New language materials for estate agents praised

 by the country’s leading estate agent.

The GET REAL Lingua project has created language DVDs and course materials in English, Spanish and Bulgarian for estate agents or homebuyers, as well as a tri-lingual electronic dictionary of 1500 property terms.

The project has received the backing of the Chief Executive of the UK’s National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), Peter Bolton-King, who praised the work of the project when he attended the launch of the scheme at Wolverhampton Science Park.

The European Union-funded project was coordinated by Mike Townsend, Associate Dean in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences. He led a partnership of three universities and three national estate agent associations in Spain, Bulgaria and the UK to create language teaching materials specifically for estate agents and property transactions.

Gill Outterside, who wrote the English materials, demonstrated how she had created the course from the videos of estate agents at work.

Mike Townsend said: “Mr Bolton-King was very enthusiastic about the collaboration between the University and his profession, and the contribution the language materials made to NAEA’s efforts to improve training and qualifications amongst estate agents.”

Jane Nelson, Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, and Desislava Naydenova, the Cultural Attaché from the Bulgarian Embassy, also spoke at the event.

Ms Naydenova said both Bulgarian estate agents and English-speaking homebuyers could use the courses to learn the language necessary to conduct property transactions in her country, and they allowed British homeowners to integrate more easily into their adopted communities abroad.

The Get Real Lingua DVDs and course materials in Spanish, English or Bulgarian will now be sold to the public and estate agents throughout Europe.

The European Union promotes Lifelong Learning and vocational training for particular sectors of industry through its Leonardo da Vinci programme.

For more information on the GET REAL Lingua project or the language materials the consortium has produced, contact: info-uk@getreal-online.eu

Further information

Picture: Left to right are Jane Nelson, Mike Townsend, Peter Bolton-King, Desislava Naydenova, and Gill Outterside.

For media inquiries, contact Vickie Woodward in the Press Office on 01902 322736 or 07973 335112.