Over the Abyss with a Shark
Location: Auckland, New Zealand.
Organizer: Embassy CES school.
Language: English.
Highlight: opportunity to swim with sharks and bungee jump off a bridge (base jumping).
Suitable for: thrill-seekers.
Study: general English (from beginner to advanced). Option to take diving lessons with a professional instructor and obtain a diver certification.
Requirements: for diving lessons - basic English; for bungee jumping - strong nerves.
Price: standard course with homestay - from $1,480 for two weeks. Diving lessons are paid separately.
Worth remembering: a New Zealand accent may develop. Maori still wear grass skirts, and sometimes nothing at all.
Strolling in Africa
Location: Cape Town, South Africa.
Organizer: Cape Town School of English (part of the EC school system).
Language: English.
Highlight: you can bottle-feed a little lion cub at an orphaned animal shelter, or fly over a nature reserve in a hot air balloon. Traditionally, nature excursions end with a glass of champagne. By the way, near the Cape of Good Hope, in reserves on islands and on the mainland, there are penguins. People are forbidden to swim or approach these places to avoid disturbing the birds, especially during the incubation period. But the penguins can do anything! So they calmly swim onto beaches, wander among vacationers and sunbathers, looking at people with surprise and curiosity.
Suitable for: travel and exotic lovers.
Study: in lessons, students are told and shown on video what awaits them on the nearest weekend. Having learned what things are called and how to express their excitement, groups go for the weekend to the jungle, the savannah, diamond mines - to apply the acquired knowledge in practice.
Requirements: no restrictions on age or language level.
Price: general English from $165 per week, intensive from $230 per week.
Worth remembering: you will need vaccinations (list can be clarified at the embassy). The country has a high level of street crime; white people should not go out in the evening or alone. Do not leave the school grounds without an instructor - there are wild animals everywhere.
Of One's Own Free Will
Location: worldwide.
Organizer: Global Vision International.
Language: English.
Highlight: participation in various Volunteer Abroad actions (volunteers are grouped into research teams by interests, taking into account age, gender and health). For example, you can join the "circular defense" of New Zealand's Tongariro National Park from the invasion of rodents, which during migration eat everything in their path. Volunteers are involved in studying the migration routes of African animals; they work in Ecuador collecting data on the water balance in the upper Amazon. And those who are into diving help study the coral reefs of the Caribbean.
Suitable for: nature lovers, students, scientists, engineers, etc.
Study: participating in an international team is a good way to practice English. At the same time, you can learn to work with equipment that you are unlikely to use in everyday life.
Requirements: English at Intermediate level.
Price: free. Volunteers travel to the meeting point at their own expense; equipment for work is provided.
Worth remembering: the working language of the team is English; the main participants are Europeans and Japanese, most are "white-collar" workers who want to spend their vacation on environmental activities. Volunteers' health is checked. The difficulty of the work and route should be matched to one's physical fitness.
Mind Games
Location: Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Organizer: Regency School of Languages.
Languages: English and French.
Highlight: visit the famous casino, and if you are there during the season, chess championships and Formula 1 races.
Suitable for: passionate, gambling types who know their way around online poker.
Study: general English (or French) from beginner to advanced.
Requirements: no restrictions on age or language level.
Price: general language course in a group from €375 per week, homestay from €200 per week, hotel from €480 per week.
Worth remembering: everything is very expensive. There is not a single alley on the principality's territory that is not monitored by cameras and not controlled around the clock by security services. Most Monacan men work in security services; they guard and cherish tourists - the only source of income.
Life with Beer
Location: Dublin, Ireland.
Organizer: Centre of English Studies language school.
Language: English.
Highlight: opportunity to walk through the seedy places of modern Dublin.
Suitable for: lovers of Anglo-Irish literature and, in particular, the works of James Joyce.
Study: humor, pranks and practical jokes are an integral part of the curriculum and one of the methods of mastering the language. For example, all students receive an invitation to meet at a pub: "Leaving the school, turn left, after two blocks turn left again, ask passersby how to get to the bridge, from the bridge straight, after two blocks left." When, after getting thoroughly lost, the student finally finds the pub, it turns out that it is located in the building next to the school, only the entrance is from a different street.
Requirements: no younger than 17.
Price: from €1,300 for two weeks.
Worth remembering: Centre of English Studies offers foreign students to join the Leopold Bloom Friends Club. But Leopold Bloom's favorite drink should not be overused: Guinness beer is quite strong.
White House Next Door
Geography: USA, Washington, D.C.
Organizer: I.L.I. - International Langu-age Institute.
Languages: 12 languages.
Highlight: According to legend, the institute was created to train personnel for the CIA, and foreign students coming from all over the world allow them to practice during official debates and private conversations with speakers of various languages. The list of excursions includes visits to the White House (the school is a 30-minute walk from it), the Capitol, the FBI, Arlington Cemetery, the National Air and Space Museum, etc.
