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Spanish course Barcelona – a first-hand review

Spanish Course Barcelona: Creative Web Manager John Biddulph takes a break from PHP and Javascript to learn a different language – Spanish in Barcelona

I took a Spanish beginner course in Barcelona last October, and my first day was very organised and welcoming. I met five other students in my group of different nationalities and ages.

The times of my classes were just great, starting at 2pm in a spacious air conditioned classroom. There was one day when I was unwell and was unable to go in, so I contacted Cactus who were very helpful and contacted the school for me.

My teacher, Isobel, was lovely. She was very helpful and we all had fun reading and acting from our activity book and also had time for a few language games.

Being a complete beginner to Spanish, I would advise taking a short evening course beforehand to learn the very basics. This means that you can learn some proper Spanish on your course and practise using it out and about in the city.

Barcelona is an amazing city – there are plenty of nice places to go sightseeing and some great tapas bars and cafes for food and drink. It’s easy to get to and it was a great starting point for me learning Spanish. I can’t wait to go back again!

Cactus offers Spanish courses in Barcelona and in many locations across Spain and Latin America.

Learn some Spanish before you go with our Spanish evening courses in London, Brighton, Manchester and other major locations across the UK. Courses start in January, April, July and September in over 20 languages and at many levels.

Learning French in Lyon: language course review

Cactus Office Manager Claudia Ohde tells us about her French course in Lyon in April 2015

Usually a big fan of any city near the seaside, I had never really considered to visit Lyon – but a tango festival near Lyon at the weekend inspired me to take a language holiday in Lyon the week before the festival.

I was positively surprised by the city. The first two days there was an icy wind but the rest of the time we had the most beautiful weather and I enjoyed discovering the city by bicycle (many French cities have bicycle schemes that allow you to use a bike for free for up to 30 minutes of every ride).

lyon_waterfrontI spent a lot of my time at the Rhône and Saône, sunbathing on stone sunbeds next to river, walking along the river or taking a boat trip. There are also houseboats and restaurants and clubs on boats so I really didn’t get to miss the sea after all.

The language school was not far from the Rhône in a very central and relaxed area of Lyon. The school was small with a very personal touch. We were welcomed by the Director of the school who talked to everyone in the group of newcomers to informally assess our oral level (we had taken a written test beforehand online). We all were given little notebooks with a pen and some chocolate Easter eggs (it was the week after Easter)!

I was placed in the C1 level class and felt that the other students were at a very similar level and that the group worked well together. The teacher was very experienced and made learning easy and fun, but also encouraged everyone to study additionally at home.  The lessons  concentrated on vocabulary, listening comprehension, speaking and of course grammar. For those who had booked an intensive course this was then followed by a writing workshop.

I had a really good time and I can highly recommend a language trip to Lyon!

Claudia took a General French course of 15 lessons per week in Lyon. Prices start at £107 for a one week course.

Cactus also offers French courses in other locations across France and Canada, as well as 10-week French evening courses in the UK.

Cactus case study – the story behind 13 courses in 8 years

Cactus talks to Naomi Sharp about her impressive history of 13 courses in 2 languages over 8 years with us

It’s not often that we get a client who has taken more than a handful of courses, so to find one who has taken 13 courses, in not just Spanish but also French, is an exciting rarity. I was keen to chat to Naomi to find out her motivation behind studying two languages and where it was all taking her.

The inspiration behind Spanish

For Naomi it all began after a holiday to Costa Rica back in 2004. Inspired to take up Spanish, she enrolled on an Open University course and decided to supplement this with immersion trips abroad through Cactus. Her first trip was to Alicante and since then there has been no stopping her, with Spanish courses now taken in Cuba, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and even Bristol, to keep up the language on home soil.

In this time Naomi has progressed through the levels from elementary to intermediate and even thrown dancing into the mix, taking a Spanish & Salsa course in Havana, a Spanish & Salsa course in Malaga and a Spanish and Tango course in Cordoba, Argentina. She admits that this is what first attracted her to Cactus – the ability to learn a language and enjoy the local culture at the same time. She has thoroughly enjoyed her dance classes as many were on a one-to-one or small group basis with dance professionals – and of course they provide a perfect excuse to practise the language further.

