Workplace English & communication training
We equip your team with the English they need.
KDL builds English and communication skills around the needs of your workplace, from the safety briefing on the floor to the client meeting upstairs.
Led by Katrina Derix-Langstraat, M.Ed. (TESL). Based in Calgary.
For employers
English and communication training built around the work your team does, on site or in the office.
Get the job done safely.
For teams in manufacturing, construction, oil & gas, and health care, a missed instruction can turn into a safety problem before the shift ends. We build training from your safety procedures, job terms, and communication priorities.
Explore Frontline Training →
Communicate with confidence.
For skilled professionals with good English, challenges in adjusting to the communication style of a Canadian workplace can affect clarity and performance. Expert communication coaching fine-tunes their skills so your team can do their best work.
Explore Communication Coaching →
Why this works
Better than the usual workarounds.
Most employers have tried something already — a translated manual, a co-worker asked to translate, a local ESL class — but it doesn’t hold up under pressure. We do it differently.
The job provides the content.
Community ESL classes provide general English. Your team needs the specifics: the lockout procedure, the supervisor’s instruction, the words your industry runs on. We build from that, so your team communicates well in your workplace.
Skills your team keeps, not tools they borrow.
Relying on bilingual coworkers and translation apps is fine, until the moment is fast and high-stakes. Our programs are expertly designed to deliver lasting improvements for your team, skills that stay with the person, not a device or a single team member.
A small step after a big investment.
Your team members already have the technical skills and the qualities you need. Language training makes the most of that investment, so your team can work safely and with confidence.
Katrina and a growing team of associates.
Katrina Derix-Langstraat, M.Ed. (TESL), leads KDL. She has spent 25+ years teaching English and literacy to adults, training the teachers who support them and leading the programs behind the learning. She’s joined by a growing team of distinctly skilled associates, all experienced ESL trainers committed to excellence.
Meet the team →For community partners
About 1 in 5 Canadian adults struggle to read everyday materials or handle the basic math tasks that work and daily life require. At KDL, we also partner with the community and non-profit organizations working on that problem every day.
Let’s talk about your team.
A discovery call is short and there’s no cost to book one. Prefer to start smaller? Send a note and we’ll reply by email.
