Interview with an ICFE student

ICFE ACCA Financial English Newsletter
Interview with: David Ran

David Ran worked for the finance team in the Beijing office of international marketing communications company Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) when he studied for – and passed – the ICFE qualification. 'My employer wanted me, and my colleagues, to improve our English language skills, especially in a professional context, and so arranged for us to attend a tuition course for ICFE,' explains David. Tuition was delivered in-house by specialist local learning provider The Learning Institute: 'We took about 20 classes, and were taught by an English teacher - Kiran Patel - which really helped us a lot,' he adds.
Patel, who is regional manager – North China of The Learning Institute, points out that this combination of focused financial English language teaching delivered by native speakers proved particularly effective: 'O&M were enticed by the overall quality of the qualification, and by our enthusiasm for the course and our native speaking teaching resource,' he says. In addition, formal skills certification is an important benefit in the highly competitive Chinese employment market, and the ability to offer staff a qualification accredited by both ACCA and Cambridge ESOL was seen as a further benefit.
Up to 16 O&M employees attended each class, which developed students' ability to use English confidently and accurately in a financial environment, focusing on the core skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking. The class used study materials published by BPP Learning Media together with supporting resources developed by Patel and his team. 'I found help with writing English the most useful section of the course,' says David; classes prepared students for the final exam, but also incorporated simulations of real life situations in order to provide plenty of opportunity for students to practise their skills.
David passed his exam in January 2010 and is now making the most of his new qualification: 'I have found that the course has been useful in helping me perform day to day tasks, such as writing emails, but I also hope the Certificate will improve my longer term career prospects as it is proof of specific professional skills.'