Learning a language through film

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Some people can learn more quickly from reading in their target language, others from hearing it. Probably the best technique includes learning from both reading, speaking and hearing, since you use different parts of the brain for different activities. It’s quite common for students who have reached an advanced level of study in foreign languages to have difficulties in carrying out a simple conversation.

Especially if you are a beginning language learner, you will likely not understand much of the language when watching a movie. Native speakers talk rapidly, use slang, and often speak in accents or local dialects. Nonetheless, watching a foreign language film is a fantastic way to attune your ear to the sounds of the language. You’ll probably notice that by the end of the film, you’re able to understand bits and pieces of what you hear. Gather your friends together, make some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the adventure!

Movies with or without subtitles are a great way to hear the natural sounds of a language. You can close your eyes and listen or read subtitles to see how the translation differs from the original. If you have a DVD of the movie then you will have the opportunity to watch a few times, first with and then without subtitles, and you will be amazed at how much your comprehension improves.

Another important factor with modern foreign movies is the cultural insights you will have into another country and way of life.  Especially for people planning on visiting or working in another country and culture, you will be able to see the way people behave in different situations, and will be able to bridge the distance that separates you from the other culture.

Visit your local movie rental store and browse the foreign film section. Most films will be in the foreign language with English subtitles. Some university libraries have foreign videos that you can check out. Another alternative is to join an online DVD subscription service. Netflix has over 3500 foreign films available for rent—by far more than any other rental service. And some of the films are even available for download, so you can view them immediately upon joining Netflix .

Here is a short list of some recommendations from our teachers of good movies to watch in different languages.

French L’Auberge Espagnol (The Spanish Hostel)
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (Amélie)
Le scaphandre et le papillon (The diving bell and the butterfly)
Italian Il Postino (The Postman)
La vita è bella (Life is beautiful)
German Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run)
Das Leben der Anderen (The lives of others)
Spanish Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)
Cantonese Gong Fu (Kung Fu Hustle)
Mou gaan dou (Infernal Affairs – and the movie ‘The Departed’ was based on this)
Portuguese Cidade de deus (City of God)
Central do Brasil (Central Station)
Japanese Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai)
Tokyo Monogatari (Tokyo Story)
Polish Popiol i Diament (Ashes and Diamonds)

Top 5 reasons to choose Fort Lauderdale as your English study destination

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There are plenty of good reasons to choose Fort Lauderdale as your study destination, but here are our top five.

1. A fantastic climate

Fort Lauderdale is located on the southwest coast of Florida, or the ‘Sunshine State’, as it’s also known. As its name suggests, Florida enjoys one of the nicest climates in America, with consistently sunny, warm weather. Fort Lauderdale itself has a tropical climate, with average monthly temperatures that are always higher than 18.0 °C (64.4°F).

2. Great beaches

Fort Lauderdale’s coastal location means that there are plenty of beaches in and around it to choose from. Some are bigger or busier than others, but all have lovely, white-sands and glistening turquoise waters. If you’re looking for a quieter, more rugged beach the Northern Beach Area between Oakland Park Boulevard and Sunrise Boulevard are nice, whereas the South Beach Area offers proximity to shops, restaurants and clubs. Most beaches offer watersports options too, so anyone who likes activities such as snorkelling, diving and waterskiing will have plenty to keep them occupied.

3. Attractive surroundings

Of course, sunshine always makes cities look more attractive, but Fort Lauderdale’s appeal can’t be attributed solely to the sun that shines on it. Its popularity as a yachting centre means that it has an array of attractive marinas and boatyards, and it also boasts an expansive canal system, which explains why it’s called the ‘Venice of America’.

4. Good entertainment options

Fort Lauderdale has long been known as a party place, but these days it offers a more cosmopolitan and up-market entertainment scene than previously. The area around Las Olas Boulevard in particular has scores of bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas. You’ll certainly never be stuck for something to do in the evenings or at the weekend in Fort Lauderdale.

