Language schools are especially inventive when it comes to combining a foreign language with various hobbies. For example, sports, dancing, cooking, art, knitting, fishing... It goes without saying that a fisherman spots a fisherman from afar, just as an athlete spots an athlete, and a dancer a dancer. Happy people with such common interests will find like-minded souls anytime and anywhere. But those whose hobby falls outside the usual gentlemanly set and seems so exotic to those around them that good people can barely keep from twirling a finger at their temple often suffer from loneliness and a lack of understanding from relatives, close friends, and even "distant" acquaintances. And they find like-minded souls in those same language schools.
Of course, to get a deep sense of satisfaction from courses where foreign language lessons are combined with your favorite hobby, you need to treat vocabulary and grammar as tenderly as you would, say, knitting needles, stamps, or a bicycle. Because the main thing is still the language, to which you will, one way or another, have to devote 15-20 hours a week. But the rest of the time you will spend in the company of fellow enthusiasts from different countries, sharing experiences with them in the language you are learning, without fear of hitting a wall of misunderstanding.
Foreign language schools meet the aspirations and interests of their students and try to diversify their programs like "Language + hobby" so that everyone can find a course to their liking. It so happens that different countries have their own "signature" courses - this is partly due to cultural characteristics. Thus, hardly anyone in their right mind would go to England to study cooking, or to Italy for golf. It's quite the opposite... So it turns out that people go to Britain for "English + sport" courses, to Italy for "Italian + cuisine (or art, or opera)", to Malta for "English + diving", to France for "French + winemaking" (or the same cooking)... Although no general rules exist here. Even more so, there is no traditional set of "Language Plus" courses: schools are free to invent whatever they see fit, remembering that there is no activity, no matter how meaningless it may seem to the uninitiated, that someone has not chosen as a hobby. Among the "Language + hobby" programs, you can find such as "Italian and diction training for opera singers and actors", "English and landscape gardening", "Spanish and bullfighting" (though they won't let you into the arena). In addition, in different countries language courses sometimes involve archaeology, photography, ikebana; they almost embroider on tulle. And maybe somewhere they do embroider - after all, there are a great many schools, and methodologists' imagination is inexhaustible. All we have to do is choose and enjoy.
We are not charlatans
Take, for example, the occult sciences. Although a fascination with alternative medicine and all sorts of black magic is not so rare among us, many consider these spheres of human knowledge to be a fraud and charlatanism, and their adherents to be gullible eccentrics ready to take the bait of any simple trick.
And in the English town of Paignton, the Totnes School of English operates, where lovers of alternative and folk healing feel at home. The course "General English + Complementary Health" includes 20 hours of English in the mornings, and in the afternoon - practical classes in four (optional) types of healing techniques. These classes are taught by practicing doctors who have cured many people with alternative means. On offer are: aromatherapy, massage, shiatsu, acupuncture, reflexology, herbal medicine, yoga, as well as branches of alternative medicine less known here – kinesiology (diagnosis based on muscle condition) and the so-called Alexander Technique (a method of optimizing the body's work through conscious redistribution of muscle load).
However, it may turn out that exactly at the time of your stay at the school there will be no other people wishing to study in your chosen area. No big deal – the seminars will still take place, just twice a week instead of four, and only for you. Individually. And you won't be left without communication: the instructor doctor is ready to talk with you on topics that interest you and to suggest where your like-minded people "can be found."
The London school Euroaccents will offer you the course "English + astrology". If you have ever doubted that astrology is a science no less serious than astronomy, then here you will certainly be persuaded otherwise, because the teachers here are not charlatan fortune-tellers like Sybill Trelawney from "Harry Potter", but certified astrologers.
Celtomaniacs, arise!
Thanks to the Tolkienists, a considerable part of the population, especially young people, has caught Celtomania. Often this enthusiasm is rather superficial and does not go beyond Irish pseudo-folk music and Guinness beer. But serious Celtomaniacs want to set foot on Irish or Welsh soil, learn at least one of the Celtic languages and "blend in" with the cultural context - even if it is just choral singing in a pub or dancing folk dances at a party. For this crowd, the direct route is to Ireland, to the Gaelic language and culture school Tig Roy. It is located in County Tipperary, in the picturesque, typically Irish village of Goulbally. The Gaelic language is taught here from complete scratch, and to feel like a native, you can take a ten-week traditional dance course - in particular, the jig, which all Irish people around the world dance on St. Patrick's Day.
If your interest in Ireland extends to serious issues of history, culture, traditions and folklore, you can take an Irish Studies course at the Centre for English as a Foreign Language at Belfast's Queen's University. This is a three-week course intended for people with above-average English. You can choose topics that interest you, for example, Irish history and politics, Irish literature, the origins of the Gaelic language and its role in modern Ireland (if you wish, you can even take a few lessons in Gaelic). As for traditional Irish musical instruments such as the bodhrán and uilleann pipes (Celtophiles will understand me), they will not only be shown to you and have their history told, but you will also be allowed to play them. And representatives of the fair sex (we are all feminists at heart) will surely like the topic "Women in Irish Society."
Courses for the restless
Everyone knows that learning a foreign language requires perseverance and patience. But for many, there is nothing worse than sitting in a classroom, poring over textbooks or the audio equipment of a language laboratory. Some of these fidgety people believe that they are not meant to master a foreign language: the process is just too tedious... So what should they do—remain ignoramuses? Absolutely not! You can study at language schools while trekking across rugged terrain, plowing through water expanses, diving to the seabed, or soaring above the earth. Especially since some countries seem destined by nature itself for adventure seekers. For example, Australia and New Zealand. Of course, today in these civilized countries you won't be painted with ritual tattoos like Paganel, nor eaten like Cook. Instead, they will put you up in a comfortable hotel or a family home and teach you English using the most advanced methods. In your free time after classes, you will reward yourself for your diligence by thoroughly satisfying your passion for an active — breathtaking! — lifestyle.
