Learn a Language. Open Your World.

About Berlitz

Who We Are

Berlitz is dedicated to improving people’s lives globally through language and culture. As a global leader in quality language, communication, and cultural training, we are committed to your success. Through our global network, the trusted Berlitz Method®, customizable instruction options, and experienced instructors, Berlitz consistently achieves our goal of producing successful and confident customers.

What we believe in

• The most effective way of learning is learning from people and with people.
• Intercultural competencies are key to successful communication in a global environment.
• Immediate results and constant progress drive motivation and self-confidence.
• Only by acquiring relevant skills can people become self-confident and unleash their full potential in life.
• Our passion and commitment to client goal achievement engenders trust.

Berlitz Learning Cycle

The Berlitz Learning Cycle ensures you are always on track to achieving your specific language goals. With dedicated instructors and academic specialists, you have an entire team committed to your success and will guide you through your language journey.

How does it work?

To start, we assess your needs, goals, and language proficiency to identify a great starting level. Your course is adapted to suit your individual learning style and objectives. As you progress through your program, you will receive regular feedback and guidance to keep you motivated and moving forward! At the end of your course, a final level check and certificate of achievement will mark your accomplishment.

Berlitz Levels of Proficiency

All Berlitz language programs have standardized proficiency levels, which allow you to measure and track your progress. We determine your current proficiency level before you begin your course, and as you progress, we assess your skills before advancing to the next level.

Functional Ability

Level 1:

Knowledge of language is sufficient to communicate in a very limited way, with the simplest oral and listening tasks and situations.

Level 2:

At the functional level, you have a basic command of the language needed in a limited range of simple, routine, and familiar tasks and situations.

Intermediate Ability

Level 3:

You can handle most uncomplicated communicative tasks and routine social and work situations. You can follow the general meaning of a conversation about familiar subjects.

Level 4:

At the intermediate level, you are able to refashion and combine learned material to meet your immediate communication and learning needs. You can comprehend information on familiar topics in contextualized settings and produce sustained conversation with others on an expanding variety of general topics.

Upper Intermediate Ability

Level 5:

You can, to an extent, initiate, sustain and conclude most routine communicative tasks for personal and work needs.

Level 6:

At the upper intermediate level, you have assimilated the essentials of the language. You can communicate competently and comfortably in many professional and personal contexts and can find different ways of formulating what you want to express.

Advanced Ability

Level 7:

You begin to create with the language in more complex, cognitively demanding situations, and in conversations, and can deal comfortably with most subjects over the telephone.

Level 8:

At the advanced level, you communicate effectively and appropriately even in demanding oral tasks and situations, like conducting a meeting. You can participate easily in social and professional conversations and can deal comfortably with most subjects over the telephone.

Professional Ability

Level 9:

You communicate effectively with various audiences on a wide range of familiar and new topics to meet most personal, academic, or professional demands—including many which presume experience in public speaking and critical listening.

Level 10:

At the professional level, you have full command of the language. You understand and can use virtually all linguistic structures as well as a range of vocabulary items as broad and deep as that of most educated native speakers. Communication is fluent, appropriate, and well organized—you develop ideas in speech clearly and coherently.

Advantages of Intensity

The most effective way to learn a new language is with frequent, intensive, immersive blocks of instruction, rather than instruction spread out over a long period of time.

Intensive program schedules enable you to reach your goals quicker! You spend less time reviewing concepts you covered in your last lesson, and more time building your language skills.

We value your time and want to ensure you achieve your goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Available Programs

Total Immersion

Berlitz Total Immersion® — for a unique language learning experience with unparalleled results.

This program is available face-to-face only.

The fastest and most effective language program available, Berlitz Total Immersion® is customized to focus entirely on you. This (5) five full-day, intensive course completely immerses you in the target language with Berlitz instructors who have extensive experienced in teaching the target language in the context of how you need to use it.

You’ll learn to communicate from basic social encounters to more complex business interactions. Your program is customized to include specific business terminology as well as any other special requirements to reach your goals. With Berlitz Total Immersion®, you’ll be prepared to encounter your new language environment with self-assurance in record time.

Private Instruction

Berlitz Private Instruction — learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.

This smart choice offers one-on-one instruction with customized content, and convenient, flexible scheduling. You’ll receive complete, undivided attention from a highly-trained, native-fluent Berlitz instructor using the conversational Berlitz Method®.

The individualized nature of Private Instruction allows for ample opportunity for conversation, comprehension and practice. You’ll spend approximately 50% of the time listening and 50% of the time speaking. Vocabulary is also customized to include specialized business terminology. Progress at your own pace and achieve success at your convenience with Private Instruction.

Group Instruction

Berlitz Group Instruction — instruction for team members with the same needs and objectives.

Group Instruction is tailored to the needs of a group of your team members with similar proficiency levels. Content is customized to industry specific terminology, business presentations, meetings, and industry related communication.

Group sizes can range from 6-10 members, permitting lively interaction and plenty of individual attention. Your highly trained, native-fluent instructors will guide the group through each lesson and ensure each person is working towards their language goals.

CyberTeachers®

CyberTeachers® by Berlitz — self-study e-lessons that are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

CyberTeachers® by Berlitz is an easy to use platform, available from anywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This options provides maximum flexibility to learn a language at your own pace. This award-winning, online platform provides e-lessons and activities adapted to your proficiency level and personal learning objectives to keep you engaged.

You will complete an online audit at the start of your program to determine your level and language needs. Regular mini-tests show your progress as you advance in the program. CyberTeachers® features a wide range of training media, such as e-mail, videos, mobile phone applications, podcasts, community chat, and more. If you are learning a language to support your career goals, you can tailor the content for your position and business sector.

