Auteur: Paul Van Zanten

As the world continues to become more connected and interdependent, the need for awareness, collaboration, and understanding only increases. An organisation whose executives are in the top quartile of gender diversity, is 28% more likely to financially outperform their competitors. That number only goes up when you add ethnic diversity...

An abbreviation is a shortened word or phrase, for example, est. is a common abbreviation in English and is used to shorten the word established. Acronyms and Initialisms are different types of abbreviations.  An acronym is made up of the first letter from each word in a phrase, such as...

A frequently asked and logical question is: “How can I expand my vocabulary?” Language is a means of communication and in order to express thoughts you need words, preferably as many as possible. Even if someone knows perfectly well how the subjunctive works in French, without words to make a...

Introduction IKEA is a Swedish multinational which sells a wide range of products including, among other things, ready-to-assemble furniture and accessories. Why did IKEA approach Language Partners? IKEA is committed to welcome people with a refugee background in their stores, to support them in their integration in the Dutch labour...

Previously in this series on diversity, equity and inclusive cultures (DEI), we have established why it’s imperative for international businesses to adapt their approach to people and culture. We then discussed how the implementation of effective leadership and carefully considered organisational structures are great ways to start developing inclusive cultures...

Anyone who writes a (business) letter or email has to make many choices. Not only about the content and structure, but also about the layout and tone of the text. This certainly includes the opening and closing of the letter or email. An incorrect or inappropriate salutation can be poorly...

What kind of structure is needed for the successful integration of diversity, equity and an inclusive culture? In our first article, we started the discussion with an introduction to the growing need for DEI. Our second article brought forth the need of a strong and Inclusive leader.  Here, we will...

Many of us recognise some value in giving and receiving feedback, but do we really understand why it’s so vital? Feedback is not only the metric used to measure learning progress and achievement, but it’s also an essential part of enabling behavioural change. Though, putting it into practice is not...

You may know it: one of those moments in a meeting when you want to make a suggestion, but you don’t speak the language well enough to explain your idea. We call this a fluency gap. Mastering a language fluently A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. Does this sound...

I first started paying more attention to idioms after my girlfriend translated a French expression when I was being particularly annoying one evening, “Faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties”, or ‘don’t push granny in the [stinging] nettles’. After a pause, I asked for an explanation and learned I had...