A change of career paths with French

So where does French come in? Naomi’s long term goal is to teach English overseas with the voluntary service, and for this it is useful to have knowledge of French. Naomi used to be in the Air Force and as part of her resettlement package, in 2012, she enrolled on a 3-week French course with Cactus in La Rochelle. Subsequent courses in Antibes and Vichy last year took her up to intermediate level, equivalent B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Naomi has clearly had a wonderful few years visiting different parts of the world and working towards her long-term goal of teaching abroad. Language-wise, her sights are on the DELE and DELF diplomas in Spanish and French, while work-wise her next step is to teach English in Sri Lanka before heading to Spain or Latin America.

Tips for other language learners

Given all her experience learning languages over the years, I asked Naomi if she had any tips or advice for anyone else learning a language. First and foremost she recommended spending time in the country where your target language is spoken, and taking every opportunity you can to speak with the locals. People are always friendly and willing to chat, and it doesn’t matter if you make mistakes as this is all part of the learning process. Having said this, Naomi found her evening classes in Bristol to be a good complement to her overseas courses, as the class size was small and the teacher a native speaker, making it not too dissimilar to her overseas experience.

One other factor that is likely to have helped Naomi’s immersion into the many cultures she has experienced has been her preference to stay with local families where possible. For her, living with a host family gives an extra opportunity to chat in the language, coming together at mealtimes for example. Some people may shy away from this option, believing their language isn’t good enough to stay with a family, but Naomi pointed out that families are used to receiving students of all levels and as such they know how to speak to you.

If there was ever a way to combine your love of languages with work and travel then surely Naomi has found it. The great thing is that there is never really an end to language learning and there are many different ways to make it work for you, wherever you are – of which Naomi is a perfect example. Many thanks to Naomi for taking to time to talk to us and we wish her all the best with her future globetrotting and linguistic adventures!

Cactus offers language courses in over 20 languages in destinations all over the globe. We also offer 10-week evening language courses in London and across the UK which are great preparation for an overseas trip and ideal for long-term learning.

From beginner to proficient in Italian: one client’s journey through 12 evening courses

After 12 language courses with Cactus, Mark Holden tells Sarah Watkins about his rather unplanned but highly satisfying journey from complete beginner to proficient in Italian.

As a language lover myself, it is always exciting to find a student who has taken not just a couple but an impressive TWELVE courses with us. To see that someone has progressed from basic to advanced knowledge over the course of a few years is the perfect story, and I couldn’t wait to chat to Mark to find out more about his language learning experience.

The beginning of the journey…

For Mark, there are several reasons for learning Italian, and it all started some four years ago at work. As a chartered engineer working for the European company Airbus, there were a number of Italians working in Mark’s office. What started as a few friendly exchanges of language tips – Mark lending some help with English and learning a few Italian phrases in return – led to dinner at an Italian colleague’s house and the opportunity to discover more about the language.

This, combined with the motivation of an upcoming trip to Ponza, a general love of art, culture and ancient history, and useful prior knowledge of Latin, sowed the seed for Mark and his wife Carren, who also works for Airbus, to take a local evening course in Italian with Cactus in Bristol. For them, learning Italian is pure recreation – just two hours each week to do something for themselves and a fun challenge at the 50-something mark.

Of course, what started out as a beginners’ Italian course ‘for fun’ back in 2010 has taken Mark and Carren much further than they ever expected. Seeing that they were making progress and enjoying the feeling of the language starting to make sense, they moved from one course to the next, taking the odd break here and there, but successfully moving up the levels until now, in 2014, they have 12 courses behind them and have reached the linguistic high of understanding and being understood. Mark is quick to say that he’s not ‘proficient’, as his course title might suggest, but that he no longer has to think about what to say in Italian. He tells me he still has a long way to go and we agree the great thing about learning a language is that it’s an ongoing process and one that can easily become a life-long passion.

