Wout Doms is an HR business partner at CANGURU, a company that mainly offers SAP solutions (information and management systems). He met Osama at a job fair for higher educated foreigners. After a successful IBO with language support, Osama received a permanent contract. After this successful internship, Domagoj also got the opportunity to start working with an IBO-T at CANGURU. Ridouan Koubaa is an NT2 instructor, providing Domagoj with language coaching during his IBO.
Wout: “We mainly work for larger companies and in many of our projects the 'working language' is English. But in the workplace, the spoken language is indeed Dutch. At CANGURU, we find it important that everyone feels good in the team, so the language support mainly focuses on informal communication. Chatting and small talk at the coffee machine or during lunch is an important part of our company culture and working environment. These are not things which are taught lea in the average language course. We also ask colleagues to speak Dutch as much as possible, even though it is tempting to switch to English.”
Domagoj: “I have lived in Belgium for four years and followed an English-taught Bachelor in International Business Management. I know the basics of Dutch, but sometimes it is difficult to communicate with colleagues. In meetings, I am more concerned with understanding what is being said rather than actively participating. Fortunately, I got the chance to take Dutch lessons four hours a week. During the last lesson, I had to fill in words such as: "seg", "ma allé" and "ela". By writing those typical filler words, I remember them better.”
"I am very grateful to my employer for their confidence. Because they invest in me, I want to give my best every day."
Osama: "I came to Belgium with my family three years ago. I had more than ten years of experience in the IT sector, but I couldn't find a job. The language was the main problem. I studied Dutch intensively for a year and then applied for a job at CANGURU at a VDAB job fair. During the language lessons I learned spoken Flemish, that way I can communicate more easily with my colleagues. I am very grateful to my employer for their confidence. Because they invest in me, I want to give my best every day."
An IBO with language support is always tailor-made. I first get to know the company and the employee and listen to their needs
Ridouan: “An IBO with language support is always tailor-made. I first get to know the company and the employee and listen to their needs. A question that regularly comes back from customers is to support them with the dialect. They don't understand their colleagues because they speak dialect or slang. I teach them a number of standard phrases with which they can make it clear that they don’t understand what is being said.”