We’ve all been there, on holiday, in a restaurant and you’d really like to order something from the menu and not sound like a complete fool. So you attempt the schoolgirl French that you remember and then die of embarrassment as the waiter gives you a patronising look and repeats what you tried to say correctly (and often in much better English than your French!). And it’s ok if your pride takes a bit of a battering for a couple of days a year but what if you’ve invested in a holiday home abroad or fancy the idea of taking a working holiday in France or Spain. What if your escape pad or planned job is in an area where there is very little English spoken?
No doubt you’ll have heard horror stories of people buying holiday homes in France or Spain only to find out they hadn’t completed some vital piece of paperwork. This usually comes down to a communication issue because we don’t get a good enough grasp of the language before we trot off on the plane.
Or you could be in the enviable position of being offered a promotion at work, a move to a European office such as Barcelona or Paris is on the cards. It’s great because most people speak English but you’d be in a much stronger position if you spoke the language and were able to handle the very simple day to day activities such as going to the supermarket or doctors without having to resort to using a dictionary or translator.
There are many different ways you can learn a language – evening classes, online courses and tapes. We often get asked at 121 Home Tutors to work with people on their French, German or Spanish language skills because they value the one on one help we can provide. And private language tutoring is one way to learn fairly intensively and with continual encouragement to keep working at it (rather than letting the language tapes languish at the back of a cupboard). We’re also able to tailor a very specific private tutoring language course rather than teaching you things that maybe aren’t so relevant. If you need business French then we can focus on what you’ll need to work best in the office (so you’ll need to know the word for a photocopier or words specific to your job). If you’re buying a property in say Germany or Spain we can focus on the language relating to homes and any particular legal language you may need. The other great thing is that many of our tutors have spent time in the country you’ll be discussing and can give you little hints and tips.
If you’d like to know more about learning a language such as French, Spanish or German and you live in Manchester or Cheshire (we cover areas including Bramhall, Hale, Wilmslow, Didsbury and Alderley Edge) then contact 121 Home Tutors.
Tags: Languages, Learn a language