Berlitz Language Schools
Encyclopedia
Berlitz Corporation is a global leadership training and education company with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey
and Tokyo
, Japan. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian D. Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island. Berlitz Corporation is a member of Benesse
Group, with more than 550 company-owned and franchised locations in over 70 countries and regions offering programs for individuals, businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations in more than 50 languages.
, once a Professor of French and German, was in need of an assistant French instructor, he employed a Frenchman by the name of Nicholas Joly, only soon to discover that Joly barely spoke English, and was hired to teach French to English speakers in their native language. Several weeks later Berlitz returned to discover the students responded positively to Joly's instruction given only in French. This made way to the development of the Berlitz Method and the opening of the first Berlitz language school in Providence, Rhode Island, July 1878.
By 1888, and after the success of the school in Providence, Berlitz moved to Boston, Massachusetts and opened additional schools. Soon after Boston, he opened schools nearby in New York and in New Jersey and in 1886 he moved the headquarters and his personal residence to New York City. Before the year 1900 Berlitz expanded further, opening another eight schools in big cities across the country. It was also in the year 1900 that Nicholas Joly sold his interest in the company to Berlitz for a lump sum at the time. Once Joly sold his share in the partnership, Berlitz made his son-in-law Victor Harrison-Berlitz General Manager.
Maximilian Berlitz died in 1921. His son-in-law and associate, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, assumed leadership of the business. Not long after, Harrison died in 1932 and control passed briefly to his son, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, Jr., or "Vic". Vic, not interested in running the business looked to Jacques Strumpen-Darrie, a man who had built an outstanding career with Berlitz in Europe and the United States for more than 30 years. Jacques' son Robert succeeded his father as president in 1953.
In the 1950s, Berlitz found the composition of its student body changing. Berlitz was increasingly confronted with business professionals, and technicians headed for foreign posts and needing language skills for their new assignments, and major corporations seeking to enroll large numbers of personnel – and their families – to learn languages as quickly as possible. To meet this need, Berlitz accelerated the changeover from conventional classes to private and small group instruction and instituted a research program to develop new techniques of intensive instruction. After several years of research and testing, Berlitz created a stir in academic circles with the introduction of its Total Immersion (T.I.) instruction program. Total Immersion is geared for students with an urgent need, such as an impending relocation overseas. The program immerses the student in language instruction more than eight hours a day, for two to six weeks.
In the 1950s Berlitz also opened its first Latin American language center in Mexico, following shortly with locations in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile. In 1966, Berlitz reaches Asia, starting with a language center in Tokyo. Today there are more than 90 Berlitz centers in Asia.
In 1993, Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd., now known as the Benesse Corporation, a Japanese publisher of correspondence courses and other educational materials, began purchasing Berlitz stock. In 2001, Berlitz becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benesse Corporation.
In November 2010, the Berlitz changed its name from Berlitz International, Inc. to Berlitz Corporation, in efforts to build unity among staff.
Berlitz acquired Second Language Testing, Inc.(SLTI) in March 2011. SLTI specializes in the development of second language proficiency tests and the translation and adaptation of standardized achievement test to students’ native languages and cultures. The company maintains long-standing relationships with major commercial testing companies, federal and state governments, and colleges and universities.
In August 2011, in a bid to become world leader in blended learning, among other commercial ambitions, Telelangue/World Speaking, a French based company, accepted, after protracted negotiations, an offer by Berlitz Corporation to acquire its stock.
Blended learning includes traditional classroom teaching, telephone tutoring and an on-line E Learning site (Cyberteachers).
was born in Germany in 1852, the son of a family of teachers and mathematicians. Berlitz took an interest in languages not only did he speak English, French and German along with several other European languages, he studied many other languages including: Latin, Greek and even some Scandinavian and Slavic languages. He emigrated to the United States in 1870, settling in Westerly, Rhode Island. By 1877, Berlitz moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he was an instructor of languages at the Bryant and Stratton National Business College later to become Warner's Polytechnic Business College after ownership change. It was one year later, in 1878, that he developed the Berlitz Method and opened the first Berlitz language school. It was during this period that Berlitz stumbled upon the idea of the Berlitz Method and opened the first language school.
and focuses on using language as a tool for communication. The direct method, as opposed to the traditional grammar translation
method, advocates teaching through the target language only – the rationale being that students will be able to work out grammatical rules from the input language provided, without necessarily being able to explain the rules overtly. Today, there are a variety of derivative methods and theories which find their beginnings in the natural and communicative elements that were pioneered by Berlitz. Additionally the Berlitz Method presents language in the context of real-life situations, with targeted practice of grammar and vocabulary. Regarded as a communicative approach to language learning, Berlitz students learn through listening and speaking, supported by reading and writing, whereby grammar is learned as a means of communication.
, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian
, Bengali
, Bulgarian
, Burmese
, Cantonese
, Catalan
, Croatian
, Czech
, Danish
, Dari, Dutch
, English
, Finnish
, French
, German
, Greek
, Gujarati
, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi
, Hungarian
, Indonesian
, Italian
, Japanese
, Khmer
, Korean
, Lao
, Malay
, Mandarin, Norwegian
, Pashto, Persian
, Polish
, Portuguese
, Punjabi
, Romanian
, Russian
, Serbian
, Slovak
, Spanish
, Swahili
, Swedish
, Tagalog
, Thai
, Turkish
, Ukrainian
, Urdu
, and Vietnamese
.
The five-step GLT program includes language acquisition (1) to enable effective business communication and intercultural competence (2) to assure leaders are able to understand and leverage cultural differences. The three additional steps: global business acumen (3) to help professionals translate their skills so they can be effective in different cultural contexts, a sense of values and ideals (4) and creating a personal global network (5).
The total number of language lessons given during the year 2010 was 6,038 thousand. The number of language centers was 570 as of December 31, 2010.
, and in the Kanto region they are represented by Begunto, the Berlitz Tokyo General Union, part of the National Union of General Workers
.
In Germany, teachers and office staff are represented by the GEW: The Union for Education and Science who achieved the first collective bargaining agreement in company history following month long strikes in 1990. In November 2010, management attempted for the first time to claw back the employee gains of the past 30 years in order to substantially reduce the conditions guaranteed in the collective bargaining agreement, threatening to lay off up to half of the contract teachers if the givebacks
are not agreed to.
organized by Begunto, which grew into the longest and largest sustained strike among language teachers in Japan.
In 2010, employees of Berlitz language centers in Germany experienced a major labor conflict, as management planned to lay off nearly 70 contract teachers in order to economize with a fleet of freelancers.
On February 8, 2011, the German management team signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the GEW: The Union for Education and Science, settling all issues.
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
and Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian D. Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island. Berlitz Corporation is a member of Benesse
Benesse
is a Japanese company which focusses on correspondence education and publishing. Based in Okayama-City, it is the parent company of Berlitz Language Schools, which in turn is the parent company of ELS Language Centers...
Group, with more than 550 company-owned and franchised locations in over 70 countries and regions offering programs for individuals, businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations in more than 50 languages.
History
Berlitz began over 130 years ago, Maximilian BerlitzMaximilian Berlitz
Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz was a linguist and the founder of the Berlitz Language Schools, the first of which he established in 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island....
, once a Professor of French and German, was in need of an assistant French instructor, he employed a Frenchman by the name of Nicholas Joly, only soon to discover that Joly barely spoke English, and was hired to teach French to English speakers in their native language. Several weeks later Berlitz returned to discover the students responded positively to Joly's instruction given only in French. This made way to the development of the Berlitz Method and the opening of the first Berlitz language school in Providence, Rhode Island, July 1878.
By 1888, and after the success of the school in Providence, Berlitz moved to Boston, Massachusetts and opened additional schools. Soon after Boston, he opened schools nearby in New York and in New Jersey and in 1886 he moved the headquarters and his personal residence to New York City. Before the year 1900 Berlitz expanded further, opening another eight schools in big cities across the country. It was also in the year 1900 that Nicholas Joly sold his interest in the company to Berlitz for a lump sum at the time. Once Joly sold his share in the partnership, Berlitz made his son-in-law Victor Harrison-Berlitz General Manager.