Using his Italian in real life

Mark’s courses have been punctuated by a series of trips to Italy and further afield – a real chance to put his Italian to the test. He recalls a trip to Sardinia early on as something of a breakthrough, as it marked the moment when he realised he could actually go somewhere and speak Italian, feeling confident enough to travel around and chat to the locals. Another trip to the Sicilian town of Taormina last summer, where he and Carren took an Italian immersion course, proved just how far they had come with their Italian: they had the satisfaction of chatting to and becoming familiar with the locals, getting recommendations for where to visit, where to eat or what local produce to try and above all feeling like they were part of the community rather than just tourists.

I was particularly impressed to hear how Mark and Carren had managed to combine their passion for Italian with their love of scuba diving on a diving trip to the Maldives. By specifically choosing an Italian-based company, rather than one of the many English-speaking ones, they were guaranteed a good number of Italian guides and guests on board with whom to practise their ever-improving Italian. It goes to show that learning a language can be incorporated into daily life in all different kinds of ways, and it is no doubt this regular exposure to the language both inside and outside the classroom that has fuelled the couple’s progression and enthusiasm over the years.

Mark’s evening course & learning tips

You don’t always have to travel far to make a difference, however. If there is a secret to any of this, Mark tells me, for him it was committing himself to the homework outside class. He found that a 2-hour stint of homework in addition to a 2-hour class each week made the world of difference, being the perfect opportunity to gain a better grounding in grammar. It gave him the time to consolidate what he’d learnt and make sure that he had properly understood, enabling him to go back to class the following week ready to move on to the next topic.

It goes without saying that the success of any course is also down to the teacher, and Mark is quick to pay tribute to his teacher, Valentina, who he and Carren were lucky to have for all but a couple of their twelve courses. He has only positive things to say about Valentina, who he describes as extremely creative, enthusiastic and interesting, tailoring the classes to the students’ interests (even though these were quite varied) and maintaining a fun, relaxed environment. She has certainly been a significant factor in the group ‘gelling’ and in the overall enjoyment of the courses. Although the number of students has naturally fallen as they have progressed through the levels – going from 10 at beginners’ level to 4 at proficient – it is testament to Valentina to have kept such a strong group going.

As for what lies ahead, he feels that two hours each week is no longer sufficient for someone of his level, as he’s reached a natural plateau: he and Carren are hoping to spend more time in Italy to immerse themselves in the language and of course reap the benefit of all their hard work.

They might not have had any grand plan to begin with, but I think if there was ever proof that an evening course can change your life – even if unintentionally – here you have it.

Many thanks to Mark for taking the time to talk to me, and I wish him and Carren all the best for wherever their Italian might take them in the future.

Mark has been learning Italian in Bristol with Cactus. Cactus offers Italian courses in other locations across the UK as well as in Italy.

Cactus Teacher Awards winner & runners-up: Jan-March 2014

Thank you to everyone who submitted a comment about their teacher for the Cactus Teacher Awards last term (January-March 2014). As usual we received many wonderful comments about our teachers, and would like to thank both our students for taking the time to send in feedback and also our teachers for continually delivering such excellent courses.

We’re delighted to announce that our winning teacher was Lucie Prior, who taught our French Beginners 2 course in Victoria, London. Lucie wins a £100 voucher plus a certificate from Cactus and her student, Sophie Johnson, wins a free 10-week evening course.

Below are Sophie’s comments, along with three more of our best entries.

* Teacher Awards Winner: Lucie Prior (French Beginners 2, London Victoria) / Student: Sophie Johnson *

“My teacher, Lucie Prior, deserves to win this award as she is an exceptional teacher.

Her classes are lots of fun – after a long day at work and a trek across London, who would have thought that 2 hours of French would be something I would look forward to so much and leave on a high. Lucie is always energetic, dynamic and light-hearted and her classes reflect this. Her approach gets the best out of her students as she puts us at ease and has everyone participating right from the start.

