Sign up for the Business English Minor at HvA/
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
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Dr.Barbara L. Ciccarelli, Coordinator
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Academic Skills Online
Amsterdam
Would you like to improve your Business English? In the Business English Minor, we explore grammar (self-study), presentations, meetings, career preparation and more. You will also participate in a domestic or international project that will give you the opportunity to improve your communication and collaboration skills. Artificial Intelligence will be used as a tool for many of the course activities. You have the opportunity to end the course with an advanced level of English. Does this appeal to you? Then sign up for Business English.
BIO
I’m Dr. Barbara L. Ciccarelli, an American Business English teacher, who squeezes the most out of every opportunity that presents itself. I’ve had English teaching jobs in the U.S., UK, and NL with a number of universities as well as with companies in the business sector over the last 30 years. I relish teaching in the online or face to face classroom, crafting conference papers or publications, as much as serving the wider public with my personal branding expertise. Engaging and empowering Business English students is my passion and vision. The idea for this website emerged from a need to promote the Business English Minor at HvA/AUAS. (See below for logos of my past work and a selection of testimonials from my dedicated Business English students at HvA/AUAS).
Reviews
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"Barbara’s minor was one of the best choices I made during my studies. The course was inspiring, well-organized, and really helped me grow both personally and professionally. Barbara created a supportive learning environment where I felt encouraged to share ideas and step out of my comfort zone. I still use the skills and insights I gained during the minor today"
"Taking Barbara’s minor was one of the best parts of my studies. The classes were interactive, the content was relevant, and Barbara’s teaching style made everything accessible and enjoyable. I gained valuable skills in Business English and communication that I now apply regularly. I definitely recommend this minor to any student looking to grow professionally in the business world".
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"English Business minor was a great experience that really boosted my confidence in using English. Although I was already quite used to English—especially since so much of the internet is in English—I never really felt confident using it in a professional or academic context. One of the highlights of the minor was the chance to collaborate with an international team on a project. Working closely with people from different backgrounds was both inspiring and exciting, and it made me realize how much I enjoy international teamwork. It’s something I now genuinely look forward to doing more often in the future."
"I really enjoyed following this minor. Barbara is an amazing teacher who has really helped me improve my communication skills. Apart from the weekly classes, it was very meaningful to work together with students from across the globe. In this course I have learned to be more confident in professional communication. I am very grateful for the opportunities this minor has given me."
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"I really enjoyed the Business English minor. We had fun, interactive classes where we often discussed different topics in English. These exercises helped me improve my speaking skills and confidence. The teacher was very kind and supportive. We also had homework where we practiced specific skills and reflected on them with the teacher. If I didn’t score well, she always gave me helpful feedback and tips to improve. We also worked on a project with students from Miami [an American university], where we had to create a video of ourselves speaking about a specific topic. It was a great experience to use English in an international context."
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"I really enjoyed your minor; it was one of the best experiences during my studies. I learned so much from you, and I especially appreciated that you are a native English speaker teaching in the Netherlands. It made the learning experience even more learning , and I improved my English a lot. I would highly recommend this minor to anyone who wants to develop and strengthen their English skills. If I had the chance, I would do it again!"
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"I really enjoyed your minor — the content was interesting and well-structured, and the COIL project with the students in Miami was a great experience. I hope more students will get the chance to take your minor."
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"In this course I made a lot of connections and memories that I will never forget. I really liked the meetings that we had and my presentation skills have developed significantly. I am very grateful for the chance to follow this minor."
"I really enjoyed your minor. It was interesting, creative, and I learned a lot. The project helped me grow and gave me confidence. You were always supportive and gave clear feedback. I think more students should know about this minor, because it is really worth it."
"I wanted to thank you again for the inspiring minor you taught. I really enjoyed the course and appreciated the way you created an engaging and supportive learning environment.​"
email: b.l.ciccarelli@hva.nl
Regarding my Teaching Method, in business, the four skills are all important but speaking Business English is absolutely required to meet in person or online, negotiate, or manage.
I have found through my experience that teaching passively with a focus on the passive skills, filling in blanks and checking the answers, is not the answer to the success of language learning. My method instead focuses on active learning with an emphasis on speaking and listening. This means to a certain extent the student is self-directed as he or she works on the passive material on their own with minimum guidance from me. Money and time can better be spent with a teacher in a lesson on the interactive exercises and conversations and more. These interactive exercises could be individual or groups presentations, simulated meetings, interactive international projects, questions to prompt a discussion, debates, etc. Of course, there is no way getting around grammar, but my vision is to make that just as fun with the self-study grammar program we have and which has been a success with the students.
My Lifelong learning outlook means taking advantage of the learnable and teachable moments in life and in the classroom as a teacher in order to participate in a student's language acquisition and honing of skills for the sake of their personal and professional development. According to the Commission of the European Communities, lifelong learning not only encourages social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also increases employability. .
email: b.l.ciccarelli@hva.nl
