Workshops are scheduled monthly in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. These sessions are going to be facilitated by Léonieke Ariaans, M.A.; follow us on social media and stay tuned for updates...
SWN is a non-profit that helps students and young professionals, who live in the Netherlands, develop more effective communication skills so as to prevent communicative challenges from happening that cannot be overcome. Preventing such instances from happening is done by introducing them to how meaning is established through social conventions and by offering a 'wide range of discourse tactics'. By raising awareness regarding how language use affects communication, such issues of potential misunderstanding are tackled before they can occur. This is important because everyone usually gets only one chance to make a good impression on another person and being able to do so is vital at the onset of a career
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Although Dutchies might feel like they have reached a decent level in English, which they indeed might have formally speaking, they might not be able yet to understand how manner is expressed in English by native speakers. The subtleties of language use in standard English might still go over their heads. As every country and culture has its own ways of using language that, in turn, is associated with politeness, such differences in language use should be explained to young people so that they can communicatively navigate their social interactions in the workplace better. Cultural differences exist and are expected to be encountered, even within countries while communicating in another dominant language. Instructing young people to use the English language in line with native speaker expectations may help them navigate their careers more effectively. This is especially important if they decide to want to work for a company that has its headquarters in North America or another English-speaking country. For example, culturally aware students might be able to obtain hat desired internship or graduation project sooner and young professionals may indeed land their dream jobs. As connections are made through people, not organizations, the ability to navigate social conventions is especially important.
Domains of communication usually require specific language use and especially written communication can be tricky because different genres exist. In our services, Dutchies are made aware of the various types of 'register' that exist for the purpose of helping them to communicate more appropriately while using consistently appropriate language in that domain. Ultimately, this is all undertaken to help them navigate communicative situations more effectively to set them up for success.
Our name What does say what now mean? Say WHAT now?! is a confirmation question and it is not. The dictionary definition is that it is a type of question that is commonly used for asking someone to repeat what they have said, especially when the hearer is surprised by it - MacMillan Dictionary, 2019. Besides this dictionary definition indicating what its most basic meaning is, native speakers often use it to indicate manner, not a genuine surprise due to a knowledge gap, or anything. This phrase is thus an indicator of manner and has a pragmatic function, for it expresses an attitude towards the speaker. When using the phrase this way, the listener/interlocutor may actually show being taken aback by a comment that was made and may just be in shock as a result of what was said. Words that are often used in such a context are: #seriously?#you're kidding #what! #come again #pardon. Such words can be found in the urban dictionary, for example.
Please note that there is a substantial difference between semantic and pragmatic meaning and that both types of meaning relate to sub-fields in Linguistics. How intonation is used by speakers of English often determines how it should be interpreted by their interlocutor, which is also culturally determined. In the case of this phrase, it isn't commonly used to express surprise, whereas some of the synonyms presented earlier can also be used for this purpose; use a dictionary to figure out which ones. In Say WHAT now?!, WHAT is emphasized for effect in written discourse and has pragmatic meaning, as do the punctuation marks. To prevent encountering say-WHAT-now moments, we will help you improve your skills in English to communicate more effectively, anytime and anywhere.
Nadia"Ik was opzoek naar een persoon die mij op zeer korte termijn kon helpen met het voorbereiden op mijn Engels tentamen, uiteindelijk ben ik via LinkedIn in contact gekomen bij Leonieke. Ik had Leonieke uitgelegd dat ik op zeer korte termijn een belangrijk tentamen moest zien te behalen om mijn HBO propedeuse te kunnen behalen waarop ze super enthousiast reageerde en meteen alles voor mij in werking heeft gezet op een zeer professionele manier. De sessies heb ik gevolgd in een online leeromgeving Moodle wat heel duidelijk en makkelijk werkbaar was. Leonieke is een positieve taaltrainer Engels die heel erg enthousiast is en er alles aan doet om je uit de brand te helpen. Zo heb ik op zeer korte termijn heel erg veel geleerd maar ook hoe ik meer zelfvertrouwen krijg in mijzelf, wat er uiteindelijk toe heeft geleid dat ik een 7 heb behaald op mijn tentamen. Zonder de hulp van Leonieke was dit zeker niet gelukt, een dikke aanrader!"
Anouk"Last year I took a Cambridge B2 course with Léonieke Ariaans. I was insecure about talking and writing in English, so I wanted to improve my language skills. Léonieke Ariaans gave the course and she really helped me to feel confident speaking in English. she gave good lessons, and she not only does this in the way you want, but she also gives plenty of personal attention to participants and extensive answers to all your questions. She has really helped me, and I can now say that I’m confident about speaking and writing in English. I also passed the B2 exam and I couldn’t have done it without the help of Léonieke Ariaans".
Hilde"Dankzij Léonieke is mijn Engels met sprongen vooruit gegaan. Er wordt geluisterd naar de behoeftes van de studenten. Wanneer er behoefte is aan meer oefeningen op het gebied van spreekvaardigheid, zorgde ze er voor dat we meer spreek oefeningen gingen doen. Hierdoor zorgde ze dat de lessen goed aansloten bij de behoefte van de studenten. Super fijn!"
Jelle"Léonieke gaf mij als taaltrainer cursus in het toepassen van Business English voor verschillende doeleinden. Het was een zeer leerzame en prettige ervaring. Samen met Léonieke heb ik stapje voor stapje kunnen werken naar een doeltreffend resultaat. Léonieke stelt haar cursisten erg op hun gemak waardoor ik niet alleen theoretisch stappen maakte maar ook meer zelfvertrouwen kreeg om het Business English toe te passen. Léonieke is mij absoluut tegemoet gekomen in mijn leerdoelen die ik vooraf stelde!"