Lucie’s classes are particularly enjoyable as they are so diverse. As well as covering the required grammar and vocab, we learn a lot about French culture. Lucie’s range of ideas and exercises always keeps the lessons fresh, including film clips, questionnaires, games, mime and song excerpts.

All in all I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 10 weeks and have certainly learnt a LOT. I can’t wait to start the next course and any other teacher wouldn’t cut it for me now! Thank you Lucie for your support and expertise!”

Teacher Awards Runners-Up:

1) Teacher: Aisha El-Turki (Arabic Beginner 3, Brighton) / Student: Evgeniia Makeeva

“My teacher, Aisha El-Turki, deserves to be nominated because she has a very confident, professional and kind personality. Those qualities are certainly important to be a great teacher. She makes everyone in the class very excited and we all always look forward to our next class with her.”

2) Teacher: Gaelle Monfort (French Beginner 1, London Bond Street) / Student: Katalin Zupcsán

“I would like to nominate our teacher Gaelle Monfort. Gaelle makes learning French really fun! I work full time so I often go to the course tired, but I always leave excited and feel like I’m improving well! For a 10 week course we found a really good place to learn – I didn’t think I would improve so much! I will sign up for the next course with Gaelle of course.”

3) Teacher: Romie Lamah (French Elementary 1, London Wimbledon) / Student: Rebecca Flower Cooke

“My teacher Romie deserves the best teacher award because she is always cheerful and friendly and after having tried so many different courses and ways of learning French (none of which have been successful – including one-to-one tutoring), I finally feel like I am learning and understanding a lot with Romie’s teaching. The mix of exercises and talks and discussions we have, have taught me so much new vocabulary and finally enabled me to understand French tenses. Thank you Romie!”

Congratulations to everyone and look out for our Teacher Awards next term – next time it could be you!

Cactus runs evening courses in London and in locations across the UK. The spring term starts in April and the Teacher Awards will run again (deadline Friday 27th June).

 

French evening course in Brighton: Cactus staff review

Salut, je suis Laura et j’apprends français à Brighton.

I have always loved the French language and studied it for numerous years at school. I had thought I had a reasonable grasp of it – that is until I visited Paris last year and stayed with some friends. I found the ability to repeatedly ask for the location of the toilets and to describe my love of swimming at the swimming pool only gets you so far. So when Cactus offered the Beginner 1 French class at their St Giles centre in Brighton, I jumped at the chance!

I am so pleased that I did now – going back to basics has proved so incredibly useful.  We were quite a large group, which was initially quite nerve-wracking (I am not a confident public speaker!). My classmates were of all ages and came from a variety of different backgrounds – some were learning French as they had family and friends in France whilst others took it up as a challenging way to occupy their Wednesday evenings. We were eased into the lesson with a couple of ice-breakers, which included greetings and a fun bingo-style number game. After a short space of time, I felt comfortable piecing together short sentences in French to my allocated partner and then onto the whole class.

We covered a lot of ground in the next few weeks, from learning nationalities to describing what we do at work. However, we eventually had to cover the most formidable subject matter for a native English speaker… le grammaire! It turns out that I had nothing to worry about – our teacher guided us through the different conjugations clearly and concisely, testing us on our new-found knowledge every so often. I can now proudly say that I have the ability to conjugate all (regular) verbs… magnifique!

Learning French with Cactus has been such an enriching experience. Yes, two hours of French on a Wednesday evening after a long day at work can be a little daunting, but the time flies by once you’re in the classroom. If you are thinking of joining an evening course, I would highly recommend committing to a couple of hours a week of self-study outside of the lessons.  It is very important to reinforce the information you take on in class.

I am now enrolled on the Beginner 2 course with the same teacher and I am greatly enjoying it. Although I struggle with certain aspects (such as gender – seriously, why is a table a woman…?!), I really feel like I am making great progress. So much so, I will be trying my luck communicating with others in Paris next month, where I have enrolled on a week-long intensive course.

Merci beaucoup, Cactus!

