Cactus Opinion: English Course in Edinburgh

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, English, Learning a language

Ignacio Gimenez, Financial Assistant at Cactus, tells us about his adventures in the Scottish capital

To visit Scotland had always been one of my dreams ever since I was a teenager…and this autumn I went to Edinburgh to do an English course with Cactus and make my dream come true.

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Tags: edinburgh, english, scotland

Cactus Meets The Mayor!

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

Cactus TEFL’s Sarah Wilson met the Mayor of Manchester, Cllr Mavis Smitheman, on November 6th at Manchester City Council’s ‘Celebrating Success’ awards ceremony. The ceremony marked the culmination of the ‘Inclusion and Integration Through ESOL’ pilot project, which aimed to teach ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) to local women who did not qualify [...]

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Tags: esol, machester, tefl

There is no such thing as too early for learning a second language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad

For monolingual parents who can’t offer their child a bilingual upbringing, it would be money well invested to enroll their children in a foreign language course as early as kindergarten.
I, for example, was raised bilingually - my mom spoke my native Bulgarian and German to me, and I started learning English at a pre-school age. [...]

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Tags: america, children, english, german, kindergarten, learning, parents, school, second language, spanish

How the Spanish celebrate Christmas

Posted by simonager under Cactus Languages Abroad

The Christmas season in Spain starts at the beginning of December, when towns and cities all over the country are decorated with Christmas trees, lights and nativity displays (naciemento/belen). Some of the nativity displays are very elaborate and a few even feature live actors and animals. Christmas markets selling fruit, flowers, sweets, candles, decorations and [...]

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Tags: christmas, christmas market, december, events, new year, spain, spanish

The allure of Granada

Posted by simonager under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language

Granada is a city located near the Sierra Nevada mountains in Andalusia in southern Spain. Between 711 and 1492 it was ruled by Moors and their influence can still be seen, especially in the architecture.
The number one draw for visitors to Granada is the Alhambra or Calat-Al-Hama (The Red Castle). This is a beautiful series [...]

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Tags: alhambra, city, flamenco, granada, location, spain, spanish

Will the successful Olympics in Beijing encourage more people to study Chinese?

Posted by simonager under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language

It is quite likely that there has been a increase in interest in all things Chinese, including the Mandarin language, since the Olympics in Beijing.
There certainly has been a massive increase in interest in learning Chinese in recent years. This is due to a number of reason, including the rapid growth of the Chinese economy, [...]

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Tags: 2008, china, chinese, mandarin, olympics, sport

Cactus in Toronto, Canada at the Go Abroad Fair

Posted by admin under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus TEFL, Language Courses New York, News

Last weekend we had a successful show in Vancouver, Canada at the Go Abroad Fair we go to talk to so many new friends in our first show in Canada. Then on Sunday we packed the show down and hit the road to the other side of Canada to talk to more new faces in [...]

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Tags: 2008, canada, event, go abroad fair, language show, santiago de chile, toronto, vancouver

Cactus protects its customers with ATOL Bond

Posted by Lucy under Cactus Languages Abroad

The collapse of the XL Leisure Group last week sent shock waves through the travel industry and caused widespread misery as tens of thousands of customers were left stranded around the world. Worse still, hundreds of thousands of customers had their holidays cancelled without any warning or refunds.
Cactus is a member of ATOL (Air Travel [...]

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Tags: atol bond, travel protection

The Influence of the Olympics on Chinese as a Language

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Cactus Tailormade, Learning a language

Will the successful Olympics in Beijing encourage more people to study Chinese?
It is quite likely that there has been a increase in interest in all things Chinese, including the Mandarin language, since the Olympics in Beijing.
There certainly has been a massive increase in interest in learning Chinese in recent years. This is due to a [...]

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Tags: china, chinese, mandarin, olympics

Christmas with Radishes, Anyone?

Posted by Sarah under Cactus Languages Abroad, Learning a language, Spanish

Advent markets, yule logs, mistletoe, gluhwein…and radishes? Christmas celebrations around the world are as varied and wonderful as the people and cultures who hold them, but there can be few traditions as exotic or unlikely as Mexico’s Noche de Rábanos, or Night of the Radishes.

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Tags: christmas, december, mexico, night of the radishes, noche de rabanos, oaxaca