Ivoire.

Biz Ed at Biz Week

Yesterday, Carol Curtis (the MD of Language is Everything) was one of the judges for a "Dragons' Den" style event to mark Biz Week's "Business Education Day". Pupils from 16 schools took part, and the day included a presentation from rugby star turned motivational speaker Martin Bayfield.

"The kids did brilliantly well," reports Carol. "It was amazing how they responded to the challenge, got organised and divided the tasks between themselves. It's great to know that the future of the Humber region is in good hands!"

'Can do' in the north of England

Business Week 2009, sponsored by Language is Everything, has got off to a roaring start. One of the early highlights was veteran campaigner Tony Benn, who called for a far-ranging rethink of political processes in a speech on Monday.

Meanwhile, Carolyn Burgess (our chief exec) was in action at the World Trade Centre Hull & Humber on Tuesday morning. The picture below shows Carolyn speaking at 'Still in the Dark About Doing Business Overseas?', which aimed to help companies re-focus and find opportunities in new markets.

Language is Everything takes centre stage tomorrow, Thursday, with two events headlined by Tim Sanders, a best-selling American author on business trends and social responsibility. Our afternoon event at Goole College will look at the links between business and education. It will also include 'The Language is Everything Challenge' — is it possible to learn a new language in 20 minutes? In the evening, our invitation-only dinner at Carlton Towers will bring together experts from education, business and government to discuss: what key skills will the next generation of leaders need to have?

Download Interactive PDF

Business Week 2009: five days to go

There are just five days to go until the launch of Business Week 2009, a celebration of the Humber region's can-do spirit, sponsored by Language is Everything.

Carolyn Burgess, our chief exec, will be kicking things off at the Bondholders' Breakfast on Monday morning, and the week will come to a spectacular close when John Cleese tops the bill at the Yorkshire International Business Convention (YIBC) on the Friday.

You can read more about our involvement with Business Week in our 2009 annual report, which was published earlier this month.

Click here to download a copy of the report (PDF, 700KB)

One of the most eagerly anticipated events at Business Week will be 'The Language is Everything Challenge', which takes place on the Thursday afternoon at Goole College. Three contestants will receive 20 minutes' intensive coaching in a new language from a professional linguist. They will then attempt a basic telephone task — without using any English — such as phoning a library in Latvia and asking what time it closes.

The three languages that have been chosen are being kept a closely guarded secret until the day. However, we can announce the line-up of contestants, who come from the worlds of business, the media and education.

Tim Sanders is a best-selling author on business trends and social responsibility. He is the keynote speaker at two events organised by Language is Everything on the Thursday (download an interactive PDF here), and he will also be on stage at the YIBC on the Friday. Fay Edwards is part of the news team at KCFM 99.8, the Hull and East Yorkshire radio station. And Jessica Goulden is a language student from Vermuyden School in Goole.

"This is shaping up to be a fascinating event," said Carolyn Burgess. "Is it possible to learn a language — from scratch — in 20 minutes well enough to complete a basic telephone task? We're going to find out very soon!"

Other Business Week highlights include Tony Benn on the Monday, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on the Tuesday and Alistair Campbell on the Wednesday. Also appearing at the YIBC will be Dave Stewart, 'Matt' Pritchett, Tracy Edwards and Tim Smit.