Laura is Corporate Client Liaison Officer at Cactus and she took a 10-week French evening course in Brighton. Cactus offers part-time and evening language courses in a variety of languages and at various levels across the UK and the US.

German course in Brighton: Cactus staff review

Language Course Advisor Alessia Ungari tells us how her German evening course has given her a real passion for the language

Since I was at primary school I’ve been learning foreign languages and over the years I’ve become a more and more dedicated learner. When I heard that Cactus was offering me the chance to take a language course I was really excited. I speak Italian and Spanish fluently and wasn’t sure whether to brush up my French knowledge or to start with a completely new language. I decided to enrol on a German course, although I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be able to learn a word.

Why German then? Mainly because my relatives live in Switzerland and I’m used to hearing the language since I was a child. But I never learned more than a few words and expressions, such as “Danke”, “Auf Wiedersehen” and “Kartoffeln”. I wanted to surprise them, and the idea of being able to communicate with my little cousins made me very eager to begin lessons.

One of the advantages of Cactus courses: the timetable. As I’m a full time employee, I couldn’t really find time during the week, but studying one evening per week can definitely fit into everyone’s schedule.

The day of the first lesson arrived and I left my work place a bit anxious to meet my classmates and teacher. All I knew about my course was that the tutor was a native German speaker and that there were 6 students in total, including me. All students were in the room at 7pm and the teacher had already prepared the materials necessary to start. For the first hour we had to fill in a questionnaire and played a warm-up game to get to know each other and very soon the atmosphere became pleasant and enjoyable. The lesson went smoothly; Rebecca, our tutor, showed us the lesson plan and asked more about our preferences and expectations from the course. It was a nice feeling to know that we all could express our personal needs and that Rebecca was flexible regarding the course content.

After the first session passed I felt much more relaxed, and despite my tiredness, I was already looking forward to the second lesson.

I couldn’t expect to understand everything at beginner level, but I was really surprised to notice my quick progress over the 10 weeks. My understanding improved, I was much more confident with my speaking and I enjoyed the variety of activities and the great interaction with the group.

In short, my overall experience has been awesome and I haven’t stopped learning since: I’m currently attending the German Elementary 1 programme and all the concerns and the anxiety I had on first day have gone.

My Wednesdays are now exciting and I can’t wait to do my homework during the break to get prepared for the next lesson!

Alessia took a 10-week German evening course in Brighton. Cactus runs evening and part-time courses in a variety of languages and at many levels in locations across the UK and in the US.

Spanish Evening Course in Brighton: a first-hand account

Having put my languages on the back burner since having kids, I thought it was time to brush up my Spanish – and, at the same time, hopefully inspire my little ones. An evening course was the perfect way to do just that…

As a busy working mum, fitting a language course into what was already a frenzied week was slightly optimistic. But sometimes you need to stick your head out…this was something I wanted to do, and surely the kids could cope without me at bedtime once a week. So it was that I ran out the door, notebook in hand, one rainy Wednesday evening to my first Spanish Intermediate 3 class.

Week 1

Any doubts as to whether I should be doing a course were put to rest as soon as I walked through the door. Straight into Spanish, smiles all around, and a teacher who I warmed to immediately – a fun, bubbly Spanish señorita who seemed as mad about languages as I am. There were only five of us in the class – three of whom had progressed from previous courses – which was the perfect number to encourage class interaction and allow us individual attention from our teacher, Emma.

The next two hours flew by as we played language games to get to know each other, one of my questions focusing on why my classmates wanted to learn Spanish – a topic that always fascinates me. One girl, for love – of course. Think Spanish boyfriend, in-laws, future bilingual kids, etc. Another dreamed of moving to Spain. Nice. As for me? I just want to get back the Spanish I learnt years ago and which has laid dormant in my head for more years than I wish to calculate. I also want to inspire my kids, to have them grow up thinking languages are cool. I got home that night to find my poor husband frazzled after a chaotic bedtime. But as the little ones bundled into our bed at 6.30 the next morning, asking me to teach them phrases in Spanish (we got as far as “Hola! Me llamo Oliver” and important toy names such as “elefante” and “peluche”), I realised that perhaps this could be a great thing for all of us.