Growth
As the company moved into the 20th century, increased international trade and the rise of multinational corporations stimulated a new period of growth for Berlitz. In Europe, Latin America, and the Far East, the demand for English soared, replacing French as the accepted language of the business world. At the same time, the demand for other language instruction increased in English-speaking countries. By the time of the start of World War I in 1914, there were over 200 Berlitz Schools worldwide.Maximilian Berlitz died in 1921. His son-in-law and associate, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, assumed leadership of the business. Not long after, Harrison died in 1932 and control passed briefly to his son, Victor Harrison-Berlitz, Jr., or "Vic". Vic, not interested in running the business looked to Jacques Strumpen-Darrie, a man who had built an outstanding career with Berlitz in Europe and the United States for more than 30 years. Jacques' son Robert succeeded his father as president in 1953.
In the 1950s, Berlitz found the composition of its student body changing. Berlitz was increasingly confronted with business professionals, and technicians headed for foreign posts and needing language skills for their new assignments, and major corporations seeking to enroll large numbers of personnel – and their families – to learn languages as quickly as possible. To meet this need, Berlitz accelerated the changeover from conventional classes to private and small group instruction and instituted a research program to develop new techniques of intensive instruction. After several years of research and testing, Berlitz created a stir in academic circles with the introduction of its Total Immersion (T.I.) instruction program. Total Immersion is geared for students with an urgent need, such as an impending relocation overseas. The program immerses the student in language instruction more than eight hours a day, for two to six weeks.
In the 1950s Berlitz also opened its first Latin American language center in Mexico, following shortly with locations in Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile. In 1966, Berlitz reaches Asia, starting with a language center in Tokyo. Today there are more than 90 Berlitz centers in Asia.
Acquisitions
In 1966, Berlitz became a subsidiary of Macmillan, Inc. Robert Strumpen-Darrie continued as president until his retirement in 1970, and Elio Boccitto led the company through most of the 1980s. In November 1988, Maxwell Communication Corporation took over Macmillan, and just a year later, Berlitz was made public.In 1993, Fukutake Publishing Co., Ltd., now known as the Benesse Corporation, a Japanese publisher of correspondence courses and other educational materials, began purchasing Berlitz stock. In 2001, Berlitz becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Benesse Corporation.
In November 2010, the Berlitz changed its name from Berlitz International, Inc. to Berlitz Corporation, in efforts to build unity among staff.
Berlitz acquired Second Language Testing, Inc.(SLTI) in March 2011. SLTI specializes in the development of second language proficiency tests and the translation and adaptation of standardized achievement test to students’ native languages and cultures. The company maintains long-standing relationships with major commercial testing companies, federal and state governments, and colleges and universities.
In August 2011, in a bid to become world leader in blended learning, among other commercial ambitions, Telelangue/World Speaking, a French based company, accepted, after protracted negotiations, an offer by Berlitz Corporation to acquire its stock.
Blended learning includes traditional classroom teaching, telephone tutoring and an on-line E Learning site (Cyberteachers).
Maximilian D. Berlitz
Maximilian BerlitzMaximilian Berlitz
Maximilian Delphinius Berlitz was a linguist and the founder of the Berlitz Language Schools, the first of which he established in 1878 in Providence, Rhode Island....
was born in Germany in 1852, the son of a family of teachers and mathematicians. Berlitz took an interest in languages not only did he speak English, French and German along with several other European languages, he studied many other languages including: Latin, Greek and even some Scandinavian and Slavic languages. He emigrated to the United States in 1870, settling in Westerly, Rhode Island. By 1877, Berlitz moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he was an instructor of languages at the Bryant and Stratton National Business College later to become Warner's Polytechnic Business College after ownership change. It was one year later, in 1878, that he developed the Berlitz Method and opened the first Berlitz language school. It was during this period that Berlitz stumbled upon the idea of the Berlitz Method and opened the first language school.
