EDUCATION
Top Five Language Hotspots
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY LANGUAGE PROGRAMME Intensive courses that promise to push you – take your pick from 18 languages, including Arabic, British Sign Language, Hebrew, Korean, Portuguese and Swahili. The next round begins in April. langcen.cam.ac.uk HILLS ROAD ADULT EDUCATION COURSES
Choose from a wide range of languages including Chinese, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish (at a range of levels), plus beginner Turkish and Ukrainian. Find out more at hillsroad.ac.uk ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE Alliance Française has been sharing the best of French language and francophone culture in Cambridge for 40 years. Sign up to a course
in Cambridge. Established 40 years ago, the charity offers classes in both French and Spanish for adults and children. It currently teaches around 120 children aged between four and 18, who attend classes on Saturdays, while adults constitute at least another 120 of its learners. Many are studying French for work, with specialist classes that can focus on professional areas such as business, marketing and development. Others are attracted to the social aspect: every Wednesday a conversation class called Café Français is held between 11.30am and 12.45pm. Some people have met their partners while studying at Alliance Française – and there are even a couple of Alliance Française babies in the mix! For director Patricia Dalby, the benefits of learning a language cannot be emphasised enough. “As a person who speaks English, French and Spanish, I believe that speaking different languages opens doors for you. It’s like borders don’t exist – you feel you can travel without fear and understand your surroundings,” she comments. “It’s also great for self-esteem. It’s about obtaining a skill that not all people have, and the opportunities that presents you with.” Patricia is also an ardent advocate of lifelong learning more generally: “Personally, I think everyone should constantly learn,” she affirms. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a language, the guitar or football, it should be part of your life to learn all the time!” For those seeking a taste of Cambridge’s academic side, then the Cambridge University Language Programme (CULP) is the place to look.
online and polish up! alliance-cam.co.uk
CAMBRIDGE CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTRE Learn about one of the richest and oldest cultures in the world. Classes take place at Chesterton Community College every Sunday during school term time, between 12 and 2pm. For enquiries, get in touch with Shia at edu@ cambridgechinesecommunity centre.co.uk LA DANTE IN CAMBRIDGE Inspired by the Dante Alighieri Society, La Dante offers classes in Italian, Spanish and English and hosts regular cultural events. ladante-in-cambridge.org
Founded in 2000 as a university-wide language programme for non-specialist learners, CULP teaches a total of 18 languages – including recent additions Latin and Ancient Greek. Historically, classes have always been taught in a blended mode, with face-to-face teaching plus a bank of online resources for self-study between classes – a structure that enabled a smooth transition to online learning during the pandemic. Now, 60% of the teaching is face-to-face, while 40% is remote. This offers greater flexibility for students, such as medics on placement – and has helped make the courses more accessible to the public. According to the director Nebojša Radić, participation by external It’s great for your self-esteem. It’s about obtaining a skill not all have
NEVER TOO LATE Don’t be put off if you only have vague memories of your school French, adult classes cater to all
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