Weeks 2-9

The weeks proceed with us learning exactly what we had requested in our initial course questionnaires: to learn common Spanish expressions, to understand the real Spanish you hear in the streets, and to gain general confidence in speaking. Lessons cover a variety of exercises to ensure we are improving all language skills: listening to role plays, singing popular songs, reading articles from newspapers and media, writing short texts, discussing topical issues in Spain and the world, and so on.

Emma is quick to pick up on any mistakes and ensure that we all understand, in a fun and inclusive way. Intuitive, smiling and radiating enthusiasm, it’s impossible not to get caught up in her passion for teaching, and I think of the lucky school students who she teaches in her day job for having such a natural ‘profesora’. When I was at school it was rare to have a native language teacher, and I can’t think of better GCSE motivation than having someone like Emma at the front of the classroom.

As for us, back learning as adults, we progress quickly too. New vocabulary and phrases are always listed on the whiteboard and topics lead off onto fun and random tangents such as “We just found out the word for blueberry…let’s name 10 other fruits as quick as we can!”. We’re kept on our toes for the whole lesson and the classes fly by, week after week. For me, personally, it never matters how tired I might have felt beforehand…I always leave feeling exhilarated, with a spring in my step. I get home to find that bedtimes have become calm and tear-free, but can’t sleep because I’m excited by all this new Spanish in my head.

Week 10

We round off our final lesson listening to Spanish music and playing a Spanish word game, a glass of tinto de verano in hand (never mind that it’s November) and garlicky olives, chorizo and jamón serrano on the table before us. After all, it’s as much about soaking up the culture as it is about learning verb tables, right?

I feel sad that my brief window of Spanish each week has come to a close but, with the renewed confidence and motivation it has given me, I know this is just the beginning of my renewed love affair with Spanish. Phoning home to check on the kids and hearing a small voice say “Hola mama!” the other end tells me that it’s all worth it.

Sarah took a 10-week evening Spanish course in Brighton at Intermediate 3 level, with teacher Emma Punchard. Cactus offers more evening and part-time language courses in Brighton, London and other UK locations.

Cactus Staff Review: French Language Course in Brighton

Sebastian Clemens, intern for Cactus Language, tells us about his 10-week French Language Course in Brighton.

I studied French for three years at school but never had the opportunity to put into practice what I had learned as I have never visited France. So a language course with Cactus seemed like the perfect opportunity to brush up on my knowledge and skills. I did not remember much from school so I decided to take a Beginner 2 French class, which turned out to be a good decision for me as the level was neither too high nor too low.

After revising some of the basics of the French language like the alphabet, personal pronouns and grammar structures, the whole class was surprisingly quick at forming sentences and because of this my confidence grew when speaking in just a few hours of the course.

I think one of the reasons for my quick progress was due to the full immersive teaching method used. I believe this is the best feature because instead of translating words into English, the teacher explains, illustrates and describes language structures and words in French, helping the class understand and remember more. It is a lot of fun once you get used to this method and feels much more effective when learning a language.

The lessons lasted for two hours and time usually flew by with speaking, listening and writing exercises. There were occasional games and the lessons never felt boring and every week was a mixture of gaining new knowledge and revising what we had learnt in our previous lessons.

The homework helped me to keep track of the content covered in the last lesson as I found that sometimes it was hard to keep track of my progress, particularly because I am working and found I did not have a lot of time to revise.

I find that I still struggle with understanding spoken French on the radio or TV, but definitely hope I can continue some studying the French language on my own in the future.

If you would like to follow in Sebastian’s footsteps and take a French language course, then Cactus offer a variety of courses throughout the UK, US and in France.

Cactus Staff Review: French Language Course in Brighton (in English / en français)

Christina Niedermeier, marketing intern for Cactus Language, tells us about taking a French language course in Brighton after not having studied French for several years.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to start again, especially when studying languages – or so I thought.

