Get the most of 2012 with a CESA language course abroad!
Fabulous destinations, quality language schools and first-class
language courses, whatever your requirements.

Study Spanish in Madrid
Save 15% of the tuition fees

Dates : 6th Feb through to 15th April ’12
School : Madrid
Duration : 1 to 4 week programmes
Applies to the following courses
Standard Course, Intensive Course,
Combined Course AND Private Tuition!

Spend a few weeks in Madrid this Spring and
brush up your Spanish – with this value for money offer!

                                                Book by  : 29 February 2012

Talk to the CESA staff : 01209 211800
or enrol now : www.cesalanguages.com
_________________________________________

Accommodation, Travel and Insurance costs not included. 
Enrolment subject to availability
Please quote: Madrid.Offer.12

Heidi Langlois

As I had never been to Europe before, I really wasn’t too sure what to expect from the whole adventure. I was very excited to experience a European city, meet new and different people as well as get to learn a new language – Portuguese – which has always been a dream of mine.  Linguistically, I was hoping at the end of the course to be able to grasp the basics of Portuguese and have the ability to participate in an every day conversation.

My expectations were exceeded. I met a host of wonderful, different people, had a very enriching experience in all areas and I am now able to converse in Portuguese.

The language lessons at the Portuguese language school in Lisbon, were definitely a challenge, which was a definite positive. You feel like you are learning! I loved the fact that the teachers only spoke Portuguese during the lessons as this gets you thinking in Portuguese constantly. My teacher for the 8 weeks was absolutely brilliant – very patient, great sense of humour and didn’t only teach us the language but taught us about Portugal in general. He was also very reassuring in his teaching methods, always encouraging and getting you to improve.   I found that the 3 hours in the morning was sufficient – you came out of the lessons feeling like you had used your brain!  I think more than this in the morning would have been too much – for the more serious students the afternoon lessons available are perfect.

All the teachers in general at the school were friendly and took the time to interact with you whether you were in their class or not.  They were very convivial and created a great atmosphere for fun learning and always made you feel very welcome. The staff at the school really did their best to assist with any queries students had and make sure we had the right information to learn fully as well as get the most out of Lisbon.

The location of the Portuguese language school was perfect – from my experience it was very central and I found you could get anywhere from the school, whether you were walking or taking public transport.  Social activities were well organised, very interesting, and a really good way to ease yourself into finding your way around Lisbon.

Most certainly all the facilities are available for students to use Portuguese in every aspect of daily life – from buying your bus ticket, to ordering coffee and a pastel de nata from the pasteleria, to asking for directions, buying phone credit, so on and so forth. Lisbon is such a diverse city that you will constantly have something to do. From sight seeing, shopping, lying on the beach during the day to dining in a Fado restaurant, going to the movies, partying away in Bairro Alto till the early hours of the morning. One of my absolute favourite things to do was get ice cream from any number of cafes or the more specialist ice cream parlors – really, really good!! There is a great place near Chiado which is generally open till midnight – be warned that you may have to queue if it’s a busy night.

Travelling is a great confidence builder as well, as long as you are prepared to take a leap of faith and put yourself into situations where you can converse with people. The one great thing about Lisbon was that I found people to be very patient and happy to help you along, so don’t be afraid / shy / nervous to open your mouth. You will benefit from making an effort to interact with the community.

I was delighted with my accommodation in Lisbon and hosts. They were incredibly welcoming, friendly and helpful. Breakfast was great – cheese, bread, coffee, tea, chocolate spread and always ready at 8am. I was even lucky enough to be spoilt with unexpected surprises of ‘just made’ desserts and special cookies every now and then – remember how you treat your host is most likely how they will treat you!

I would advise future students: do your research and make sure if you are arranging your accommodation through someone else that they are aware of your expectations. Thus you will then be informed of what to expect before you arrive.  Living with a host family is living in someone’s house, not in a hotel.  Also remember that not only are you living in a different culture to your own, you are not in your own personal home so don’t expect everything to be as you would have it in your home.

As James Michener says: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” You are living an experience, enjoy it as such and learn from it – go into the experience with an optimistic view and open mind.  

And finally…

I was very pleased with the attention, service and very helpful assistance that CESA provided. My million and one questions and requests were dealt with patiently, informatively and within a respectable time frame.

    > View course details

  Deadline: 13 February 2012

Megan
24 weeks in Montpellier
Gap Year Course
(with great photos!)