5. A range of cultural offerings

Sometimes beach resorts can be somewhat lacking in the cultural stakes, but not Fort Lauderdale. The city has a fantastic range of cultural venues and events, including the Bass Museum of Art, Bonnet House Museum and Gardens, Broward Center for the Performing Arts and the Old Dillard Cultural Arts Museum.

Fort Lauderdale really is a city with something for everyone, whether you like the arts, the beach, sports, shopping, or enjoying a nice evening meal with a glass of wine. There’s no wonder that it is said to offer one of the best standards of living in America, and that it has become so popular with tourists and students alike.

Please visit the Cactus Language website for details of courses, levels, prices, start dates and to book.

5 cheapest places to learn English in the US

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One-week general course (20 lessons per week)

Prices start from £229 for a 1 week course from 7th September 2010

1. New York Penn Plaza, New York Tribeca

2. New York Penn Station

3. Boston Campus, San Diego, San Diego (La Jolle), San Francisco, Seattle

4. New York Times Square, New York Soho, Boston City

5. San Francisco Downtown

One-week general course (20 lessons) + single room with a host family + breakfast + dinner

Prices start from £549 for a 1 week course from 7th September 2010

1. Seattle

2. San Diego

3. San Francisco, Boston Campus

4. San Francisco Downtown

5. New York Penn Station

One-week general course (20 lessons) + single room in a shared apartment or residence (no meals)

Prices start from £539 for a 1 week course from 7th September 2010

1. San Diego

2. New York Tribeca

3. Seattle, New York Penn Plaza

4. New York Soho

5. New York Grand Central

Please note: prices were correct at the time of writing, in July 2010, but are subject to fluctuation according to changing exchange rates.

Cactus offers a range of general, intensive, individual, combined and exam preparation courses all around the world. For full course listings, including prices, and to book please visit the Cactus Language website.

10 good reasons to TEFL

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1. Travel

TEFL gives you a perfect way to see the world and fund your travel. Some people start teaching in one place, fall in love with it, and stay for a long time. Others however prefer to change location every year, and by so doing literally work their way around the world. Read more →

The Independent - 17 July 2010

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This double-page article by Joe Bindloss takes a look at how you can take time out for travelling without damaging your career.  It includes an interview with a previous Cactus Tefl student, Tessa Barber.  She talks about her experiences of retraining as an English teacher and her varied work experience around Europe. 

Joe writes: “If the focus is on gaining new skills, there are many opportunities to study abroad. Total-immersion language schools such as Languages Abroad (languagesabroad.co.uk) and Cactus Language (cactuslanguage.com) offer the chance to learn a foreign language in the country where it is spoken, from Spanish courses in Barcelona to Mandarin Chinese courses in Beijing.

“If you don’t want to learn somebody else’s language, you could always try teaching your own. Language schools around the world need a steady supply of qualified English teachers, and, with aTefl (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) or Tesol (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification, you can work almost anywhere. The most widely recognised teaching qualifications are Cambridge Celta(cambridgeesol.org) and Trinity CertTesol (trinity college.co.uk). Cactus Tefl (cactustefl.com) can arrange certification courses around the world – a four-week Tefl course in Poland, Hungary or Thailand can cost as little as £779. Search for teaching jobs at eslcafe.com/jobs and tefl.com.”

https://www.independent.co.uk

UK language schools win High Court battle over visa restrictions

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The new restrictions had been drawn up by the former Labour government, who thought that illegal immigrants and migrants seeking low-skilled work were abusing the system. 

The feeling amongst language schools and many other organisations however, was that it’s nonsensical to require students to know English before they come here expressly to study it.

The case was brought by English UK, a body that represents 440 language schools, whose main argument was that the Home Office should have brought the issue back to Parliament for proper debate.

Mr Justice Foskett said the fresh restrictions had been ‘achieved through altering guidelines when there should have been a formal change to the rules‘, with the matter referred back to Parliament.

Chief Executive of English UK Tony Millns said: “I am delighted and relieved.”

