Is Your Company "English OK"?

English OK!

In 2004, Dave MORI and Marc BEARDSLEY, an innovative pair Canadian entrepreneurs, launched English OK!, an English training and promotion company targeting Japan's hospitality industry. English OK! is focused on boosting business between foreigners and Japanese companies as well as breaking down the linguistic hurdles faced by both parties.

The 10-member team has a simple 3-step plan to operate their business: Firstly, they identify Japanese companies that are open to communicating with people of all backgrounds. Secondly, they support those businesses by providing them access to affordable and effective resources (i.e. training and manuals). And lastly, they promote those businesses through a Web Directory, English OK! Mail Magazine, and PR consulting services.

When and why did the pair start English OK? "In 2002, we saw a need to improve communication levels for service sector businesses to help make Japan a friendlier place to visit and live for foreigners," Mori says. Mori and Beardsley soon realized that the communication ability of the hospitality industry in general was relatively low.

"The reason was as much due to a lack of confidence as it was due to a lack of language ability," Beardsley says. "Many Japanese people lacked the confidence to communicate with non-Japanese people and therefore didn't even want to make the effort. In some cases, even if the foreigner spoke Japanese, the listener had already decided before starting the interaction that communication with the foreigner was not possible." After much research and planning,, the pair established English OK! in 2004. "We see our business as a great support tool for initiatives to increase tourism such as the Yokoso! Japan program," Mori says.

Since there were no existing materials to meet their needs for essential dialogues in different industries, the team decided to create their own. Mori and Beardsley initially did so by visiting various businesses and recording the situations and dialogues that commonly took place. They proceeded to produce detailed manuals with bilingual dialogues covering essential situations from "welcoming the customer," "providing service," and "handling payments."

After that, they had to convince their first shop customer to allow them to train their staff. The students progressed amazingly well and Mori, Beardsley, and the shop staffs' confidence in the concept and training methods of English OK! blossomed.

"A student at a Mexican restaurant in Meguro took a telephone reservation in English," Beardsley recalls about feedback from a customer. "At first, he thought it was his English OK! teacher testing him, as the conversation followed the exact same pattern he had studied in class the previous week. He took the reservation, and only afterwards realized it was in fact a real reservation. The customer was satisfied and highlighted the fact that what we teach can be applied immediately in your work."

While English OK! has faced a steady stream of issues, problems and hurdles, they view them in a positive light. "We try to think of each problem as an opportunity to learn and help us grow as people and as business owners," Mori says. "One of the issues has been educating hospitality businesses on the need to provide quality service to English-speakers. With English being the international language and the most common second language, providing service in English is essential in attracting international holiday and business travelers.”

English OK!
www.englishok.jp

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