When I was at school in Germany, I took French lessons for three years and I really enjoyed them. But when I had to decide which A levels I wanted to take, I dropped French because I wanted to focus on other subjects such as English, History and Maths. With my focus on other subjects, I did not think about the French language for a very long time and thought that I would not have the opportunity to study it again.

However, this February I came to the UK to do an internship in the marketing department of Cactus Language and as a member of the Cactus team I have the opportunity to take a free 10-week language course here in Brighton. As I was surrounded by people speaking different languages every day, I felt inspired to take them up on the language course but I was not sure which language to take as there are many to choose from. For that reason, I had to ask myself whether I wanted to learn a completely new language or did I want to refresh my really rusty French.

After a while, I decided to take a French language course with Cactus because I had already spent some time learning the language and wanted to revive the bits of French I still had in my head. I did the on-line level test as I was not sure of my language level and began an elementary level French course.

Before my first lesson started, I was fairly worried because I felt like I had forgotten everything I ever knew about French. I think many people who stop speaking a language for some time will feel the same. At the beginning of my course I found I was hesitant and struggled with the easiest of sentences but I knew that the grammar and vocabulary had to be somewhere in my head. I just needed to find them again.

Our French teacher was great and covered basic French grammar in the first few lessons, so everything came back to me step by step. So far, I can use basic French grammar again but I know it will take a little bit longer and a lot more work until I reach my former level. However, now that I have taken the first steps to start learning French again, it’s easier to keep going. I also have the motivation to improve because I will be attending university in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, for a semester and their second official language is French.

Version française

Parfois la chose la plus difficile à faire est de recommencer, particulièrement lorsqu’il s’agit d’étudier les langues étrangères, ou du moins c’est ce que je pensais.

Quand j’étais à l’école en Allemagne, j’ai suivi des cours de français pendant trois ans et j’ai vraiment adoré. Mais quand j’ai dû décider quelles matières je voulais prendre pour mon test de fin d’année de lycée (A levels), j’ai laissé tomber le français parce que je souhaitais me concentrer sur d’autres matières telles que l’anglais, l’histoire et les mathématiques. Etant focalisée sur ces matières, j’ai arrêté de penser au français pendant longtemps et je ne pensais pas que j’aurais l’opportunité de pouvoir à nouveau l’étudier.

Cependant, au mois de février de cette année je suis arrivée au Royaume-Uni pour y faire un stage au sein du service marketing de Cactus Language et, en tant que membre de l’équipe Cactus j’ai eu l’opportunité de suivre gratuitement des cours de langues pendant dix semaines ici à Brighton. Etant entourée de personnes parlant différentes langues chaque jour, cela m’a donné envie de suivre un cours de langues, mais je ne savais pas lequel prendre car le choix était important. Pour cette raison, j’ai dû me demander si je voulais apprendre une langue complètement nouvelle pour moi ou si je voulais rafraichir mon français très rouillé.

Après un moment, j’ai décidé de prendre les cours de français avec Cactus parce que j’avais déjà passé quelque temps à apprendre cette langue et voulais faire revivre les petits fragments de français que j’avais encore dans ma tête. J’ai fait le test en ligne comme je n’étais pas sûre de mon niveau de langue et j’ai commencé au niveau élémentaire.

Notre professeur de français était génial et a couvert les points de grammaire de base pendant les premières leçons, ce qui fait que tout est revenu petit à petit. Maintenant, je peux de nouveau utiliser quelques points de base de grammaire française mais je sais que ça me prendra un peu de temps et beaucoup de travail avant que j’atteigne mon précédent niveau. Cependant, maintenant que j’ai repris les premiers pas pour apprendre de nouveau le français, c’est plus facile de continuer. J’ai également la motivation de m’améliorer car je vais aller à l’université de Rabat, la capitale du Maroc, pendant un semestre et que leur seconde langue officielle est le français.

If you would like to follow in Christina’s footsteps and take a French language course, then Cactus offer a variety of courses throughout the
UK, US and in France.