10 reasons to choose Cactus’ evening courses
Thursday, 11th March 2010
Cactus has been offering evening courses in foreign languages since 2004. The number of people who have taken one of these courses with us now totals over 30,000!
There are lots of ways that people can learn a language, but evening courses have long been a popular option, not only because they suit people with busy lives who have limited time to dedicate to lessons, but also because they are affordable.
There are lots of aspects that set our evening language courses aside from others though, which is certainly a factor in their huge popularity:
1. Universal appeal and access
They are open to anyone, no matter what their reason or goal for learning, and don’t have either the large amount of homework, or the ‘pressure’ involved with taking exam-based evening courses.
2. A friendly, informal environment
They have a very informal and relaxed atmosphere, which makes for an effective learning environment.
The courses tend to attract students with similar interests and the same kind of outlook on life too - even if they are learning languages for different reasons - and as a result they often end up socialising outside of their lessons.
3. Native speaker teachers
They are almost all taught by native speaker teachers, who are expert not only in their language, but also in the culture of their country.
4. Practical content
The evening courses are designed to teach you practical, topical and current language, not irrelevant and outdated vocabulary that you can sometimes find with highly academic courses.
5. Small groups
The groups are small enough that you can have some input as to the topics you’d like to cover and the aspects of language that you want to focus on the most. It also guarantees more one-to-one contact with your teacher.
6. Manageable pace
The courses progress at an effective but manageable pace, so you can be sure that you won’t get ‘left behind’. Cactus has written its own Language Learning Pathway and is based on the Common European Framework specifications - each class level has a clear description of the language skills you will gain by the end of the course.
7. Reasonable prices
They are affordable and good value for money – especially as course materials are included in the price. Prices for 10-week courses start from £159 in the UK and $249 in the US and Canada.
8. Convenient, accessible locations
The courses take place in convenient and central city locations that are easily reached by public transport. The few exceptions that are located in more residential areas generally have parking facilities available. Courses are currently offered in 14 different UK cities, and 6 cities across the US and Canada.
9. Good facilities
The schools where the classes are held have comfortable classrooms and good facilities. They are usually held in fully functional language schools, so have proper classrooms with all the necessary equipment for teachers and students alike.
10. A wide range of languages and levels
Cactus offers evening courses in a total of 30 different languages and 7 levels, across the UK, US and Canada. A large number of these languages are not currently taught in the state education sector, which has meant historically that anyone wanting to learn has needed expensive, specialist tuition. Offering evening courses in these languages means that there is finally an affordable way to study them.
Evening language courses in the UK
Evening language courses in the US & Canada
Tags: language, part-time evening course, languages, tailor-made, italian, learning, german, french, spanish, english
Posted by Laura Harrison under Attitudes to Language Learning, Types of Courses,
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