“We are pleased that Mr Justice Foskett saw the merits of our case and we believe that his decision is good for the UK economy, to which the English language sector contributes about £1.5 billion in foreign earnings each year.”

He said he hoped common sense would now prevail so that students could come into the UK to study English with a lower level in the language.

The current government says it is reviewing English language requirements across the visa system, and that it is committed to undertaking a review into the Student Tier of the Points Based System later in 2010 to ensure that all students coming to the UK are genuine.

Read the full story on the Guardian website

Visit the Cactus Language website for full listings of English courses in the UK

Arabic evening course: Cactus staff experience

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The Level 1 Modern Standard Arabic course provides basic reading, writing and speaking skills in the Arabic language in a really entertaining atmosphere.

All the students have their own reasons and motivations for following this course. That’s why the teacher is happy to define particular objectives to reach, according to what the students actually expect from the class. Consequently the learning is really adapted to each one’s needs.

The first approach of the language is quite disturbing for a complete beginner! Indeed the first step is to go through the Arabic alphabet, and to discover the various new and unfamiliar sounds. Pronouncing and repeating the letters is a real challenge on the first lesson! But there is actually nothing to fear for the following sessions, because the language is then analysed little by little, and the students can make progress at their own pace.

Every week, a new group of similar letters from the Arabic alphabet is studied, including how to write them separately and how to join them to make up words and phrases in a proper way. This is really like a game, playing with symbols and trying to give sense to those. It is quite fun! Moreover the lessons and the exercises from the book are used in such a way that the students learn how to write Arabic from a strong basis and in a smooth manner.

In a same progressive way, students get to know the numbers from 0 to 10. Later they learn how to compose bigger numbers as well as cardinal numbers, and how to write them, both with symbols and letters. Once the functioning of Arabic numerals is understood, they learn how to tell the time.

When it comes to vocabulary, students are invited to give a list of specific words that they would like to learn for personal purposes. Otherwise basic words of daily life are looked at, such as colours, days of the week, members of the family, etc. Some grammar is also tackled such as differentiation between feminine and masculine words.

As for the speaking side, students get to know a few sentences for a basic, survival conversation, such as greetings, presentation and useful phrases in particular situations. Some role plays are organized to make the pupils really involved, and to keep them active and dynamic!

In order to make noticeable progress, it is essential to do practical exercises, to write as much as possible, to learn the vocabulary every week and to keep the lessons interactive. It’s then a huge feeling of satisfaction, happiness and pride, being able to express yourself in such a different language!

Cactus runs evening and weekend courses in Arabic in London and Brighton. Courses are also available in many other languages and cities across the UK.

German evening course in New York: Cactus staff experience

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Week 1.

Just started the German Beginners course in Tribeca – not a language I have ever planned to study before, but I’m fast becoming hooked by its never-ending words and grammatical rules. As the class is small- only 4 of us- we have plenty of opportunities to practice, and it’s a nice relaxed and enjoyable environment. We spend time getting to know each other today, and learning the basics of the German alphabet and how to pronounce the new letters we see. Bonus- there’s a great coffee place very near the school for me to top up on caffeine before this new form of brain-exercise!

Week 2.

I learnt today that there isn’t a single American in my group. We’re British, Hong Kongese, Spanish and Puerto Rican- a great mix!! I’m not sure if that helps us with our studies or not, but we’re all enthusiastic, which definitely does.

We did quite a lot of review today- very necessary to remind us all of what we learnt, and subsequently forgot, from last week’s class. Saskia, our teacher, is very patient and goes through things with us in both German and English so we don’t miss a thing.

My word of the day: Entschuldigen – Excuse me.

Week 3.

Questions and answers, and our first real look at how verbs are formed. There’s a lot to learn, but fortunately German is a language with a lot of rules, so once I have those down (if ever) I should be able to get quite competent. Learning verb tables reminds me of learning Latin when I was in Secondary school- hopefully I’ll do better with German than I did with Latin though! We learnt and practiced a lot of question forms, and asked each other about families and pets. I’m getting to know the other students quite well now, and in class we have no secrets!

