For individual employees, motivation differs. Some employees learn a language to enhance their work or career prospects within the organisation for which they are working. Others may see it as a stepping-stone to another job or another career.

For employees who want to learn languages where there is no company provision, there are a number of choices. For example:

• Evening classes at local adult education centres, FE colleges or university language centres
• Self-study and distance learning packages, including on-line resources
• Time spent in the country where the language is spoken

Click here for more information on finding these courses.

If the motivation to learn a language is to seek promotion, increase employability or career enhancement, it is important for the learner that the course leads to a recognised qualification such as GCSE, NVQ or the Open College Network (OCN) accreditation. It is also worth being aware that it is not necessary to be fluent to make use of languages at work and that there is room for all levels of language ability in a variety of positions.