Going to Montpellier to study French was easily one of the best experiences of my life.

I had always wanted to improve my language skills and going to Montpellier allowed me to finally do it!

 In just six weeks I went from very basic conversational skills to being able to converse freely, express my opinion, use different tenses and make jokes and laugh with my friends! Just being in France makes the world of difference as you constantly have the opportunity to put into practice the things you learn in class. The teachers at the school were great, they taught at a steady rate meaning that you are constantly learning but never going too fast.

The French language school organises a lot of trips and there’s so much to do in Montpellier that you can never get bored.

The best thing about going to France was the friends I made – I now have friends for life in countries around the world – and we all speak French to each other!

Regards – Meg

Dates : Sept/Dec 2012 (12 weeks)

The Scholarship has been a huge success over the last few years and we expect competition to be hotter than ever, so please get your applications into the CESA office as early as you can.

Application deadline for 2012 : 30 April 2012

> Scholarship offer details

> Cannes College details

Remember – if you aren’t lucky enough to be selected for the Scholarship, you are welcome to enrol at the French college for 2/24 weeks at anytime throughout the year.  There are plenty of start dates on offer and the French language school in Cannes caters for all language abilities. 

 If you’d like to know more please contact us on 01209 211800, we’d be happy to help!

Hannah’s Report / October 2011
12 weeks in Cannes (Sept/Dec 2011)

‘Salut!

 Report One           (see end of blog for : Report Two)

Am writing this having been in Cannes
for about 1½ weeks, although I feel so at home here
it could have been months!

Am having a really lovely time, meeting new people almost every day, spending afternoons on the beach, getting to know my way round Cannes.. And learning lots too!

In fact, the lessons are great – it’s not just grammar which we study (although we do enough for me to already feel like I’m improving after 1 week) but loads of really interesting topics. The approach in lessons is different every day so you never get bored and time goes by much more quickly than it ever did at school!

I’m working as part of the ‘equipe d’animation’ which means I do a few shifts every week in the snack bar. I have to admit it doesn’t feel much like work as there’s always someone there to help you out and keep you amused. So far I haven’t had one shift which has been a chore (don’t want to speak too soon though..!). The huge upside of working in a team like ours is that it means I am constantly speaking French and picking up new words and phrases, something I love. I already feel so much more comfortable expressing myself and am getting much more fluid.

There really are great people here, studying and working (or both, like me!) that you’re never bored, and you can always be learning something new about someone’s culture or language. There’s just a brilliant atmosphere in the whole college.. I couldn’t feel better about my time here so far!

HM’

Report Two

‘Hello!

I can’t believe it’s already December, and I’m heading home soon. Time here in Cannes has gone by so incredibly fast that I have hardly had time to stop and reflect on what an amazing time I’ve had and how many great friends I’ve made.

Having originally decided to apply for the scholarship with the intention of improving my French, I can say for definite that it was worth it – I am so much more confident now and am able to express myself in almost any conversation, and feel at ease being part of a group speaking French. My grammar is nowhere near perfect but I have made progress, and some rules which I would never have understood on paper have become second nature just because I hear them being spoken all the time. I would certainly recommend this method of ‘living the language’ to absolutely anyone who has the opportunity.

The college has quietened down now as we’ve said goodbye to a number of groups and individuals and it’s nearly the end of the season. Although it was sad to see friends leave, it’s still fun here and everyone is really close having spent so much time together. I’m still enjoying work in the bar, and have become a very proficient panini maker, hopefully a skill I can take advantage of in the UK.

Something I have really benefitted from is the fact I can go along on some of the college excursions. I’ve visited Grasse – the capital of perfume, Aix en Provence which was so pretty I’ve been wanting to go back ever since and Nice which is so close and so easy to get to. I’ve also been olive picking with a local family who treated us to a real provencale lunch as a thank-you for helping them with their harvest, and have visited the Ile St-Marguerite which is ten minutes by ferry from the old port here in Cannes.

Most importantly, I have met so many different and wonderful people and learnt alot from them. We all get along brilliantly and are such a diverse group being from such a variety of countries and cultures that it is certainly a unique experience. I have an awfully long list of places to visit in the future now with friends in all corners of the world!

I don’t want to go on for too long but all in all my time at the college will be a memory I will treasure and I know for certain that when I go home in December I will not be saying goodbye to Cannes for too long – I’ve fallen in love with the Cote d’Azur!

A huge thankyou to CESA for giving me this opportunity!
HM’