Training

English language training courses for government and business clients in Hong Kong

Cygnet specialises in high-level English language training for government and private sector organisations. On this page, we summarise some key information about English training for your organisation. If you still have questions after reading this, contact us.

What benefits will your organisation get from Cygnet’s English courses?

Enhanced professionalism and improved public image: Cygnet courses introduce participants to the latest in international professional English usage and good practice, whether in government, education, law, business, or industry. Course participants learn how to draft English documents to the best global standards, thus enhancing the public image of their organisation.

Valuable staff development opportunity: Cygnet’s English courses are world standard, and enable participants to enhance their personal English language skills significantly. They are perceived as extremely useful personal and career development opportunities.

Hong Kong relevance: Cygnet’s courses are targeted specifically at the needs of Hong Kong government, education and business users. That means they are tailored for the Hong Kong environment -- they are designed for users of English whose mother tongue is Cantonese, and they address bad habits of English that are specific to Hong Kong.

What kinds of courses does Cygnet offer?

Below is a list of our most popular English courses. Each one can be tailored for the needs of your own organisation.

Common English Errors – covers the grammatical mistakes that English users in Hong Kong make most frequently, and which represent over 50% of the errors in average Hong Kong English documents.
English Pronunciation / Oral English – helps overcome communication difficulties when using spoken English by addressing pronunciation problems that are specific to Cantonese-speaking users of English.
Using Plain English – a course on writing clearly and plainly, in line with the worldwide drive towards Plain English in government, law and business.
Advanced English Editing and Writing Skills – an advanced course for high-level English users and those who are responsible for vetting the English writing of their colleagues.

5. Business and Professional Communication in English – a
     course that covers key skills and strategies for business
     communication, in documents such as emails, letters,
     memos, summaries, minutes, etc.
6. English Report Writing – covers the main skills for good
     report writing in English, with topics ranging from document
     structure, logical organisation, through to correct levels of
     formality.
7. English Speechwriting – introduces the fundamentals of
   good speechwriting and oral presentations, and the secrets
for creating a ‘spoken’ style.

We can also consult with you to design and deliver English courses that are specifically tailored to the needs of your organisation. Some organisations start by running a general course for staff, then follow it up with a tailored course based on their specific internal needs.

Course format

Duration: Generally, our courses are designed to be delivered as full-day courses. However, they can also be split into two and delivered as two half-day courses. We can also develop longer courses that are delivered once a week over 2, 3 or 4 weeks.

Class size: Depending on your needs, we can arrange our courses to suit small groups (e.g. workshops of 6-15 people), medium-sized groups (e.g. classes of 15 -35 people), or large groups (e.g. lectures/seminars for 30-80 people).

Venue: If you have an appropriate training venue (e.g. a large conference room with projector, whiteboard etc.) then we can run the courses at your offices. Alternatively, we can organise a convenient training venue for you, at extra cost.

Follow-up options

In addition to training courses, we also offer the options of follow-up ‘homework’ for participants (with individual feedback provided), and refresher sessions that reinforce the materials from the original course. We can also develop an English manual or style guide for internal reference by your staff.

Charges

Our training charges vary depending on the size of the audience, the duration of the training, and whether you want special tailored training that requires development.

Half-day training courses start from HK$5,000
Full-day training courses start from HK$9,500

We can offer discounts on repeat classes. The cost of providing a venue is extra, and depends on size of class and duration. Contact us about your needs and we will get in touch to give you a detailed quotation.

Our training background and experience

Cygnet has been designing and running training courses for Hong Kong government clients and corporations for many years. The courses are designed by Cygnet Managing Director Dr Simon Alderson.

We have worked closely with the government's Civil Service Training & Development Institute (CSTDI) for about a decade, designing and delivering numerous courses for civil servants from right across the government.

Other of our government clients have included the Office of the Government Chief Information Centre (OGCIO), the Official Languages Division (OLD), the Department of Justice, and the Audit Commission. Business clients have included Ricardo Rail and BMT Asia Pacific.