“The MW International Summer School is a magical place where you can stand by the window for hours and watch the hills, how the shadows of clouds run across them, how the morning haze melts away... And even in the rain you can’t take your eyes off this expanse,” says Moscow schoolgirl Sonya Ginzburg. “At the school art studio we were given sketchbooks and paints. And what a teacher we had! She took us to London, to the National Gallery. Whether you have talent or not, whether you know English well or understand almost nothing – it doesn’t matter: her lessons were clear to everyone.”
Educators and psychologists recommend learning a foreign language from childhood, and best of all in a country where everyone speaks it. Such an opportunity is provided by international linguistic centers organizing summer courses with immersion in the language environment for both children aged 3-17 and adults. These programs have a reasonable balance of study, sports, recreation, educational excursions, and creative workshops. However, summer at an international camp or foreign school is not only classroom lessons and language practice in free time, it is also an incentive: for the sake of continuing a friendship that has begun, a teenager is even willing to take extra English lessons.
The earlier, the better
A child is three years old, still in diapers, but parents are already thinking about his career and promising education: a successful start today is impossible without knowledge of foreign languages. And there are schools abroad where they are ready to teach English to little foreigners almost from infancy. One of them is International Community School (Skola) in London – it accepts children starting from age three all year round. At the same time, the toddler must be accompanied by an adult, who has their own program – business, educational, or recreational. In the morning, the adult takes the child to school, like to a kindergarten: teachers organize games in which words and basic English structures are memorized imperceptibly.
At Australian International College of Language (AICOL) you can come with a six-year-old child. The school is located in the city of Gold Coast, nearby is an endless sandy ocean beach. Parents are unlikely to find a better place for a beach holiday, while the child learns “two stomps, three claps” in English.
You can just as successfully combine a beach holiday and study in Malta: the Maltese joke that they have more English language schools on the island than in England itself, and 360 sunny days a year. However, there are English language schools in Cyprus, on the beaches of sunny Spain, and on the Canary Islands that accept foreign students as whole families.
But one of the most effective ways of learning is English in the teacher’s family. The options for accommodation and study are extremely diverse. For example, a beginner course is organized for mother and toddler, and business English for father. You can choose a family of teachers with whom you share common interests, and after lessons do your favorite things together: gardening, watching football, making music, horseback riding, etc., while improving pronunciation and expanding vocabulary. Such programs are offered by companies like Regent Home Tuition, InTuition Languages, International Language Homestays, and others. Living with a teacher’s family or simply staying with an English-speaking family is possible for both adults and schoolchildren, but for parents with young children it is perhaps the most convenient and inexpensive option.
For the independent and inquisitive
Children without parents can go on foreign summer programs from the age of 7-8 – both in a group with a chaperone and individually. In the first case, the group leader is responsible for the young traveler; in the second, during the journey the child is in the care of a flight attendant, who upon arrival hands them over to a representative of the school or host family.
When choosing a suitable summer program abroad, it is worth focusing not so much on formal parameters (age and initial level of language proficiency) but on the personality traits of your child. If the child is not yet ready for an independent stay abroad, it is better to postpone the trip: what is the point if they suffer and count the days until returning home? For difficult-to-manage, overly demanding children who do not know a word of English, it is better to travel with parents, while a sociable, well-adapting child even at 7-8 years old is not afraid to be among strangers speaking an unfamiliar language. Especially since the teachers of summer language courses are specially trained to work with young foreigners and have a whole arsenal of games that help children get involved in classes.
The best option for primary school age is summer programs based at private schools with boarding accommodation and round-the-clock supervision. As a rule, British schools have a fairly large guarded territory, which cannot be left without adults. For example, the territory of Millfield School in Somerset is 50 hectares of well-kept park with 23 courts, a golf course, a stable, a 50-meter pool, running tracks, etc. On such “school grounds,” British teachers organize fun outdoor games: treasure hunts using an old pirate map, adventures with Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest, taming Harry Potter’s magic broom, etc. So, while playing, children imperceptibly absorb English speech.
The older the schoolchildren and the better they know English, the greater their choice of activities after lessons. Those who scored at least Low Intermediate on the preliminary test and are at least 13 years old can sign up for a diving section, a yacht club, driving lessons, or a leadership school. But the rest will not be bored either. Dozens of hobby clubs, creative studios, computer classes, business games, talent shows, sports sections with professional trainers – there is so much of this that your eyes run wild and there is not a single free minute to be homesick.
A wonderful aid for foreign language learners is amateur theater or making a video. In camp plays and skits, participants with any level of language proficiency, even zero, are involved: in every script there is a role like 'Dinner is served!', and if not, advanced comrades with a higher level of English will write one especially for you. Learning roles, rehearsals, explanations with the director, lighting technician, costume designers, and makeup artists quietly do their job – develop conversational skills and listening comprehension.
