Language Courses

There are many great reasons to study language courses. In some cases you are pursuing a specific career and need to be able to communicate with customers or colleagues. In other cases you might be dreaming of studying abroad, but the foreign language skill you require is not quite up to par. Or maybe you simply have an interest in languages and culture, and wish to learn and explore. Regardless, you will find that you gain far more from studying a language abroad, than a few new words.

Global options

Language courses are offered in many different forms all over the world. For example, there are language schools worldwide that specialize in teaching foreign students the local language. This is perhaps the most common choice. Another option is the language courses offered by many universities. These will often last longer than a language school program, and are focused on preparing students for future academic study. Other schools will focus their language teaching around specialized subjects, for example business. These schools often provide intensive courses with a focus on the language necessary for business communication such as negotiations and business manners.

What do language courses require?

Participating in a language course can be both challenging and incredibly rewarding. In doing so, you can create the opportunity to communicate with potentially billions of people in new countries across the world.  

If some of the following criteria sound familiar to your own skillset, a language course could be a perfect route to pursue.

• You have a passion for communication and possess strengths in listening, speaking, memory and problem-solving.
• You enjoy communicating with people from different countries and cultures.
• You have the confidence to embrace the unfamiliar. You may be required to study entirely in your new language, and/or live in a country where you are not a native speaker of the language.

The benefits of studying a language abroad

One of the main benefits of venturing abroad to undertake a language course, is the chance to truly immerse yourself in the culture as well as learning a language. This allows you to understand different ways of thinking and learn about traditions and cultural elements - things that often have an unexpected and strong influence on a language.

Such cultural elements can be for example how you greet new acquaintances, understand a new sense of humor, and appreciate a fully different set of cooking skills. Meeting a new culture can be just as valuable as learning the new language. And it is the two together that will make you truly proficient, and successful in communicating in the future.

A further advantage of undertaking language courses in a new environment as opposed to home is that you meet a broad variety of different people. Contacts are said to be invaluable, and it's true. Studying abroad will mean that you meet people, not just from your host country but from all over the world.  

It's also worth remembering that it's not just the contacts gained when studying a language abroad that are important, but the friendships you form in the process. This gives you an understanding, and an acceptance of the unique differences between people and cultures. Something, which in and of itself is a skill highly valued by today's employers.

Learn a language - change your life!

So, whether you choose to study in China, France, Russia or Portugal, rest assured that you will gain the experience of a lifetime. Learning a language and connecting with a new culture will change the way you view the world. Prepare to open your mind!