English and German for Lawyers and EU Professionals

Do you find it hard to facilitate meetings in English?

And every time you try to do something about it, you either get stuck or can’t even get started.

Don’t worry! You are not alone.

Believe it or not, but I was in the same situation when I had to deliver contract law workshops in French for my former employer, the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union. The idea of standing in front of my class and having to speak in French and facilitate discussions in this language just terrified me. But I decided to hire a French trainer via the Alliance Française in Brussels. With her I practiced these tasks until I felt totally self-confident. And I told nobody about these meetings. So all my colleagues thought that I was just a natural talent.

Believe in yourself, and you can do it too!

Let me know in the comments below:
What do you find MOST DIFFICULT about facilitating meetings in English?

I noticed some of you having trouble distinguishing between the European Council and the Council of Europe.

If this is you, you can easily keep them apart by remembering that the Council of Europe is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 47 member states.

The European Council is an institution of the European Union, which has 27 member states. The European Council consists of the heads of state and government and defines the EU's overall political direction and priorities.

Let me know in the comments below:
What else are EU expressions that can be easily confused?

Hi! We are Maria and Ekkehard.

We just wanted to come here to introduce ourselves and welcome you to our community on Facebook.

We have been working as a translator, legal expert and language teacher for the EU institutions in Brussels and we are now leveraging this experience to help lawyers and EU professionals to improve their English and German language skills. Both online and in our language school in Brussels. We are highly specialized in legal and EU-related English and German. Maria does the English part and Ekkehard loves teaching his native German.

When we are not teaching, we are enjoying the rich cultural life of Brussels going to the theatre as often as we can and we swim and ride our bikes all over town to keep fit and minimize our carbon footprint.

We are so happy to meet you here and have you in our community.

Let us know in the comments below:
What do you want to see in our daily posts that can be of help to you?