Workplace English & communication
The English your team needs for the work they actually do.
Custom English, business writing, and communication training for multilingual teams. Programs focus on what employers need most: safe operations, clear handoffs, and employees ready for more responsibility.
Led by Kathleen Flores Baker · Workplace programs since 2015
Taught where the work happens.
Onsite at your workplace in the Chicago area, or online for teams anywhere in the U.S.
Selected clients
Two ways to work together
Programs for teams. Coaching for individuals.
For employers & training programs
Build communication into the workday.
Practical training for multilingual teams, built around your jobs, shifts, and goals. For HR and L&D teams, operations and safety leaders, and union training programs.
Workplace English cohorts
Safety and operations English
Supervisor communication
Promotion-pathway English
Business writing for frontline and office teams
For professionals
Feel ready for the conversations that matter.
One-to-one coaching built around your goals, whether you are advancing at work or preparing for a new role in the U.S.
English lessons
Professional writing and communication
Interviews, presentations, and meetings
Pronunciation and accent coaching
Spanish lessons
What employers get
Training tied to the results you need from your team.
Every team program starts with a business goal you name. Lessons then focus on the language that goal depends on, so progress shows up on the job, not just in class.
01
Safer operations
Employees understand procedures and safety instructions, ask when something is unclear, and report problems in words supervisors can act on.
02
Clearer handoffs
Shift notes, emails, and incident reports that are complete and easy to follow, so less time goes to rework and follow-up questions.
03
Stronger teams
Supervisors and employees understand each other’s expectations. Issues get raised early, and people feel part of the team, which supports retention.
04
Promotion from within
Prepare strong frontline employees for lead and supervisor roles when English, not skill, is what holds them back.
Union and labor-management training programs: classes can be built for members across employers and job types, onsite or online.
How a program works
A program that starts with your workplace.
The first conversation covers your goals, your team, and the situations where stronger communication would help most.
1
Talk with Kathleen
Share your goals, your team, your schedule, and the problem you want to solve.
2
Assess needs
Understand learners’ roles, current English levels, and the language each job calls for.
3
Teach onsite or online
Lessons use real workplace situations and fit around shifts and the workday.
4
Track progress
Keep managers and learners informed on progress toward the goals set at the start.
Beyond the classroom
Learn English in the places you use it.
Cultural immersion connects language learning with Chicago, its neighborhoods, and the everyday experiences that help people feel at home.
Meet your trainer
Kathleen Flores Baker
Founder & Trainer
Kathleen has taught English and writing to adults for more than 25 years. Since 2001 she has taught writing and English as a second language at City Colleges of Chicago, where her students come from more than 30 countries. At the City Colleges’ Welcome Back Center, she teaches medical English to internationally trained healthcare professionals working toward U.S. certification and licensing, using course materials she created.
She founded English Unbound in 2015 to bring that experience into the workplace. Her programs start with the work itself: the instructions, conversations, and writing each job requires. She has also designed workforce curriculum and assessments for Skills for America’s Future and taught job skills and English at Chicago Job Corps.
Kathleen holds a master’s degree in written communications from National Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Knox College. She began her teaching career at a bilingual school in La Ceiba, Honduras.
25 years at City Colleges of Chicago
Writing and ESL instructor, curriculum creator
Medical English instructor
Welcome Back Center, City Colleges of Chicago
Workforce curriculum designer
Skills for America’s Future
M.A., Written Communications
National Louis University, magna cum laude
Start with a conversation
Let’s plan a program that fits.
Tell Kathleen about your team or your own goals, and she will follow up to talk through options.