Newsletter Dec 2011

Christmas Crackers

Christmas Crackers

With all the planning, cooking, present buying and general chaos it is no wonder that many of us can go a bit crackers over the Christmas holidays.  However the focal point of a Finnish Christmas itself is, in my humble opinion, the poorer for the lack of crackers.

In the UK crackers are as much a part of the festive season as Christmas trees, presents and reindeer.

On every Christmas table in Britain you will find a pile of these simple rolls of cardboard wrapped in decorative paper.  At the beginning of the meal each person at the table takes one end of his or her cracker and offers the other end to their neighbor.  You see, the colourful decoration on the outside is all very festive, but it is what is on the inside that really gets Christmas dinner started with a bang. 

Each roll contains a chemically impregnated strip of card.  When two people each pull their end of the cracker the friction applied to the strip of card causes a small bang as the cracker splits apart.  Now the fun really begins.

Out of the now cracked cracker falls 3 items.  The first is a colourful paper hat.  It is compulsory at most British Christmas tables for this to be worn with pride for the duration of the meal.  The second item is a small “toy” or model and the final item will be a piece of paper upon which will be written a very bad or a very old joke.

This might all seem very odd if you have never heard of the Christmas cracker, but its purpose is to add some fun and good spirit to the Christmas meal and when I have brought them to the Finnish Christmas table they have certainly done exactly that.

You see Christmas Day in modern Britain is a time to celebrate, laugh and have fun.  The modern Finnish Christmas table can seem a very serious place in comparison.  So if you ever get the chance to pull a Christmas cracker, put on you colourful hat, laugh at your awful joke and naff plastic toy and enter into the Christmas spirit of having fun with the people who are most important in your life.

Merry Christmas!

Serious business - Serious fun

A blended approach to training

 Tekmil is proud to introduce a new service in our range that allows clients the ability to improve their language skills 24 hours a day via mobile learning and ‘serious games.’ By adding client-tailored content to exclusive materials from providers such as HarperCollins and Pearson Education, the company aims to supplement face-to-face training with the flexibility of technology-facilitated learning environments.

A blended approach works because a learner can access training material at anytime and take control of their learning level and speed whilst simultaneously being supported in the classroom. This multi-pronged approach reinforces content at many levels and speeds the learning process greatly.

The Tekmil platform is an advanced and stable environment that will constantly be updated and evolved so that it will always meet your needs as a company or learner alike. The interactive nature and user-friendly interface combined with high standard, refined content and remote access means that the learner can support their classroom learning from anywhere, at anytime.

 “It really is a natural progression for Tekmil to serve our clients in the online world with the same quality and expertise we deliver in the classroom,” says Tekmil COO, Zoran Kanti-Paul.  “With this so-called blended approach we can now provide the flexibility of time and place combined with the type of targeted, pedagogically-sound content that so many ‘one-size-fits-all’ platforms out there seem to lack.”

Blended with more traditional training, the speed of learning and level of retention increases significantly allowing you to reach your desired level that much faster.

Enquire today by contacting:

Companies need a variety of foreign languages

According to a joint 2011 survey conducted by the HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences and TekMiL Ltd., companies operating in Finland need more than just English and Swedish to communicate internationally.

The survey was completed by 72 companies, 59 of which reported that they use languages other than Finnish, Swedish or English.

Russian was used by 22 companies and German by 17. Seven of the surveyed companies reported a need for French and six others included Spanish. The survey clearly highlighted the growing demand for improved language skills, especially in Russian, German, French and Spanish.

Other, less common languages used by the respondents included Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Norwegian and Danish. In addition, the survey revealed a need for proficiency in the local languages spoken in countries in which Finnish companies operate.

The results of the survey regarding corporate language skills needs correspond to the results of the personnel and training survey conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) in 2009.

"Our corporate customers have clearly acknowledged the need for other language training besides English. This year the rising languages have been Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Finnish as a foreign language. Companies are also interested in developing their German and French skills. The need for cultural training has also increased alongside language training. Chinese and Indian cultural training is popular and companies often start related language courses as well. It has been delightful to notice that companies are prepared to invest in languages and versatile language skills," says Sari Kanti-Paul, CEO of TekMiL Ltd.

"As the need for languages increases in scope, the need for external language services usually grows as well. An efficient use of language services requires close interaction between the company and the service provider, which is worth paying attention to. An efficient utilization of language services may be a significant competitive advantage in the international market," says Tanja Vesala-Varttala, senior lecturer of marketing and corporate communications from HAAGA-HELIA.

The companies that took part in the HAAGA-HELIA-TekMiL survey represent a variety of different industries.  Over half of the respondents were large companies with over 250 employees. Almost one fifth of the respondents were medium-sized companies with less than 250 employees. Approximately one third of the respondents were small companies with less than 50 employees.

For more information:

Only two weeks

Only Two More Weeks

How is it possible that we are already on the last page of our calendars – can the New Year be just two weeks away?  The familiar questions are circulating like rumors of winter’s first snow and yes, 2012 really is just around the corner.

So on behalf of the entire Tekmil team we would like to take this opportunity to extend a sincere thank you for being with us this year and to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a safe, successful New Year.

One piece of mail you will not be receiving this year is a Christmas card from Tekmil. In keeping with tradition, we will continue to support individuals in developing countries through the Kiva loan program. www.kiva.org

Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.  This is done through microloans allowing individuals to work themselves out of the poverty cycle.  TekMiL has been providing micro loans since 2006 and so far we have sponsored 17 'start-up' companies in 10 different countries.

On behalf of all those that have benefited, thank you and Merry Christmas.