Hello and goodbye during the coronavirus pandemic

Yvette Froeling and Ilja Schreinemakers talk about the Language Centre, the future and their views on the future of language education.

Yvette left her job as manager of the Language Centre in August 2020 after four great years, during which she not only achieved good results but also celebrated an anniversary, achieved Blik op Werk certification, managed two relocations and developed a new corporate identity, and the knowledge that she was leaving the Language Centre, CES and the Summer School in very capable hands.

As she said herself, 'After 15 fantastic years at Maastricht University, I'm spreading my wings once more.’ Yvette has been appointed Director of International Business and Communication at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences.

Ilja started his new job as General Manager of Maastricht University’s Language Centre, CES and the Summer School in September 2020.

Before that, he was International Customer Service Manager & Marketing (Services) Manager at Mosa Tiles, where he had held various roles in the field of Marketing, Sales and Customer Service. In these roles, Ilja spent a great deal of time working abroad (in the US and France, for example). He studied Chinese at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, in the Oriental Languages and Communication programme.

Starting work during the coronavirus pandemic

What is it like to start a new job during the coronavirus pandemic?

Yvette: Everything is totally different to how it was before the pandemic started. The main difference for me is that it takes far longer than normal to build up a picture of the organisation and the people who work there. Almost all introductory discussions are online, so you only see a small part of the other person. I've realised that I normally store someone as a "3D" person in my memory, i.e. as a physical person, including their physical workplace. That way, you have a sense of the physical space where someone normally works and the colleagues they share a room with. Things such as accommodation plans are totally abstract in a building that I barely know. Fortunately, my new colleagues are very understanding when I ask something that I should already have known.

Ilja: It's interesting that you talk about storing a 3D person, it’s absolutely true. In my view, it applies to team dynamics too. I’ve noticed that it’s extremely difficult to gauge situations and emotions from behind a screen. When there’s no interaction and no body language or other non-verbal communication, it’s much harder to judge relationships within teams or the emotions of individual team members.

Was there a handover?

Yvette: I was fortunate enough to have my predecessor around for a few months in another role, so I could still consult him, in addition to the regular handover meetings we had beforehand. Ilja and I are also in fairly regular contact, regarding issues that Ilja comes up against as well as developments that are of interest to both of us.

Ilja: You could say that I was unlucky that my predecessor had already left when I started, but as Yvette said, we’re in regular contact. I really appreciate that.

Ilja, do you have a specific mission/goal? Definitely. My main aim is to fill the shoes of my predecessor in the best way I can – that won’t be easy. A huge amount of good work has already been done, so I’ve come at a good time. At the same time, the coronavirus pandemic has taught us that we must remain flexible, alert and agile. That’s what I want to work on! One of my priorities is to further optimise the Language Centre's offer, in line with demand from the internal and external market. Not only in terms of programme content but also in terms of the way we provide our education and the educational resources we use to do so. In my view, partnerships are a great thing in this context, whether they be within UM or external.

 

Creating opportunities

How do you see language education in five years' time? Do you see any specific developments in this field?

Ilja: I see the UM Language Centre becoming a centre of academic excellence for multilingualism in a multicultural context. The world is our playing field. Three target groups are important here: students, employees and external, highly educated professionals. I see a great opportunity for us to combine the expertise of the faculties with language as a means of communication. We can translate that into employability in the broadest sense of the word. We focus on producing professionals who can be deployed anywhere in the world and who have a good understanding of cultural context, so they can communicate effectively in a chosen target language, both within and outside the context of their own discipline.

Yvette: For Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, the focus on the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion is highly logical, given its mission to produce young professionals who add value to the region. This automatically implies a focus on multilingualism. Given the central location of Maastricht and the multilingual environment on its doorstep, a sound knowledge of the languages of neighbouring countries will always be an important factor for students graduating from Zuyd and UM. We’re already coming up with ideas in this field and are open to the possibility of further partnerships in the future. Possible options include a minor in French and German and bridging courses to help students gain the skills they require, such as reading skills in English or Dutch. The lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the developments needed in language education both in the Language Centre and at Zuyd. Once things have calmed down a bit, I think it would be very interesting to share our experiences and to explore what both organisations see as best practices in the digital learning environment for language education. I believe we can really help each other, and I’m delighted that Ilja and I are in such close contact.

Ilja: Like Yvette, I believe logical partnerships, with Zuyd, the UM campuses and the business community, for example, are crucial.

 

Working together and linking up

The Language Centre and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences – what opportunities are there and how could you be of benefit to each other? The pilot with Japanese is a start; do you see opportunities for further cooperation?   

Yvette: International lecturers from Zuyd have already used the services of the Language Centre to improve their Dutch and English; and the trial whereby Japanese was taught by Japanese lecturers from Zuyd through the Language Centre was extremely well received. Zuyd engaged Laura Capitani from the Language Centre to conduct a qualitative study for the Board of Examiners of one academy on the development of Chinese, Japanese and Arabic language learning. This knowledge may also be of interest to the Language Centre. Intercultural Communication is an important theme for Zuyd and the Language Centre, and one around which we could organise a joint knowledge-sharing session.

Ilja: I wholeheartedly agree with Yvette. I believe there is already a strong link between Yvette and myself. We will definitely use this link to optimise our respective offers. As far as I'm concerned, we can do so in all areas.

In summary, there are already a few examples of successful collaborations, both in terms of the format and content of language education and in terms of staff exchanges, and when it comes to the future, we see great opportunities that we will definitely look into in due course!