Shock Workers of Language Learning

Crash courses are super-intensive short-term courses operating on the principle of “maximum information in minimum time.” Unfortunately, brainstorming is far from a panacea for those who want everything at once. Here they will face bitter disappointment: it is impossible to thoroughly learn a language, even working in the most demanding mode - to form solid speech skills, if not years, then certainly months are needed. But recalling the past, that is, reviving knowledge acquired at some point, can be done quite effectively in crash courses.

Any crash course is based on an intensive teaching methodology that is effective only if you are going to actively use the language (otherwise everything you learn will be forgotten very quickly) and if you are able to absorb a large amount of information in a short period of time. Crash courses are a test of endurance: not everyone can study a language for several hours a day and also do homework. But how can you do without it? And if you are promised that everything will learn itself and settle in your head, do not believe it, remember King Lear: “Nothing will come of nothing.” If neither winter depression, nor spring vitamin deficiency, nor summer vacation can seriously affect your determination to finally start learning a language at a high pace, you will need more detailed information. We provide it to you.

In foreign schools, a crash course starts from 30 lessons per week, in domestic ones from 40, and the duration of lessons varies everywhere - from 45 to 60 minutes. In foreign schools, the size of super-intensive groups is 12-15 people, and in privileged groups, for example, those studying “English for managers,” there are usually two to six students. In domestic schools, the number of participants in any case does not exceed six people. Here, a traditional crash course lasts at least two weeks, unless you are studying under an individual program where you are your own master and, accordingly, you yourself regulate the intensity and topics of classes. Theoretically, you can go to a foreign school for a week, but there is not much point in that. The effect of immersion in the language environment will be felt only after two or three weeks of staying there.

The main consumers of the dish called “instant English” are those for whom time is money, who cannot spend several years learning a language - business people from all areas of business. Here they have the opportunity to listen, for example, to a traditional general Business English course in an extremely short time. Classes are held for four academic hours over five days. True, not everyone is accepted, but only those whose level is not lower than Pre-Intermediate/Intermediate. The course topics are traditional: telephone negotiations, conducting meetings, conferences, business documentation and correspondence, reports and presentations, corporate holidays, business etiquette and professional ethics. The training is built on communicatively oriented exercises that repeat real-life situations; students participate in role-playing games, hold round tables, thematic discussions, etc.

Most domestic and foreign schools meet the wishes of their clients and organize courses of a specific thematic focus (English for negotiations, presentations, concluding contracts, etc.). If you failed to join a group that studies the topic you need, if your field is so exotic that it is impossible to find like-minded people, you can always ask to develop an individual program for you, the so-called tailor-made course. Corporate clients are taught here from four to eight academic hours per day. Individual lessons are priced at the rate of a group (one academic hour - 30 euros), and classes on a course specially developed for you - from 35 euros.

Another category is those who need the language largely for the love of art. These are, for example, people who do not speak languages and yet during tourist trips do not want to get by with gestures and their native speech alone. A tourist intensive involves working through life situations that are encountered at every step during a trip abroad: the need to order a taxi, book a hotel room, choose and pay for a purchase in a store, etc. Conventionally speaking, you will be taken through the situations described in any phrase book. To expect any linguistic refinements from such courses, like Future in the Past, would be at least bold; they will teach you only the surface elements (you will have to master the deeper aspects yourself), and you will speak the language at a level that in science is defined as a survival level.

Those who are interested in the language in general, who studied it but forgot it, will benefit from general English crash courses (unless, of course, the specifics of their work require knowledge of a certain topic). The main course program is based on materials from the textbook Language To Go, but teachers also actively use their own developments. Classes are held in the summer: five days a week for four academic hours plus one academic hour for a coffee break, during which students can communicate with a native speaker on any topic of interest to them. Studying with such intensity for a month, you can complete a course designed for six months of study in a normal mode (two or three times a week).

If you do not believe in the effectiveness of studying at home, then the right thing to do is to go to foggy Albion, where London smog will replace the smoke of the fatherland. Here, the entire British education industry will compete for your mind and wallet: private and state language schools, universities and colleges. Depending on what goals you pursue (work, travel, further study, leisure), a wide variety of programs are at your service: academic English, professional English, English plus leisure, English for passing international exams, and much more, that is, virtually all traditional language programs, but already in the crash course mode. It is worth noting that British schools have age restrictions for potential students - the minimum allowable age for participants in "serious" programs is 16-18 years.

