Language Courses in Europe

A world of words

We live in an age of global communication, and the currency of communication is language. Experts estimate that there are a staggering 5 000 to 10 000 languages spoken in the world today, not to mention all the dialects and variants of those languages. Of these, the top 12 account for about three fifths of humanity, while the top 30 are spoken by more than three quarters of the world.

Between them, the EU’s half a billion citizens, in 27 Member States, speak 23 official languages, not to mention all the regional and minority languages. German is the most widely spoken as a first language, with about 90million native speakers. It is followed by English, French and Italian.

With all this linguistic diversity both within Europe and across the world, there are many advantages associated with learning and knowing a foreign language. It can help people make friends, enjoy their foreign holidays and travel more easily, advance in their careers or indulge in the pleasures of other cultures. Learning a language can also help broaden people’s horizons.

Moreover, the European Union has essentially become borderless and all citizens have the right to live, to study or to work wherever they want to within its borders, but the lack of language skills still represents an invisible barrier to free movement. Learning a language can help improve your ability to move around freely.

There is a certain aura of genius attached to speaking languages. But multilingualism is not only the preserve of academics and bookish linguists; plenty of European celebrities are also multilingual. Take football, a sport not traditionally associated with linguistic prowess, but which is replete with players who are fluent and articulate in several languages.

For instance, former French captain and national hero Zinedine Zidane speaks French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic and Berber. Ruud van Nistelrooy, the famous Dutch striker, speaks four languages, while his compatriot ‘Lucky’ Guus Hiddink, the celebrated football coach, speaks five languages. The popular English striker turned TV commentator Gary Lineker, when playing for Barcelona, did television punditry in Spanish. ‘I’ve really enjoyed learning Spanish and Japanese. Getting to grips with a new language can be great fun, and you learn so much about other people and what makes them tick,’ he says.

Learning a new language — like learning music — requires some effort but is enormously rewarding, and the journey can be as enjoyable as the arrival, as anyone who has embarked on this road can tell you.

For more informaion on language courses in Europe, please write an e-mail to StudyWesternEurope EU <- click for e-mail

Language Institutes in Europe (all English, unless otherwise stated)

France

Accent Français, French Language School, Montpelier

Accent Français (Montpellier, France) All Inclusive Junior Summer 2022 Pack

Germany

German Language School (GLS) Berlin, Germany (Geman language classes, also summer camps and German high school programmes)

The language academy Alpha Aktiv, Heidelberg, Germany (German language classes, also English, French and Spanish language classes)

GoAcademy! Düsseldorf, Germany (German language classes, also English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish language classes)

Great Britain (United Kingdom)

See the British language schools here

Ireland

Atlantic Language Galway (Dublin and Galway) Ireland

Cork English Academy, Cork City, Ireland

The International School of English, Dublin

Italy

Centro Studi Italiani, Urbania (PU) Italia (Italian Language Classes)

The Italian Academy, Syracuse, Sicily

Malta

inlingua 2020 Teen Camp, Sliema, Malta

NSTS English Language Institute, Valletta, Malta

Portugal

Portuguese Connection, the Portuguese Language School, Lisbon, Portugal (Portuguese language classes)

Summer 2021 English Language Courses in the Algarve

Spain

AIP Spanish Language Institute, Valencia, Spain (Spanish Language Classes)

AIP Spanish 2020 Summer School for Teens in Valencia, Spain

Caxton College 2021 Summer Courses, Valencia, Spain (Spanish and English)

Enforex Spanish/English Language Summer Camps (Spanish and English)

Mallorca 2020 Watersports Camp

Taronja School, Valencia, Spain (Spanish language courses)

For more information on the language courses in Western Europe, please contact StudyWesternEurope EU <- click for e-mail