Learning the language of the workplace

This is better than ESL or at least different. It teaches workers job specific English words, technical terms and occupational words not usually learned in an ESL class. DP

By H.J. Cummins, Star Tribune

StarTribune.com: After nine years at Mackay Envelope Corp., Teng Yang still wasn't clear when he picked up a job ticket exactly which duties were his.

"Every word I didn't understand, I went and asked the supervisor," said Yang, a Hmong immigrant who left Laos 15 years ago.

That extra step was just the kind of thing to cause tension between machine operators, such as Yang, and the rest of the work crew, said Scott Mitchell, CEO at the Minneapolis-based envelope maker.

But Yang has been self-reliant since June, after finishing some "occupational English" courses arranged by Mackay.

Everything is better now, Yang and Mitchell agreed.

Job-specific English courses are spreading throughout Minnesota workplaces as the state's workforce becomes more diverse.

Employers know that misunderstandings, in the literal sense, cost them money. Immigrants and refugees know that poor English makes them hard to hire and even harder to promote. And there's nothing more motivating than the ability to make a living, instructors say.
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