Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
By Sunita Sehmi and Rodica Rosu Fridez
English as an international business language has become instrumental in social and economic empowerment, and consequently the demand for English has escalated resulting in more jobs necessitating a good level of English proficiency.
According to the study “The Linguistic Landscape of Switzerland” conducted by the FSO (Federal Statistical Office 2009), the English-speaking expatriate population is growing significantly. It is accepted that the range of languages spoken in both private and professional environments in Switzerland has grown; thus propelling the usage of English as THE reference language.
The EPI (English Proficiency Index) stipulates that many Swiss companies are now operating internationally and “as the power of English in the workplace is rising” most companies want employees to be skilled in English. The EPI rank Switzerland as having a moderate proficiency score, (54.06), adding that the presence of other national languages does not result in a weakening of English proficiency. (EPI Report, 2011) Many of the multinationals in the French-speaking part of Switzerland have adopted English as their corporate language and within the next couple of years it is expected that about one in every two top managers in Swiss companies will hail from overseas (Allen, 2012).
By Sarah Frei, Brillantmont International School
The autumn holidays are already upon us and by now most children are nicely settled back into the school routine. Yet, there may be some children for whom, despite the best efforts of their teachers and their family, the start of a new school year has brought heartache. Perhaps the decision to relocate to Switzerland was a last-minute one, resulting in hastily-made decisions, based on spaces available rather than a real feeling of connection with the school. Perhaps there are other more complex questions of friendships and peer integration at play, which are having a negative impact on your child.
Everyone has their child’s happiness at heart, so whilst deciding to change schools might be a daunting task, it is not impossible. It may mean losing a school year, but is that such a big deal in the long-term? For those faced with this dilemna or for others in a less urgent situation, here are a few tips to help you choose the right school for your child.
If you are buying a new home on or off plan, planning to make changes to your current home or thinking about moving, it is important to follow a series of planned steps to make sure the project will run smoothly and avoid costly mistakes.
Here are some planning steps for your spaces or rooms, which I covered in my recent workshop, entitled Planning your Home Project:
• Start off by understanding why you are making the changes and what realistic time scale & budget you have.
• Make sure you have architectural plan drawings or prepare your own ones by surveying each space.
• Undertake a space analysis – what are the existing ceilings like, walls, architectural details, fireplace, windows, flooring, natural light, exterior? This will help form a true understanding of the space/room and assist in creating accurate design concepts.
• Consider if you should make changes to your floor plans – forget the conventions of sleeping upstairs and living/eating downstairs – aim for flexible planning.
The pressure of finding a nanny in a hurry can cloud your judgement and make the final decision and hiring process a messy affair.
Finding a nanny using one of the many popular online sites that allow anyone to list themselves as a nanny is also a dangerous gamble for the family.
The best way around the problem is to use a recruitment consultant with expertise in nanny placements which can save you time and money in the long run.
A reputable nanny recruitment agency will help avoid the following pitfalls when you are hiring your nanny.
Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev, www.freedigitalphotos.net
By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk
Helping: assisting, aiding, advising, caregiving, coaching, consulting, counselling, guiding, mentoring, supporting, teaching
Helping is an essential human pursuit; we do it at home with our partners, our children, our loved ones. We do it at everyday at work, with our team.
We seek out help too, although all too often it's a practice that can also be difficult to perform and accept. And at times our earnest offers of help are begrudged and rebuffed…so why is it so difficult to provide or accept help and in what way can we make the whole process easier?
Corporate culture and organizational development guru Ed Schein analyzes the collective and psychological subtleties common to all types of helping relationships. In his book entitled “Helping” he explains why help is often not helpful, and shows what any would-be helpers must guarantee that their assistance is both received and valuable. He suggests the following stages of inquiring to enable genuine support.