Who it's for: anyone interested in politics, diplomacy, etc.
Studies: general English from basic to advanced. At high levels, students are offered special training - accent reduction, public speaking, discussions, meetings on current issues, etc. There are evening English classes from 6:40 PM to 8:45 PM. Discussion topics are quintessentially Washington: "Human Rights," "Multinational America," "Official Languages," etc. There is evident interest in cross-cultural communication: on the bulletin board in the institute's lobby, there are many ads like "I want to speak Korean with a Korean (phone)," "I want to speak Spanish with natives of Latin America (phone)," "I will gladly participate in a discussion of EU issues in Polish (phone)," etc.
Requirements: the school does not accept students with "zero English."
Price: language course - from $640 per week, with accommodation - from $800 per week.
Keep in mind: you will have an exciting meeting with visa officers at the U.S. Embassy.
Aloha, English!
Geography: USA, Hawaii.
Organizer: Intercultural Communications College.
Language: English.
Highlight: excursions to the lava erupting from Kilauea volcano and sliding into the ocean, climbs to the craters of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes. Opportunity to surf and dive.
Who it's for: thrill-seekers.
Studies: general English, levels from beginner to advanced.
Requirements: from 16 years old (in groups from 12 years old), adults - no age restrictions.
Price: four weeks – $6,990.
Keep in mind: Mauna Loa erupts every three to four years, and Kilauea annually. Be prepared for evacuation in case of earthquake threat or strong eruption. It is possible to stay with an American family and obtain a diver's certificate.
Foggy Prospects
Geography: USA, California, San Francisco.
Organizer: St.Giles School of English.
Language: English.
Highlight: visit the famous prison museum Alcatraz and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge, riding the cable cars, walks along the legendary "hilly" streets featured in many Hollywood movies. You can take a trip to Napa Valley.
Who it's for: business people working with American companies, enthusiasts and connoisseurs of US history.
Studies: English language courses of any intensity, as well as English+ programs.
Requirements: age from 18 years old.
Price: standard English course - from $380 per week, additional classes in English+ programs are paid separately - $250 per week.
Keep in mind: in the USA, they study "American English," which, as is known, differs somewhat from classical English. In San Francisco, there are heavy fogs and it is quite windy, night temperatures are much lower than daytime, so you should bring warm clothes.
Kangaroo Hops
Geography: Australia (Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne).
Organizer: the Australian college network Holmes Colleges.
Language: English.
Highlight: visits to national parks and wildlife reserves (you can take photos with kangaroos and koalas), a weekend in Tasmania (even if you don't see the Tasmanian devil in its natural habitat, you can buy postcards and souvenirs), beach relaxation.
Who it's for: travel enthusiasts.
Studies: all Holmes Colleges have a common curriculum, so students can move from one campus to another and see the whole country along the way. At the new campus, English lessons continue from the exact page where participants left off before moving.
Requirements: no younger than 17 years old.
Price: standard course with homestay - from $1,500 for two weeks.
Keep in mind: during excursions in the Australian jungle, you must obey the instructor and guide unconditionally, and you should not wander off without an escort. In Australia, there are more men than women, so white girls are especially popular.
Kids Without Cages
Geography: the country estate Home and Farm (2.5 hours drive from London, nearest town - Malvern).
Organizer: International University Center "Znanie".
Language: English.
Highlight: dogs, sheep, chickens. You can help feed the animals, dig in the garden, walk in the surrounding hills on horseback (or pony) or on foot accompanied by huge good-natured Saint Bernards (the dogs look after the children like professional security guards and will not let them get lost in the forest or approach a stranger).
Who it's for: children tired of city bustle, noise, and exhaust fumes.
Studies: in the morning - English classes, then lunch with the teacher - this is also a lesson (children remember names of foods, etc.).
Requirements: summer program for children 7-14 years old.
Price: from 800 pounds per week.
Keep in mind: the group of countryside lovers is accommodated partly at the Home and Farm estate, partly on neighboring farms. If parents want to join their children, no one will object. The food here is exclusive: vegetables from the garden, fresh milk, eggs straight from under the chicken.
Can't Wait to Get Married
Location: Lisdoonvarna, Ireland.
Organizer: Irish Galway Cultural Institute.
Language: English.
Highlight: participation in the annual Irish Brides Festival. Music, songs, dances from morning till night, cooks compete in the squares, amazing meat and fish dishes are prepared over an open fire, people wash down all this deliciousness with unimaginable amounts of Guinness.
Suitable for: everyone looking for their "soulmate".
Study: foreign men first prepare: they study at the institute the English vocabulary necessary for a person planning to get married. This takes one week. Then the "grooms" go to Lisdoonvarna, where the festival is already in full swing.
Requirements: it is desirable that festival guests be of marriageable age.
Price: language course from €160 per week, other expenses at the participants' discretion.
Should remember: if someone catches someone's eye at this celebration of life, then three English words - I love you - will be enough for successful matchmaking.