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Clickcornertoturn8BrittenSinfoniawhoseofficesareinCambridgefeaturesacollectionofthecountrysmosttalentedandcreativemusiciansmanywithsoloandchambermusiccareers.IthasablossominginternationalprofileandbroadcastsfrequentlyonBBCRadio3andClassicFM.Inautumn2006theensemblebeganaseriesoflunchtimeconcertsintheEastofEnglandandKrakowbuildingonarelationshipalreadyestablishedwiththeMalopolskaregionbytheEastofEnglandRegionalAssemblyandwithfundingfromtheArtsCouncil.RightfromthestartBrittenSinfoniahasbeencommittedtodemonstratingrespectandcommitmenttotheircounterpartsinPolandthroughlearningtheirlanguage.Threemembersofstaff-theOrchestraManagerTomShoretheConcertsDirectorNaomiFaulknerandtheMarketingManagerChloePriestarelearningPolishthroughthegovernmentsTraintoGainschemewhichoffersa50subsidytowardslanguagetraining.Atthemomentthegroupmeetseveryfortnightforathree-hoursessionalongwithanotherorganisationfromLutonwhotraveltoBrittenSinfoniasofficesinCambridge.Naomiisimpressedbythevalueformoney.BecausewehavetheTraintoGainsubsidyandbecausewesplitthecostbetweentwoorganisationsthisworksoutat5perpersonperhoursoforthreeofusits45intotalforthreehours.Ourteacherisabsolutelyfantastic.HeunderstandsthatweareallverybusypeopleandthatthereslittleornochanceofusdoinglotsofhomeworksohekeepsittoamanageablelevelwithplentyofnecessaryrepetitionHenotonlyfocusesonlanguagebutalsoteachesusaboutthecultureandhistoryofthecountry.Hehastaughtusthevocabularyrelatedtomusicalinstrumentsaswellasrestaurantvocabularywhichisveryimportantwhensocialisingandnegotiatingoverdinner.WeallfeelmuchmoreconfidentabouttravellingtoPolandafterjustthreesessionsandfeelwehavemaderealprogress.Wecanpickupcertainwordsandalthoughwecannotdiscussveryprecisetechnicaldetailsaboutmusicalinstrumentsandconcertsatleastwecanrecognisewhenpeoplearetalkingaboutthemandthishelpsusenormously.OnthepracticalsideourOrchestraManagerwhotravelseverywherewiththeensemblefoundthathavingafewwordsandphrasesatthereadyhelpedwithgettingtoandfromtheairportsortingoutrehearsalsbookingtaxisandthattypeofthing.Wecantratetheselessonshighlyenough-itreallyhasbeenexcellent.NoneofushastheexpectationthatwewillbecomefluentorsuddenlybeabletoconverseinPolishbutevenbeingabletospeakthosefewlittlephrasesbeforeswitchingintoEnglishisveryimportantasitshowsrespectandthatwearetryingtomakeaconnection.Naomigivesaveryconcreteexampleofhowtrainingcandirectlybenefitacompanyacoupleofweeksagoanamecameupwhichourcolleaguehadneverknownhowtopronounce.ThishadcausedsomelevelofembarrassmentinthepastandnowthatwehaverigorouslystudiedPolishpronunciationheknowshowtopronounceit-therelationshipshouldrunalotmoresmoothlyasaresult.Thisisasmallbutcruciallyimportantthing.NaomibelievesthatlearninginasmallgroupwithBrittenSinfonia