Cactus Language Blog
We look at learning another language around the world
Cactus is one of the world's leading language training companies, providing courses in over 25 languages, in 45 countries and 150 destinations worldwide. It specialises in all forms of trainer-based language training for enterprises and individuals, from evening courses and language learning holidays, to tailor-made packages and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Cactus also uses blended learning approaches, included self-study and online & distance learning under the banner "learn a language your way". Read more about Cactus
Top TEFL Tips: Standing up in Front of a Class
Posted by Sarah under Cactus TEFL
Laura Harrison, Cactus TEFL Advisor, helps to calm those pre-teaching nerves
Diving out of an aeroplane, wandering the streets of Johannesburg after dark with a laptop, dressing up as an antelope and climbing into the lions’ enclosure at your local zoo…granted, these may not be as common place nor as necessary as public speaking, but for [...]
Gap Year Survival: Learn the Lingo!
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus TEFL, Language Courses New York, Language Courses UK, Learning a language
Why learning some of a language can make the world of difference on your gap year
Flights, travel insurance, mosquito net, rehydration salts…heading off on a gap year requires a degree of planning and foresight to keep you safe, happy and healthy during your trip. Yet learning the language is often last on the list, [...]
Tags: career break, evening language course, gap year, language course abroad
10 Good Reasons to TEFL
Posted by Sarah under Cactus TEFL, English, Learning a language
Laura Harrison, Cactus TEFL Advisor, gives us the expert opinion…
1. Travel
TEFL gives you a perfect way to see the world and fund your travel. Some people start teaching in one place, fall in love with it, and stay for a long time. Others however prefer to change location every year, and by so doing literally [...]
Tags: cactus tefl, efl, english language awareness, teaching english, tefl, tefl course, tesol
Learn French & Eat Chocolate…Can It Be True?
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, French, Learning a language
Anyone who’s been putting off that French course now has the perfect reason to book un petit séjour in Paris this autumn. No need to tell your friends back home the minor detail that it may coincide with Salon du Chocolat, 5 days of pure chocolate heaven - no, they can just be impressed with [...]
Tags: french, french courses, november, october, paris, salon du chocolat
Get Ready for Oktoberfest in Munich!
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, German, Learning a language
Ther perfect excuse to learn German and drink beer…
It may come as a surprise that the world’s biggest beer festival, Munich’s Oktoberfest, was born out of celebration for a royal wedding back in the early 19th century. Yet it was the drinking and partying that drew most attention at the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig [...]
Tags: german course munich, german courses germany, munich, october, oktoberfest, september
GCSE results reveal new low for languages
Posted by Lucy under Cactus Languages Abroad
GCSE results hit another record high this year but it’s bad news for modern languages. The number of students studying has continued to nosedive since the Government abolished the requirement for all teenagers to study a foreign language beyond the age of 14 in 2004.
There have been falls year-on-year ever since the policy was introduced, from 547,189 [...]
Tags: gcse results, languages
Day of the Dead in Mexico: A Time to Celebrate
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language, Spanish
A unique and heart-warming tradition to look forward to in November
The Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is not the morbid event it may at first appear: to the contrary, it is an uplifting fiesta, celebrated mainly in Mexico, to remember and pay tribute to friends and relatives who have died. It [...]
Tags: day of the dead, dia de los muertos, mexico, morelia, november, oaxaca, spanish courses mexico
School Trips for the New School Year
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus School Groups Abroad, Learning a language
How does a school trip abroad benefit students learning a language?
With students fresh from holidays and the new school year due to start in a few weeks, this is the perfect time for parents and teachers to start thinking about school trips abroad for the next academic year.
For students studying a language there can be [...]
Tags: cactus school groups abroad, gcses, language trip abroad, october, school groups, school trip abroad, september
McClaren picks up bizarre Dutch accent
Posted by Lucy under Cactus Languages Abroad
He was no good as England Manager but Steve McClaren seems to think he has found a way to ingratiate himself with his new Dutch team, FC Twente. In a truly cringeworthy and baffling interview on Dutch television, he adopts a Dutch accent and talks in pidgin English, making jokes and gesturing as if [...]
Tags: dutch accent, mcclaren
Language Holidays for the Over 50s
Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, English, French, German, Italian, Learning a language, Spanish
Why learn a language later in life?
With an increasingly ‘older’ population, and people living for longer, it is not surprising that the over 50s and retirees are now enjoying, and demanding more, of their free time. Many now have the time, money and freedom to indulge in existing passions and explore new interests, whether at [...]
Tags: language learning over 50s, learning a language, learning later in life, young at heart
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