Most schools offer: a) classes in a mini-group of no more than six participants (usually 30 lessons per week); b) a combination of mini-group and individual lessons (20 lessons in a group plus 10 individual); c) exclusively individual lessons (30 lessons). At the same time, in all advertising brochures the price is usually quoted for tuition alone. So if you are asked to pay only 600 pounds sterling for a week's course, do not believe it. You will have to pay separately for consular fees, airfare, transfer from airport to destination, meals, accommodation, insurance, etc. A crash course at language schools in the UK is primarily an expensive opportunity to combine the pleasant with the useful: the useful being the actual study of the language, communication with native speakers and expanding contacts, if you choose specialized, professional programs like "English in the sphere of economics and finance, law, oil and gas, medicine," etc. Here you will almost certainly be able to visit some enterprise in your field of interest and discuss specific questions with a subject teacher during an individual lesson. The pleasant part is the excursion and sports program in free time. A crash course in its British version looks approximately as follows: classes in the morning (from 9:00 to 13:00) with a 15-minute break, lunch, evening classes (from 14:00 to 16:00), homework for an hour, evening cultural program. Upon arrival at the school, all students take a test, and based on the results they are divided into groups. If a person makes progress, they are usually moved to a higher level group. In the afternoon, students train each aspect of the language separately: reading and writing, speaking and listening, grammar.

Maltese prices on the whole are not much lower than British ones. For example, tuition at Clubclass Language Schools Malta and the UK (a two-week general English course including 30 lessons per week) will cost approximately 1,500 euros plus airfare and insurance (the price is mainly affected by the type of accommodation: apartments or four- and five-star hotels). Training is conducted on an individual basis or in small groups; for example, an employer may send a group of employees here for professional development. In addition, the school can offer tailor-made courses of various durations and topics. As for the sports and entertainment part, there is nothing to say: indoor and outdoor pools, jacuzzis, solariums, tennis courts, gyms where you can even find a Predator airsoft mask, scuba diving. This is far from a complete list of possible leisure activities.

If you want not only to study intensively but also to relax just as intensively, it makes sense to choose an "English plus..." program (the number of language lessons remains the same - 30 per week). For example, "...plus sports." The sport can be almost anything: tennis, swimming, golf, football, etc. True, the choice significantly affects the price: the more privileged the sport you choose, the more expensive it will be. Thus, golf will ultimately be more expensive than tennis, and tennis more expensive than football (the price difference is approximately 100 pounds). Or "...plus tourism": with the same intensity of classes (30 lessons per week), students study the basics of management and marketing in tourism. The "plus" can be very diverse: art, literature, design, cooking, etc. But, unfortunately, classes in these "disciplines" with crash course intensity are possible only on an individual basis, and therefore at a higher price (or in a general group, but less intensively).

Crash courses are aimed primarily at adults and only secondarily at senior schoolchildren who need to activate their existing knowledge before final or entrance exams. In the context of approaching holidays and the lack of time to process documents for European countries of the "first echelon," the topic of "Maltese holidays" is becoming increasingly relevant. There are no problems with visas here, and the infrastructure for recreation and sports is at a high level. True, it must be noted that the English of the indigenous population on this island is quite peculiar, not without Arabic admixtures. Nevertheless, the price-quality ratio (after all, you will be studying not with a taxi driver but with a professional teacher) makes Malta attractive for both schoolchildren and adults.

The price usually quoted by Maltese schools includes tuition, meals, accommodation, and transfer from the airport to the destination; airfare and medical insurance will have to be paid separately. In addition, the time of year significantly affects the cost of programs: the high season in Malta lasts from the end of May to mid-September, and prices during this period increase by 200-300 euros. Education in most Maltese schools is based on a more or less standard plan: during the day, the monolith of linguistic science is stormed three times - first, students study grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and pronunciation; then they move on to reading, listening, and analysis of what was read and heard; and the day ends with role-playing games, project development, and other creative assignments.

In general, there is a great variety of crash courses and traditional programs. If there is a need to learn a language, there will almost always be those willing to teach you.