CEFR-mapped, level-targeted, fully paperless. A look at what we'd build for the client-facing teams at Verisk.
In one squad, engineers span B1 to C1 — and each is uneven: some write clean code but freeze on a client call; others speak easily but bury the point in a status update. A generic “business English” course is too basic for half the room and irrelevant to the rest. So we do two things almost no one bothers to do: measure each person precisely, then teach to every level at once.
The first meeting is a structured needs analysis: what does this team actually do in English? Join US standups, write status updates and PR comments, present in client demos, jump on escalation calls. That one conversation shows we take their real work seriously — and it becomes the exact input that builds the course.
Run it however fits — you, your trainer, or your team. The tool captures it and triggers everything downstream.
No exam. We triangulate self-assessment, a short work sample, and expert + AI scoring — reported skill by skill, never one number.
Recommendation: one cohort, taught in tiers — the spread is wide enough to differentiate, not split.
You will never ask an engineering manager or a delivery lead to sit a placement test. So we don't. Their written answers to the needs questionnaire are themselves a writing sample; their spoken English in the meeting tells us the rest.
CEFR-anchored, built backward from their real work — standups, status updates, client demos. A foundation rung for B1, a stretch rung for C1.
Session 1 tackles the #1 thing US leads complain about — updates that bury the point. Here is a real before-and-after the team works through.
“Hi team, I've been working on the claims API integration this week. There were some issues with the test environment and I had to coordinate with the data team. I think it's mostly going okay but a few things are still pending. Will keep you posted.”
“Claims API integration is on track for Friday. One risk: the test environment was down Tue–Wed (now resolved). Decision needed: confirm we can use the staging dataset for UAT, or I'll need one more day.”
The same activity, three tiers — one room:
You present from a clean trainer deck — with private facilitation notes only you see. Every learner's phone works offline, so a flaky connection never stops a session. No whiteboards, no photocopies.
Open the trainer deck →Built on backward design, ESP needs analysis, and the CEFR Companion Volume — the international standard your US clients already recognise.
Let's scope a first program for your teams — starting with a short audit.