This option if available in English, French, Spanish, and German in 1, 2, or 3 year subscriptions.

CyberTeachers® Add-On Options

Conversation Coaching: Telephone or Skype lessons are a complement to CyberTeachers® for those seeking instructor-led lessons with minimal scheduling notice. The easy-to-use CyberTeachers® platform enables you to schedule lessons in 30, 60, or 90 minute increments and can be rescheduled up to 6 hours in advance of the lesson time. Conversation Coaching can be added to any CyberTeachers® license in increments of 10 lessons.

English LIVE: This tutor-assisted version of CyberTeachers® is available in English only. It features unlimited access to a tutor to chat and video 5 days a week, 24 hours a day. In addition, you can also take part in unlimited access instructor-led, theme-based virtual group classes. English LIVE may be added on to any 12 month English license.

Business Communication

Berlitz Business Communication Skills — builds off your existing level of English language and develops business communication skills.

It is important to be able to express your ideas with impact and appropriate style in a multi-cultural business environment. The Berlitz Business Communication Skills program equips non-native English speakers with the communication skills necessary to become effective leaders in the global business arena, including overcoming any existing barriers that prevent them from effectively conducting business in English.

You will complete an online audit at the start of your program to determine your level and language needs. Regular mini-tests show your progress as you advance in the program. CyberTeachers® features a wide range of training media, such as e-mail, videos, mobile phone applications, podcasts, community chat, and more. If you are learning a language to support your career goals, you can tailor the content for your position and business sector.

Core areas of focus:

• Presentations
• Meetings
• Negotiation
• Virtual Communication
• Management Communication
• Human Resources
• Leadership Communication (advanced)

Mobility Cultural Training

Berlitz Mobility Cultural Training — to support living and working in a new culture.

Delivery platform may vary by program.

Berlitz International Assignment programs are customized to prepare assignees and their families for living and working in a new country, minimizing culture shock, adjusting to a new culture and developing communication skills necessary to be effective in the global workplace. Programs are experiential, encouraging hands-on learning through the use of videos, discussions, exercises, role-plays, self-assessments, and the creation of action plans.

• International Assignment Program: for individual employee and spouse/partner delivered face-to-face. Programs are uniquely designed to support the successful transition for Expatriates and their families from their home country to their host country. Half-day, One- or Two-Day delivery options are available.
• Repatriation Program: supports successful adaptation upon returning home by creating an action plan to re-adjust more quickly, gives current information on home culture, strategizes for ways to utilize newly-earned skills and examines how cultural value differences will manifest themselves in the new work environment. Program is for individual employee and spouse/partner delivered face-to-face. One-day program includes lunch and program materials.
• Youth Program: for children ages 7-17 years old. Our youth programs help children cope in a positive way through greater understanding of life in the new culture with a focus on daily living information, the school system, making friends, continuing with their hobbies or sports and whatever specific concerns the child may have with the move. Separate from adult program and includes age appropriate material. One-day program (6 hours) includes lunch and program materials.
• Cultural Coaching: for global executives, is designed to identify and focus on behavioral styles that will increase one’s ability to effectively lead, manage, and communicate with international customers and colleagues. Hourly program, available via face-to-face or virtual delivery.
• Cultural Fast Track™: a blended solution offers short or long term Expatriates and their spouse or partner, frequent business travelers, and rotational employees the flexibility to access their cross-cultural training at their convenience. Blending our online self-study modules with a live virtual trainer for 2 or 4 hours of coaching ensures that his/her specific concerns and questions are answered.
• Cultural Navigator® Self-Study program: an Internet-based self-study tool providing 24/7 access to International Learning Path and country guides. A 12- month license.

Cross Cultural Business Programs

Berlitz Cross-Cultural Business Programs/Workshops — enhance their cross-cultural communication skills and perspectives.

Delivery platform may vary by program.

Berlitz Cross Cultural Business Programs/Workshops offers employees the opportunity to learn strategies, techniques and approaches to lead more effectively in international business situations. Seminars address solving problems, making decisions and managing knowledge in the global marketplace.

• Intercultural Business Skills: Country Specific: assists professionals who conduct business with colleagues from another country and need to optimize their cross-cultural skills and effectiveness by increasing knowledge of business, social, and market cultures. Participants will explore the cultural background of their colleagues, as well as their business practices. On the basis of this knowledge, participants develop critical skills that are practiced in the context of building relationships, teamwork and collaboration, exercising leadership, and managing performance.
• Global Perspectives in a Multi-Cultural Workplace: designed to demonstrate the impact of culture on building relationships, business culture, effective communication, management styles and team effectiveness. The design is pragmatic and based around the real challenges identified by the participants prior and during the program. The challenges are reviewed and framed within a non-threatening model that results in common insight and understanding. This in turn is applied as a working model to provide the participants with the opportunity to develop the requisite skills (individually and collectively) to address challenges within and outside the team context. This program focuses on regional differences and overall cultural communication and competency skills.
• Team Building: provides global team members with the necessary knowledge, mindset and skills for more effective multicultural teamwork. Building effective teams is especially challenging within a multicultural environment. Successful team leadership in one cultural context may appear ineffectual in another because of culturally-based assumptions and expectations. Roles and responsibilities of team members vary based on corporate culture, and local culture’s preferences and orientations. Participants gain practical insights on how culture impacts the team process, acquire effective multicultural leadership and management skills, use tools for modeling flexible and resilient communication processes and explore best practices for participating in global teams.