Week 4.

Kein and nicht – 2 ways to say no. Sounds easy? Well, it’s not- combined with word order and part of speech to determine usage I feel like I’m wading through a big linguistic swamp. When I say no I mean no, so I don’t want to get this wrong. A few exercises for homework will help, but much more important is the practice we do in class to reiterate the different uses and smooth out the errors.

Week 5.

The mid-way point of the class, and at this point I feel like I have already come quite a long way. I can introduce myself, talk about my family, talk about jobs and use different verbs in the present tense, as well as being able to ask quite a lot of questions. Now it’s just time to get used to listening to the different accents out there.

We also had a quick-fire question quiz in class, a kind of review of everything we’ve done so far. Quite a few things have clicked into place, so I don’t think I embarrassed myself too much- we all had fun and ended the class on a German high!

Week 6.

Unfortunately I had to miss this class- I hope I didn’t miss too much though. Fortunately my very kind teacher Saskia sent me a summary of the class and homework by e-mail, so I can still keep up in my own time and I won’t feel too left behind next class.

Week 7.

Phew- there was a review of last class on the board when I arrived, and as I was a little early I had a chance to talk to Saskia about the grammar of the previous class. Important stuff too- like, love and hate- I wouldn’t want to miss out on how to say that, not that my husband will understand when I coo Ich liebe dich in his ear.

Time to learn the imperative, and give orders. As a teacher myself I can be quite bossy, so I can see this coming in handy.

Week 8.

Again another very intense class – we did a lot of work with the different cases in German – Accusative, Nominative and Dative. Compared with English this language is pretty complicated, but once you get the hang of it you feel like you can conquer the world!! Needless to say, I haven’t conquered anything yet, but with a little practice I should do OK.

The whole group felt quite tired by the end, but nothing that a drink together after the next class won’t improve!

Week 9.

Essen und Einkaufen – Eating and shopping – 2 essential subjects to learn about. There are a lot of interesting cultural facts which go with food too, like the German for dinner- Abendbrot – means evening bread. And they only have a very light dinner, not like the English who tend to have their largest meal in the evening.

We also studied time – and now I know why Germans are always early: their halb zwie – ‘half ten’ actually means 9.30!! Half before ten. We don’t stand a chance against that!

Week 10.

Last class- really? Already? It seems like 10 weeks have whizzed past, and I actually feel like I have learnt quite a lot. OK, so I’m sure I make mistakes every sentence, but I can speak and understand a range of topics, talk about what (or who) I love, like and hate, go to a restaurant or hotel and not be completely embarrassed, find my way around a new city, ask quite a lot of questions… all the things you need for a trip to Germany as a matter of fact.

2 of my co-students are actually off to Germany for work next week, so we spent some time in class going over things they would need to be able to say when they get there. They both looked happy and confident- and I’m sure they’ll have a fantastic time.

I had to finish the course with a new sentence: Deutschland hat ein sehr gutes Fussballspiel gespielt – Germany played a very good game of football.

My teacher was very happy with the results so far- and next will be the Germany- England game. Go England!!

So all in all I’m a happy student following this course, and I hope I’ll be able to sign up for the next level to keep it up. In the meantime I’m going to take Saskia’s advice and get down to the Goethe Institut for some language practice. She also recommended a website www.leo.org which has resources and a dictionary- sounds good to me!

Cactus runs German evening courses in New York and San Diego.

Those wishing to practise their newfound language skills abroad can take a German course in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Learning a language in the country where it’s spoken is the ideal way to really immerse yourself in the language and culture.

Learning German: starting from scratch on an evening course

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Having not learnt a new language since taking the unknown foreign language component of my Trinity CertTESOL course in Russell Square in 2003 it was all a bit daunting going into a classroom to be confronted with the possibility of starting a new language from zero. Even on that Trinity course, we were really only learning an unknown language to put us in the position of being language learners to empathize with total beginners. For me, it was time to bite the bullet. I’ve travelled to Germany 4 times for work and each time I am embarrassed by my inability to even say “how are you” in German.

