Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Language courses
Courses at language schools abroad can be divided into as many as ten different levels, ran-
ging from tuition for the complete beginner to highly technical or specialised courses at post-
graduate level. The usual classification of language classes, however, into 'beginner' or 'ba-
sic', 'intermediate' and 'advanced', works well. Within each of these levels there are usually
subdivisions, especially in schools large enough to move students from one class to another
with ease.
When you first phone a school from abroad or send in an application form, you should indic-
ate how good your knowledge of the language is. You may be tested before being allocated
your class, or you may be transferred from your original class to a lower or higher one, as
soon as they find you are worse or better than expected.
Different schools will use different methods of teaching: if you know that you respond well
to one style, check that is what your course offers. Foreign language lessons are often at-
tended by a variety of nationalities, so they are almost always conducted in the language
you are learning, forcing you to understand and respond without using English. In practice,
however, most teachers can revert to English to explain a principle of grammar if a student
is really stuck.
The smaller the class the better, though the quality of the teaching is most important -
at more advanced levels, well-qualified graduate teachers should be available. Language
schools and institutes show a mass of information, photographs and maps on their websites,
so it's easy to find out if the school is near to places that interest you, whether it's in a city
centre or near a coastal resort. The admissions staff should be happy to give you references
from previous students.
In the directory, you'll find some of the organisations offering language opportunities to gap-
pers, from formal tuition to 'soaking it up' while you live with a family. We've split the or-
ganisations according to the languages they offer: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek,
Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Here's a quick look at each:
Arabic
Arabic is the language in which the
Qur'an
is written and, although there are translations
into the local languages of Muslims around the world, there's also a lot of argument about
the way they're translated. This has led to differences about what Islam means.
It's all a matter of interpretation of the roots of words and what's more there are two main
versions of Arabic: Fousha - Modern Standard Arabic; and Aameya - Egyptian Colloquial
Arabic.
