The importance of learning other languages is sometimes overlooked or not fully appreciated by us. We speak English and when we travel we generally find that English is highly valued and widely spoken abroad , at least enough to enable us to get by without making too much adjustment.
However if we move outside tourist areas or find ourselves in a work situation abroad thats when we have to fall back on what we have retained from school or resort to Google Translate.
School leavers and graduates increasingly need to have a command of at least one other language, beyond English and Irish, not only to secure employment abroad but also to compete for jobs at home where the global nature of business is developing all the time.
For teenagers Transition Year offers a great opportunity to use time to improve language competence by staying abroad for some weeks with a host family on a student exchange. A homestay alone or some weeks in school abroad while living with a host family as part of an exchange gives students a total immersion among native speakers of a language. It increases fluency and will leave students relaxed and confident when approaching their oral exams.
No other learning method is as successful as the 'Total immersion' method. Indeed it was the method used by the British Army in the last century to learn Japanese, a notoriously difficult langiage for westerners!!
Exposure to a foreign language by spending some weeks immersed among native speakers is invaluable at a time when the ability to speak at least one other foreign language has never been more important for job-seekers.
Our exchanges range from 10 days to six months, each exchange is individually tailored to meet the needs of the student.
However if we move outside tourist areas or find ourselves in a work situation abroad thats when we have to fall back on what we have retained from school or resort to Google Translate.
School leavers and graduates increasingly need to have a command of at least one other language, beyond English and Irish, not only to secure employment abroad but also to compete for jobs at home where the global nature of business is developing all the time.
For teenagers Transition Year offers a great opportunity to use time to improve language competence by staying abroad for some weeks with a host family on a student exchange. A homestay alone or some weeks in school abroad while living with a host family as part of an exchange gives students a total immersion among native speakers of a language. It increases fluency and will leave students relaxed and confident when approaching their oral exams.
No other learning method is as successful as the 'Total immersion' method. Indeed it was the method used by the British Army in the last century to learn Japanese, a notoriously difficult langiage for westerners!!
Exposure to a foreign language by spending some weeks immersed among native speakers is invaluable at a time when the ability to speak at least one other foreign language has never been more important for job-seekers.
Our exchanges range from 10 days to six months, each exchange is individually tailored to meet the needs of the student.
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