I was originally a high school Spanish teacher, but I also taught English in
Israel (high school), Argentina (adult) and the US (adult).  I decide to get
my MA/PhD in Linguistic Anthropology out of an interest in the intersection
of language and culture.  I had planned to continue in academia, focusing on
language ideology and revitalization, but I ended up taking a job with
Chipotle Mexican Grill in charge of language and culture programs for 130 of
their restaurants.  I was amazed that a job like that existed, and I really
enjoyed such a concrete application of my academic background in combination
with my love of teaching.  I quickly realized that there was a tremendous
opportunity to work with companies that didn't have the luxury of full-time
staff devoted exclusively to such programs, and I began to plan my exit.
This was just two years ago, and I've been building my business ever since.
There's a lot of educating clients as to why this type of training is
important and worth their while, but thankfully, there are also a lot of
people out there who don't need convincing - they just need the budget!

 

I'm happy to talk to anyone who's considering making the leap.

 

Jill

 

Jill K. Bishop, PhD
President
Workforce Language Services, LLC
Office: 773.292.5500 | Cell: 312.493.9497 
 <http://www.workforcelanguageservices.com/>
www.workforcelanguageservices.com

*Bridging Language & Culture in the Workplace*

 

  _____  

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Brian, Dr Donna J G
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 5:02 PM
To: The Workplace Literacy Discussion List
Subject: [Workplace 531] Re: Hello from a new member

 

We have such a lot of expertise on this list!  I'm interested in your
background and how you came to start this business, Jill.  Did you have a
background in adult education along with being a linguistic anthropologist?
There is such a great amount of stress on our adult educators what with the
uncertainty of future funding of programs that some of them may want to
consider starting their own businesses as you did.  

 

Thanks to Ronna for sharing the information about the list.  That's a great
way to increase our membership!

 

Donna

 

Donna Brian, Moderator

Workplace Literacy Discussion List

Center for Literacy Studies at The University of Tennessee

djgbrian at utk.edu

 

  _____  

From: workplace-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:workplace-bounces at nifl.gov] On
Behalf Of Jill K. Bishop
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 1:31 PM
To: workplace at nifl.gov
Subject: [Workplace 527] Hello from a new member

Hello everyone:

 

I'm a new member, and Donna suggested I introduce myself to the group.  

 

I'm a linguistic anthropologist, and I started a business here in Chicago
almost two years ago focusing on improving communication in the workplace.
We offer onsite English and Spanish training (both ongoing classes and
workshops), diversity training, Spanish-language supervisor development and
sexual harassment training, as well as translation/interpretation services.
It's been an interesting, challenging and rewarding time!  When not focusing
on the business, I'm with my husband and 6-month old son in our
never-ending-rehab-project of a 109-year old house.  I found out about this
list from Ronna Timpa, and I'm looking forward to participating.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Jill Bishop

 

Jill K. Bishop, PhD
President
Workforce Language Services, LLC
Office: 773.292.5500 | Cell: 312.493.9497 
 <http://www.workforcelanguageservices.com/>
www.workforcelanguageservices.com

*Bridging Language & Culture in the Workplace*

 

 

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