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Immersion programs - testimonials wanted | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| ofdw Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5642 days ago 39 posts - 47 votes Speaks: English*, Italian | Message 25 of 40 15 July 2009 at 2:20pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Sorry, only just come to this thread and was bemused by the fish discussion! I think the US way is the minority. Even in the UK, not known for its cuisine to say the least, if you order fish in a restaurant you usually get fish on the bone, and often with the head, depending on what kind of fish it is. It's pretty much the same in Europe, especially anywhere near the sea. Not very nice to laugh at people about this, though - but I can understand why non-US folks were surprised! Anyone been to any immersion courses in Italy, by the way? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| cameroncrc Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6304 days ago 195 posts - 185 votes  2 sounds Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Ukrainian | Message 26 of 40 16 September 2009 at 10:34am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I'm currently in Japan as an exchange student. I have quite a bit of free time in the evenings and would be willing to contribute in some way.
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| Welltravelled Diglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5649 days ago 46 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 27 of 40 05 October 2009 at 3:13pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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That's an interesting question, black frackis. Well, I took the French language course in London that they run and so I can only talk about that one.
It was very interactive and the teacher focussed on the spoken language rather than reading or writing. We covered what was, I suppose, a fair sized voabulary - I certainly felt relatively able to express myself by the end of the two days I was there. It worked by us interacting constantly witht he teacher and other students in the language we were being taught. They also run other language courses, which you'll find in the link to the left, which I haven't attended, but which seem to mostly be for 1-to-1 students. From what I learned during my course from speaking with my tutor, their business mainly consists of this 1-to-1 trade and the group courses are a new thing they've developed more recently. I can only say that the group course was a very good experience and that I felt very much that it worked well for me and for the other people in my group. Edited by Welltravelled on 05 October 2009 at 3:14pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Jadoo1989 Diglot Groupie Joined 5420 days ago 51 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Irish, French | Message 28 of 40 06 October 2009 at 6:45am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I am looking for an inexpensive, safe immersion experience in Mexico or Latin America. Anyone know of any?
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| paisley Groupie United States Joined 5499 days ago 59 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 29 of 40 20 October 2009 at 3:17am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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this past Spring, I took a vacation to Mexico in which I stayed and took classes at Playalingua in Playa Del Carmen Mexico.
I've been trying to learn Spanish for a while so i decided to take vacation in a Spanish speaking country and take a class there. I didn't go all out, meaning, finding a super intensive class and do a homestay because i really wanted more of a fun vacation mixed with a little bit of learning. I went during the height of the swine flu scare, so it was really empty which was fun. :D. The school was nice, just a handful of people, everyone else had RUN FOR THEIR LIVES because of rumors of a plague called the swine flu. lol. I took classes 4 hours a day, monday - friday. And was only there a week. It was very relaxing way to take a learning vacation. And can say by the end of the class I learned 2 tenses and could use them easily. That is quite a bit. It was so inexpensive, the airfare was $300 r/t from nyc, and the stay and classes were another $300 total. Fantastic. The rest of the day was spent at beaches, restaurants and bars, which i pretty much had all to myself. :D. And my Spanish was much improved when i got home. Edited by paisley on 20 October 2009 at 3:19am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| janababe Triglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 5301 days ago 102 posts - 115 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, German | Message 30 of 40 21 October 2009 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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When I was at school (now twenty-something) I went on an exchange to Germany. It was really great and my German got a lot better. Immersion's the best if u want to socialise with ur language. I've never been a fan of books, so living with a German family was cool. FAB country FAB people.
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| mike245 Triglot Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 6759 days ago 303 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Cantonese Studies: French, German, Mandarin, Khmer | Message 31 of 40 23 August 2010 at 10:42am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I just finished up a two-week intensive French language program here in Paris with
Langue Onze, and I had a wonderful time! Langue Onze is a very small non-profit school in the 11th arrondisement that offers several classes ranging from complete beginner to B2/C1 level courses. Enrollment is capped at 9 students per class, but most of the classes are much smaller (about 5-6 people). Almost all of the students I met at the school were Europeans, although there are a few Americans (mostly in the beginner level classes). Students ranged from early 20s all the way to retired people, and there was even one woman who managed to enroll her two young children! The classes focus primarily on conversational skills and comprehension, with lots of opportunities for speaking. Class is four hours a day, five days a week. About 1-2 hours of that is grammar, followed by a 15 min break, and then 2 hours of fun activities: we played "Taboo" in French, we read newspaper articles, we gave presentations, we talked about movies, we listened to radio broadcasts and pop songs, we learned about French history, etc. The teachers were very kind but also very strict about making sure that we only spoke in French while at school -- even during the break times and even for the absolute beginners! Once a week, we also did a cultural activity, such as a tour of the city or going to see a movie in French. The school also put me in a homestay with an elderly French couple that spoke virtually no English, which provided me with more opportunities to practice French. The couple was very nice and very patient, which made for a friendly, non-intimidating environment. I have not had any experience with any other language schools in Paris, but I can say that I enjoyed my experience at Langue Onze and would go back again. The teachers are clearly very passionate about their work and almost of the students were passionate about learning French and trying their best to speak and practice it. The program is also relatively inexpensive compared to other Paris language programs: I paid 785 euros for two weeks of intensive classes (40 hours total) + two weeks of homestay. Prices drop substantially if you stay for longer, but unfortunately, I couldn't do more than two weeks. If you are looking for a quality program in Paris, make sure to check them out! 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| ronsat Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 5046 days ago 12 posts - 25 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 32 of 40 26 August 2010 at 2:24am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I spent a couple of weeks at Andean Global Studies in Quito. Had a program with 4 hours one-on-one lessons in the morning, and 3 hours of cultural visits (museums etc.) in the afternoon. The advantage of the cultural program is that you are simply chatting with the teacher during the visit, (and afterwards in a cafe) - so really forcing you to speak in Spanish. This school is well run, has good teachers. The homestays are well organized. And the price is incredibly good. They have a special course for medical students - where they spend half days in a hospital dealing with patients. The medical students I talked to seemed pleased with the course. The school runs weekend trips - but most of the students, when I was there, decided to organize trips to Mindo and Otavalo on regular buses - much cheaper. Their website is http://www.andeanglobalstudies.org/ 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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