For example, one of the New Zealand language schools is called Taupo Language and Outdoor Education Centre. Its founders knew where to set up their operation—on the shore of the country's largest lake, Lake Taupo, next to Tongariro National Park. Among the activities that strengthen body and spirit, accompanying the English course, the school offers, first, all kinds of "water games"—windsurfing, rafting and kayaking, sailing, and also river or lake fishing. Second, the mountains are at your service—mountaineering, rock climbing, climbing Tongariro volcano. Third—aeronautics on all sorts of flying machines, hiking of varying difficulty, and from July to October also skiing.
And even in crowded, well-trodden Europe there are plenty of places that will appeal to a potential adventure seeker. For example, the seaside and mountain regions of Spain, such as the surroundings of Malaga, where the language school Academia Adventure Spanish Studies (AASS) is located. The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea invites underwater swimming, water skiing, and all types of surfing. In the surrounding mountains, you can simply wander and climb, or you can race around in cars or on bicycles. And at the sight of a hang glider or paraglider soaring overhead, few can resist the temptation to rise into the air and "spread their wings."
Don't become a poacher...
Well, learning a language during a hike or a mountaineering ascent is all well and good—these are "team" activities, during which communication is simply necessary. But fishing! The common opinion is that a fisherman is a gloomy type who hates any conversation and people in general, because they scare away fish, and communicates exclusively with the silent inhabitants of the underwater kingdom, with whom you can't learn a foreign language—you'll even forget how to speak your own. Nevertheless, many language schools believe that fishing goes great with classes. After all, a true fisherman is not satisfied with just pulling out a reeeeally big fish; he also needs to boast about his catch to everyone he meets, and especially to other avid anglers, so that they simply die of envy.
This opportunity is offered to fishing enthusiasts by the Sherkin Island English Centre school in Ireland, on Sherkin Island. They teach general and business English courses that are intensive yet flexible, that is, adapted to each individual's needs. Grammar, conversation, role-playing, discussion of videos watched the previous day, and, of course, fishing tales in English. And the reason for tales—salmon fishing in the open sea from a sailing boat, the kind the inhabitants of County Cork have used for centuries. Fishing can be done on weekdays in the late afternoon or on weekends from morning to evening. Especially since, as the locals note, not hiding their surprise, "there is still a lot of fish here."
Hands Are Itching
Some people like to make things, to watch a beautiful and useful object come out of their hands. Others are fascinated by the history of things... Of course, you can plane shelves and stools at home, but if you want not just to give your hands work, but also to broaden your horizons and learn some Italian, the language school II Sillabo in the town of San Giovanni Valdarno will welcome you. Here, in addition to the traditional courses for Italian schools, "Italian + Painting" and "Italian + Cooking," you will be offered the chance to learn how to make ceramics. For six or twelve hours a week (your choice), you will work with soft clay that obediently takes the shape of a dish or vase in your hands. Here they will also reveal to you such secrets of pottery as firing, painting, glazing, and other ways of decorating ceramic items. In addition, they will give you a short course on the history of ceramics—from ancient civilizations to the present day. Of course, in Italian, but you will also be attending language courses.
For antique lovers, the school has created a program «Italian + antique furniture» - the history of Florentine furniture from the 15th century to the present day. Theoretical classes are combined with practice in restoration workshops. And at the Scuola Palazzo Malvisi in Florence, you can also learn the art of mosaic.
He doesn't know how to dance...
Big deal... He will learn. Just not at a neighborhood disco, where young people jump around like goats to music. Ask where? What are language courses for? Courses that teach not only dancing but also language. English, Spanish, Portuguese - any one your heart desires. Yes, at foreign language schools there is no end to what you can learn! Even flamenco and samba. Although dance, like fishing, seemingly requires no words...
The English town of Tunbridge Wells, imbued with the spirit of the frivolous Georgian era and at the same time full of modern temptations, is conducive to fun and social entertainment, including dancing. The program «English + dance» at the Cicero school will satisfy any whim of those who want to dance. Eight hours a week, they teach rock and roll and tap dancing, tango and foxtrot, various ballroom dances, in particular, the waltz. And also the dances of hot Latinos - both traditional samba and rumba, and modern cha-cha-cha, jive, and salsa, to which the school's second, Latin American program is dedicated. But! Remember that Cicero is still a language school, and all «dancing and prancing» is only after three-hour English lessons every morning.
By the way, about Latin American dances. Yes, you can practice them in the green heart of England, or you can do so in their homeland - in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, where there are also plenty of language schools. Take, for example, Brazilian capoeira: you can fully appreciate this exotic art only in its homeland. For instance, at the Brazilian language school Dialogo, located in the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia. Here you will learn Portuguese, and then perform intricate movements to the sounds of traditional instruments and incantation songs. Of course, at Dialogo you can also master other Brazilian and Afro-Brazilian dances, and after that it's a direct road to the carnival in Rio.
You can't describe all «Language + hobby» courses, and this topic is incredibly fascinating. Therefore, we skip courses that have already been written about more than once: language plus sports, cooking, design... Whatever the «plus» is, language schools are confident: the easiest thing to learn is what a person is interested in. If you have chosen an interesting course, do not doubt that you will master the language.