However, as with all new things, it’s never as difficult as you think and the teacher made all 5 of us feel very at home in the class and soon we were greeting each other and saying where we were from. The great thing about being a total beginner is that learning just a few phrases gives you a sense of achievement as you come out knowing relatively so much more than you did before! After we’d had just a few lessons, we’d got into a routine of a few of us getting together for a cheeky pint of beer (Becks of course) after the lesson to practice phrases and compare notes about all things German.

As the course progressed several things struck me. One was that I was the only British person in the class, highlighting how bad we are as a nation at learning languages, and the other was really how similar some German phrases are to English. For example, das ist gut.

Das certainly wasn’t gut when a few of us met up yesterday (just before our final lesson) to see the German football team annihilate England’s underachievers by a whopping vier goals to ein and send us crashing out of the World Cup. I’m sure our teacher won’t be feeling too smug for the final lesson, and I have no doubt that I speak for myself and my classmates when I say that we all have an excellent second team to support. Deutschland! Deutschland!

I mean, I couldn’t possibly support a team led by Maradona!

Alex took a beginners’ German evening course in Brighton. Cactus runs German courses in Brighton and other cities across the UK. German evening courses are also available in the US.

Those wishing to practise their newfound language skills abroad can take a German course in Germany, Austria or Switzerland. Learning a language in the country where it’s spoken is the ideal way to really immerse yourself in the language and culture.

Spanish evening course: Cactus staff experience

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I’m walking towards St Giles in Brighton feeling a bit nervous. I’ve signed up for a Spanish course and am about to attend the first class in a few minutes. I wanted a challenge and so enrolled onto the Upper Intermediate level, even though I scored one level below in the Cactus online level test. However, I feel my Spanish skills have become pretty rusty lately. The weeks preceding the course I have been trying to get used to speaking English 24/7, my mother tongue being Finnish, and the sudden swap of languages makes me a bit worried – maybe I will be able to recall English words only when trying to express myself in Spanish for a change.

I find my way to the class room and soon my fears have vanished. The teacher is encouraging us to speak and is happy about every sentence we are able to produce, regardless if it’s grammatically a hundred percent correct or not. The most important thing is that you can make yourself understood. Over the years I have taken lessons in a total of seven foreign languages and some of these I studied for several years. I have been taught by 25 to 30 language teachers. I can tell from my experience that the best way to obtain skills that are useful in real-life situations is to speak, speak and speak a bit (or better still, a lot) more.

Even though I still feel my Spanish is rusty and all the vocabulary I once learned is hidden somewhere in the back of my brain, I feel comfortable on the course. The class size is small, just four of us altogether which forces you to participate actively. It is a weekly full immersion into the Spanish language for two hours. The teaching method is ‘full immersion’ which means that no English whatsoever is used from the moment we enter the class room – if we don’t understand a word, our tutor will explain it to us in Spanish. During those two hours on Wednesday nights we have time to do lots of different kinds of exercises – listening, role plays, games, general conversation about some certain topics etc.

The ten weeks pass by quickly and we are finishing with the course sooner than I realise. I am happy with the course but not too happy with my own performance – I should have spent some more time on self-study between the classes. Fortunately I can also continue with independent study after the course as I have my text book, all the materials our teacher has handed out and the podcasts that are available for downloading after every lesson. And actually the immersion experience wasn’t limited to the class time either. Once after our lesson we had a Spanish dinner together with the class and the teacher. Spanish omelette – delicious!

Cactus runs Spanish evening courses in Brighton and other cities across the UK. Courses are also available in the US and Canada.

Those wishing to practise their newfound language skills abroad can take a Spanish course in locations across Spain and Latin America. Learning a language in the country where it’s spoken is the ideal way to really immerse yourself in the language and culture.