The Berlitz Method
The Berlitz Method is at the core of all language instruction at Berlitz. This "method" pioneered through the direct methodDirect method
Direct method may refer to*Direct method for learning a foreign language*Direct method as opposed to iterative method...
and focuses on using language as a tool for communication. The direct method, as opposed to the traditional grammar translation
Grammar translation
In applied linguistics, the grammar translation method is a foreign language teaching method derived from the classical method of teaching Greek and Latin. The method requires students to translate whole texts word for word and memorize numerous grammatical rules and exceptions as well as...
method, advocates teaching through the target language only – the rationale being that students will be able to work out grammatical rules from the input language provided, without necessarily being able to explain the rules overtly. Today, there are a variety of derivative methods and theories which find their beginnings in the natural and communicative elements that were pioneered by Berlitz. Additionally the Berlitz Method presents language in the context of real-life situations, with targeted practice of grammar and vocabulary. Regarded as a communicative approach to language learning, Berlitz students learn through listening and speaking, supported by reading and writing, whereby grammar is learned as a means of communication.
Languages
Berlitz has instruction in the following languages: AfrikaansAfrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, Bengali
Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
, Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
, Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
, Cantonese
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
, Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
, Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
, Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
, Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, Dari, Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
, Haitian Creole, Hebrew, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
, Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
, Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
, Lao
Lao language
Lao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
, Malay
Malay language
Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...
, Mandarin, Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
, Pashto, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
, Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, Slovak
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, Thai
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, and Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...
.
Berlitz programs
The Berlitz program portfolio includes customized programs for communication skills development, global leadership training, and solutions for cultural competency. The programs are available through various platforms:- Language instruction
- Language assessment and testing services
- Business communication skills training
- Intercultural training
- Global leadership training
- Governmental/institutional programs
- Individual language instruction
- Children and teenagers’ programs
- Learning abroad
Global Leadership Training
Berlitz Global Leadership Training (GLT) is designed specifically to prepare business professionals with the skills to be global leaders. The program puts emphasis on areas such as, effective language and communication skills, business knowledge and leadership, and the practice of diversity and inclusion.The five-step GLT program includes language acquisition (1) to enable effective business communication and intercultural competence (2) to assure leaders are able to understand and leverage cultural differences. The three additional steps: global business acumen (3) to help professionals translate their skills so they can be effective in different cultural contexts, a sense of values and ideals (4) and creating a personal global network (5).
Financial results
For the fiscal years 2004 to 2010 (in thousands of US dollars):- 2004: 395.2
- 2005: 423.4
- 2006: 464.9
- 2007: 529.7
- 2008: 607.9
- 2009: 527.3
- 2010: 563.4
The total number of language lessons given during the year 2010 was 6,038 thousand. The number of language centers was 570 as of December 31, 2010.
Unions
In Japan, teachers at Berlitz are represented by several unions. In the Kansai region they are represented by the General UnionGeneral Union
Founded in 1991, the ' is a labor union headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It mainly represents teachers and staff who are employed in language education at private conversation schools, high schools and universities in the Kansai and Chubu regions of Japan. Recently the union has started major...
, and in the Kanto region they are represented by Begunto, the Berlitz Tokyo General Union, part of the National Union of General Workers
National Union of General Workers
The The National Union of General Workers is the shortened, English title of the National Union of General Workers National Council , a national labour union council established in 1991...
.
In Germany, teachers and office staff are represented by the GEW: The Union for Education and Science who achieved the first collective bargaining agreement in company history following month long strikes in 1990. In November 2010, management attempted for the first time to claw back the employee gains of the past 30 years in order to substantially reduce the conditions guaranteed in the collective bargaining agreement, threatening to lay off up to half of the contract teachers if the givebacks
Givebacks
Givebacks is a Trade union term for the reduction or elimination of previously won benefits.-History:1978: The first known publication of the term giveback in relation to organized labor negotiations was in the New York Times...
are not agreed to.
Industrial action
While the situation at Berlitz is different from country to country, in Japan there has been substantial industrial action, most recently the Berlitz Japan 2007-2008 StrikeBerlitz Japan 2007-2008 Strike
The Berlitz Japan 2007-2008 strike was a strike held by Berlitz teachers of Begunto, , which is part of The Union of General Workers Nambu . Beginning in December 2007 and continuing until November 2008, it grew into the longest and largest sustained strike among language teachers in Japan...
organized by Begunto, which grew into the longest and largest sustained strike among language teachers in Japan.
In 2010, employees of Berlitz language centers in Germany experienced a major labor conflict, as management planned to lay off nearly 70 contract teachers in order to economize with a fleet of freelancers.
On February 8, 2011, the German management team signed a new collective bargaining agreement with the GEW: The Union for Education and Science, settling all issues.