For millennials perusing the job market, being given the opportunity to learn languages has serious stature in 2019. In an age when monolingualism puts employees at a disadvantage, companies are encouraged to provide digital and online language learning courses to attract, retain and develop millennial talent. Millennials are reshaping the world of corporate training and L&D and HR professionals are tasked with producing innovative training programs that satisfy their hunger to learn.

TRANSFORMATION OF LANGUAGE LEARNING

Foreign languages are often overlooked as a soft skill despite languages being the one skill that gains immediate recognition when working internationally.

Is your company catering for millennial assignees who are eager to develop their language skills? And if your organization is already investing in language training, is it being rendered attractive for modern learners?

With language Apps Memrise, Babbel and Duolingo claiming 120 million users, learning languages has become a convenient commodity.

A transformative communication model which encourages collaborative learning between trainer and learner is ideal for online language learning. This learning model emphasizes the trainer’s willingness to learn from students while helping to establish expectations and clear assessment tools.

These present-day approaches are representative of how ambitious millennials are to learn and need to be an integral part of any corporate language strategy.

Here are just a few reasons why millennials prefer online language learning:

1. DIGITAL NATIVES

Millennials are products of a communication generation and digital channels are the preferred form of communication among many millennials. The growth of digital tools has changed the way our brains work.

Digital natives simply don’t learn in the same way people did forty or twenty years ago.

Techniques that worked for employee training or language teaching in the past are unlikely to be as successful for today’s Modern Learners. This may mean a form of blended learning or flipped classroom learning is better suited to younger employees.

According to the HBR, millennials were the first to experience a digital, wireless and connected world and “expect the technologies that empower their personal lives to also drive communication and innovation in the workplace.”

2. GLOBALIZATION

Technology has given people 24/7 access to information and Modern Learners possess a globally universal attitude towards learning.

The face-to-face classroom is no longer the norm amongst large global organizations. HR and L&D professionals are adopting self-paced learning material accessed from a portal with online discussion groups that support business sectors and user-based videos.

As well as this content, most portals also include learning communities that provide practical information and support. This is ideal for millennials who are not apprehensive about remote methods of learning. And if video learning is incorporated in the package, they are even more likely to participate.

For L&D professionals, leveraging online training solves the problem of making sure a corporate language strategy is in place globally.

It provides a portable, consistent learning experience for every employee and ensures that everyone receives crucial information in the same way, regardless of who is conducting the training. At the same time, this provides a framework for operating and maintaining a Quality Management system throughout the organization.

 

Source: www.learnlight.com