This is our most popular
course because it guarantees you extremely rapid progress in
your chosen language in the least possible time. Why is this?
It is because you live in the teacher's home, isolated from your
native language. 'Living in your teacher's home' is the only
system which prevents you from speaking your own language after
class and thus destroying a great part of what you have learnt.
This is the whole key to rapid learning.
All Ages Our students come from all age groups and all possible backgrounds,
from countries throughout the world.
Language courses for Young Children We have children as young as 9 years old who are quite happy
to leave home and study with a teacher, yet sometimes you can
have a 17 year old who cries at first, because of homesickness.
The suitability of a course for young children depends far
more on the character of the child than it does on the age.
Parents are usually reassured by the fact that all our teachers
are qualified and, therefore, experienced in caring for children
and supervising them. A family who merely lets rooms for money
in no way feels the same duty of care as a qualified teacher
who is a professional not only in imparting knowledge, but
also caring for younger students.
We also offer Closer Supervision (Cocooning) for under 18s.
The Standard Course does not oblige the teacher or member of
the family to spend all their time with the student, but the
teacher does of course spend a reasonable amount of time with
the student, as they would with any friend who came to stay.
On the other hand, this closer supervision option guarantees
that the teacher or an adult member of the family is around at
all times, but does not guarantee specific activities.
Language courses for Adolescents Many of our students are at the point of leaving school or are
already attending university and, although at 18 they are technically
adults, parents still like a watchful eye kept on them. Our
teachers are the most suitable people to do this. They can,
for example, warn students to avoid certain areas in big towns
and can protect the younger students from forming friendships
and associations with undesirable friends. This sort of protection
even for young adults can only be given properly by true professionals
such as our host teachers.
Mature Students There are no
upper age limits and we have had students aged 80 years or more.
The key for us is to find retired teachers who prefer to host
the more mature student with whom they have more in common. Business
and professional people often find our course most useful when
visiting a foreign country - for business or for a professional
conference, as they find that a couple of weeks spent learning
the language of the country they are visiting repays itself 100-fold
by impressing the foreign business partners or congress delegates
with a working knowledge of what is often an obscure language.
How Do We Choose The Right Language Teacher
For Each Student?
We take the greatest care to learn as much as possible about
our students and our host families so that we can match students
with teachers of similar backgrounds and very often similar interests
such as golf, tennis, classical music or other hobbies. Please
try to enrol at least one month in advance so that we can be
sure of selecting exactly the right family for you.
Who Monitors The Student's Progress? In each area we have Local Organisers who contact the student
shortly after arrival to see that they are happy. On very rare
occasions there can be a clash of personalities. When the Local
organiser telephones or visits the most important question
that is asked by the Local Organiser to the student is 'Are
you happy with your family?' or 'Do you want a change of family?'.
The student only has to answer 'Yes' or 'No' and does not have
to give any embarrassing reasons for wishing to change. All
teachers know that on very rare occasions the chemistry is
just not right and that in such cases the family will be changed
with no hard feelings on either side. Changes can also be made
in the case of illness or accident and our Local Organisers
all have years of experience in dealing with these situations.
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