With a long-term perspective
The choice of summer courses for a schoolchild largely depends on the strategic plans of the family. The course can be extremely light – 10-15 lessons per week, touching only the most essential topics, the so-called 'survival language'. Such classes will certainly serve the overall development of the student: he will become more independent, learn to listen and understand English speech, achieve mutual understanding with peers from different countries. However, the advantages of a fun international gathering turn into disadvantages for those who intend to enter a British school or university in the near future. A large number of children who speak English poorly is not the environment where one can significantly improve in the language in a short time. Moreover, if there are many compatriots in the camp, it is almost impossible to avoid the temptation to chat in one's native language.
For schoolchildren with 'serious intentions', there are options for more intensive (up to 40 hours per week) and complex courses – with study of school subjects or special disciplines in English. In such courses, children study for five, even eight hours a day, improve oral and written English, and prepare for entrance tests.
'Experience with children going abroad for language courses in the summer shows that the most effective are courses preparing for entry into British schools,' says Alena Grushina, General Director of the educational agency 'Persona Grata'. 'The advantage of such courses is that training takes place together with English schoolchildren, lessons are taught by school teachers, part of the lessons are devoted to general education subjects, and contacts after lessons are exclusively with English-speaking children. You can go to such courses both during the academic trimester and during the summer holidays: when our school year ends, English schoolchildren continue studying for another 4-5 weeks, and during this time some British schools accept foreign students – usually no more than 3-5 people.'
To become a participant in such a program, it is necessary to pass preliminary testing in English and mathematics. However, any summer program begins with testing and distributing students into groups according to age and English level. The more levels, the finer the differentiation and the smaller the groups. And so that children who find learning easy do not get bored in class, intermediate testing is conducted on Fridays, and children with good results are transferred to a higher level group.
'On the first day, we newbies were tested and distributed into classes,' says Moscow schoolboy Nikolai Voevodin, a student at the Eurocentres summer courses in London. 'I wrote the test badly and ended up in a group where I immediately became the smartest. But you can't fool the teachers, and after three days I was moved up two levels, where I no longer had to slack off... We had two teachers, they constantly pestered us with questions, tests, jokes, pictures, and crosswords – not a moment of peace! Sometimes the exchange of opinions among students of nine nationalities turned into a din and uproar. Then the instigators were sent to the library to write English verbs.'
In addition, high school students and graduates of domestic schools can try to prepare for international qualification exams TOEFL or IELTS in 8-12 weeks. In such programs, classes are held both in the morning and in the afternoon, and sports events and entertainment begin only after 5 p.m.
Country study lessons
Schoolchildren over 13 are offered to live with a British family during their studies. This significantly increases the effectiveness of the courses: like it or not, before and after lessons you have to talk with host parents and other household members on all sorts of everyday topics, see the inside of a British home, which is not always similar to ours. 'On trips with groups of schoolchildren to England, I sometimes had to resolve conflicts between our kids and host families,' says English teacher Tatyana Kharybina. 'Mainly the source of mutual claims were everyday trifles that our children are not used to paying attention to. Once a British family demanded to take away a Russian boy because he came home from school with friends without asking permission. In another case, the housewife insisted that 10 minutes were enough to take a shower, and our girl tearfully assured that her long braids could not be washed even in half an hour. However, there is no arguing here: each house has its own rules. If the host family saves water and electricity, then please, don't read at night and don't linger long in the bathroom.'
For a child's trip abroad to go smoothly, it is necessary not only to learn the language, but also to try to learn as much as possible about the country in advance. For example, in England our children have to learn to cross the road anew – traffic here is left-hand. Children under 15 cannot be on the street without adults after 10 p.m., and the police watch for this.
'We were warned that we could not go out after 10:00 PM, but, as luck would have it, it was precisely at that time, when all the cafes on the camp grounds were already closed, that we were terribly hungry,' says Moscow schoolboy Alexei Kornilov, a student of summer language courses at the University of East London. 'The gates are open, a little store with chips and juices right across the road. Run there and back, what could happen? And we ran until one day we dashed out of the store right into the arms of a policeman, who began to explain what fine for disobedience our parents would have to pay.'
Still, for the first time it is better to go in a group with an experienced escort who knows the language and the country well, can explain what's what, make sure the children do not break anything out of ignorance, do not get lost during excursions.
Excursions – at least two per week – are the most important part of the educational program: their plan is developed in accordance with the lesson topics. If today they covered the topic 'Animals', then tomorrow there is a trip to the zoo, and if they talked about art, a visit to the National Gallery. At the same time, Beginner groups are told about the attractions by Russian-speaking guides, while high school students from the Upper Intermediate group can hear the same thing in English from their British teacher or a guide who is specially trained to take foreigners around museums.
'I realized that England is a country of fireplaces, knock on any door, and you will hear in response: Come in!' sings bard Timur Shaov about British hospitality. Young foreigners – with or without parents – can take advantage of this hospitality and immerse themselves in the authentic English language environment. English learned during holidays spent in a language school or a British family will certainly not be forgotten and will definitely come in handy: for some in studies, for others in work.