Tag Archives: #choosinganintensivecourse

There are so many language schools promoting their summer intensive courses right now, so make sure you take these 5 things into consideration when choosing which one is best for you.

1 LOCATION – many people head for the big cities. While this can be a great opportunity to visit somewhere you’ve never been to before, it is also likely that you will have further to travel to get to your lessons – which means additional daily travel costs to get to your school. You could also spend a lot of time walking around on your own. Interesting but will you be using your language skills?

2 COURSE PROGRAMME – find out as much as possible about the course programme. Why do you want to do a summer language course – for work, pleasure, cultural interest, passing an exam? Choose a course that really meets your needs. If you need to improve your professional language skills, look for courses which specialise in professional adult training. Also think about 1:1 classes. This option will provide you with more personalized lessons that can be tailored towards your specific requirements. If you want to enjoy discovering your surroundings and practise the language with the locals, choose a course which allows you to have a real language holiday and live the language, not just study it.

3 ACCOMMODATION – You may be more comfortable in a hotel but the homestay option offers you greater opportunity to speak with your host family during mealtimes. Student residences can be a lot of fun but learners with the same mother tongue often tend to aggregate together and not practise their new language skills.

4 COST – the cheapest option is the cheapest for a reason. If you are giving up one or two weeks of your holiday time to learn a language, invest in a course that really will live up to your expectations and give you the results you need. And don’t forget that there are often many extras to be taken into account: enrolment fees, books, cultural programme, accommodation and board, travel costs – flights, airport transfers, insurance, travelling around during your stay, agency fees, personal costs e.g. museum tickets, cinema etc.  For example, if you find a one-week group course at a well-known language in London this summer costing around €600, expect to end up spending around at least €2000.

5 TEACHERS – who will your teacher be? Find out as much as you can about your teacher and his/her qualifications, how long s/he has been teaching, whether s/he is a permanent member of staff or only hired during the summer school period. Check out any student reviews available to see what they say about their teachers and the course too.

Here at Oakfield, we organize highly personalized summer intensive courses in the beautiful Umbrian countryside, in Italy. You won’t have the bright lights of New York, the university city of Oxford to discover, nor the beaches of Malta but you will have a 100% English experience.

We also organise language holidays for those of you who want to enjoy discovering Umbria and Tuscany whilst also improving your language skills. Relax, learn, enjoy. That’s our motto.