Moja zgodba

London Academic & Professional Life

I'm Eleanor Amy Wilkinson and I'm a Business English Communication Coach.

My connection with English communication started in 2013 when I moved to London to study History of Art at Golsdmiths University. While studying, I worked in luxury retail for Tiffany & Co., Harrod's, Mulberry & Christie's. I was trained to communicate with a high standard of politeness & experienced how expressing respect through language positively influences business relations and sales.

My colleagues were mostly from Europe & Asia, so being British, I was regularly asked: 'Why are you saying X like that and not like Y?', 'Why did you use X tense and not Y like we were taught to?', 'Is it better for me to say this or that?'. Curiously, I would ask 'How does it feel in your language when I say X?'. I noticed common issues across all languages, then language specific problems. Confused pronunciation for French and Italian speakers, tense mistakes in Chinese natives, and directness for Germanic and Slavic speakers.

Throughout uni, I had an Italian boyfriend who spoke a dialect of German as his first language.. and hadn't formally learnt English. Having studied German, I knew he was using their grammatical structure and communication style to speak English- a natural thing

non-natives do. We had communication problems, but they were all cultural. He couldn't understand my British need for politeness and respect, while I couldn't understand his German directness. We were both speaking English, but not the same the same version of it!

While completing my Masters in Arts Management, I worked at a national museum in London. I was asked to give a tour. I hated the idea of public speaking, but a week later I conquered my fear. Where I was scared to talk to 8 people, in a few weeks I was confident speaking to 80 people audiences- some including celebrities and influential figures. As most of my colleagues weren't English natives, I found myself helping them with their public speaking, specifically with their English language, expression and delivery for the next few years.

During this period, I had a Slovenian boyfriend. Like my previous relationship, I noticed communication issues. This time, I’d learnt to ask: “Do you mean X when you say this, or do you mean Y?” when something didn’t feel ‘right’.. We discussed how words 'felt', the images they created and if that matched what was in our native mentality. Mostly, what he thought he'd expressed appropriately by his cultural and language style, was not how it felt in English. We were surprised at how differently we understood the world because of our native communication styles!

Moving to Slovenia

In 2020 I moved to Slovenia and started learning Slovene. I quickly found that being a Slavic language, my English brain had no linguistic, mental, or cultural framework to process this new language. Being British, I'd also never experienced how it feels being unable to speak or understand anything...there’s always some English somewhere! I expected a struggle, but hadn't realised how small your world is when you can't communicate. My situation worsened after my boyfriend unexpectedly broke up with me shortly after moving. While determined to stay in Slovenia- I became unmotivated by the sudden urgency in needing to learn Slovene. It was THE barrier to working and learning suddenly felt overwhelming. I kept the image of my future life in Slovenia as my motivation to push harder & eventually negative feelings were replaced by empowerment.

I took a 3-month intensive Slovene course- but it wasn't effective AT ALL. We weren't taught correct pronunciation & we 'learnt' grammar by memorising and repeating sentences. They didn’t explain what grammar does, why you use it, or what it is equal to in English. While I recognised grammar 'formulas' when reading, when I tried speaking in real life, I couldn’t put anything together beyond separate words. I lacked the deeper understanding to produce Slovenian. To make things worse, my teacher told me that as I was English, I would never learn Slovene so there was no point in trying...how inspiring! I finished the course and continued teaching myself and was thrilled to pass my A1 exam 4 months later with 100% marks....but just 60% in speaking!

Starting my Coaching Business

In 2021 I passed my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) qualification. That's how I also started transforming my Slovene…by learning English! While I instinctively knew what English grammar does- I didn’t consciously know the functions to recognise or identify it in use. I just knew patterns and what felt right and wrong. Of course, I couldn’t connect things to Slovene, I didn’t know how to identify the same thing in English!

I started teaching Business English for local language schools and privately online. Every student said they couldn't communicate in English, despite being B2/C1 level. I asked them the same questions I'd asked my foreign friends, partners, and colleagues. When I explained how I processed and emotionally understood English as a native, they changed their understanding. By connecting deeper meanings between English and their native languages grammatically, conceptually, and culturally- we both gained deeper understanding of what language 'does' and how to use it appropriately.

The more I taught, the more I realised traditional teaching & curriculums keep people stuck & unable to communicate to the same level of understanding. They didn’t need any more generic "Business English" courses. They needed a flexible coaching model that could be modified to their specific needs & goals. They needed a coach- not a teacher, to show them how English is processed and felt by natives.

They needed someone to teach them how to communicate in English.

I studied the brain, Neuroscience, Neurolinguistics, Psychology, language learning methods and cultural communication styles. Responding to my client's needs, I developed my own strategy 'THINK English, FEEL English, SPEAK English' that gives my clients successful results by focusing on native processing, cultural influence and communication skills. I stopped 'teaching' in traditional ways and started using this coaching method, and it gave my clients the outcomes they needed.

I believe in it so much, I use it for my own language learning and am getting better results then I ever did on a traditional language course!

Now I am lucky to help clients from all over the world, live life how they want to with English.

If you want to transform your English too, I invite you to explore my coaching programs to find the one that suits your goals!