http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/ en [email protected] Copyright 2009 Cactus Worldwide 2009-09-21T16:24:47+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/attention-world-cinema-lovers/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/attention-world-cinema-lovers/#When:16:24:47Z Cactus Language Training teams up with the Duke of York’s Picturehouse to provide special offers and events for Brightonians Cactus is proud to announce its new partnership with the Duke of York’s Picturehouse in Brighton. As well as all Picturehouse members being entitled to a 10% discount on Cactus language courses in the UK, the partnership will also include a series of special events and promotions open to everyone throughout the year, with free cinema tickets and language courses up for grabs. First up, to celebrate the launch of Robert Guediguian’s new film Army of Crime, Cactus and the Duke of York’s are hosting a pre-film soirée before the film’s first screening in Brighton. All those booking tickets to see Army of Crime at the Duke of York’s on Friday 2nd October are invited to experience France in the heart of Brighton. From 7:30pm, cinema-goers can enjoy a FREE glass of French wine, the opportunity to pick up a few French phrases courtesy of Cactus’ teachers, and be in with a chance of winning a 10-week French evening language course. “Evening courses in foreign languages are a great way to get more involved in the language and culture of world cinema,” comments Germaine Broadbent, Sales Director at Cactus Language Training. “Getting to grips with the lingo allows you to really lose yourself in the big screen, whether you wish to transport yourself to Paris en printemps with Amélie or experience what it’s like to be el heroe nacional with Che. We’re really looking forward to celebrating the natural synergy between world cinema and language learning in partnership with the Duke of York’s Picturehouse, so watch this space for future events and special promotions.” The pre-film soirée starts at 7:30pm and is free to attend for cinema-goers. Usual cinema ticket prices apply. Please book online at http://www.picturehouses.co.uk, call the booking line on 0871 704 2056 or pop into the cinema. Press 2009-09-21T16:24:47+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-appoints-new-academic-director-of-studies/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-appoints-new-academic-director-of-studies/#When:16:27:34Z Cactus is pleased to announce the appointment of Rod Mitchell as its new Academic Director of Studies. Rod comes to Cactus after being the director of The English Studio in Pistoia, Tuscany. Previously he was the Director of Studies of Berlitz Brighton, and before held various Assistant Director of Studies and Senior Teacher roles in EFL schools in Australia, as well as other university and adult education teaching and language research roles. Rod hails from Queensland, Australia but has also lived at various times in the UK, Australia, France and Italy. “I have always been very interested in language learning and teaching as part of the whole human experience. I enjoy learning about others and understanding how we can live, work and play together whilst also appreciating our differences,” comments Rod. “An organisation such as Cactus is at the cutting edge of this, and I am very much looking forward to working as part of the team to help keep Cactus on its track to being a world leader in language teaching and learning services provision.” Press 2009-09-14T16:27:34+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-taster-sessions-at-brighton-hove-food-drink-festival/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-taster-sessions-at-brighton-hove-food-drink-festival/#When:16:29:06Z Cactus is pleased to announce that it is hosting a unique series of FREE language taster sessions at this year’s Brighton & Hove Food & Drink Festival. Taking place on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th September on Hove Lawns as part of the World Food Market, the 20-minute introductory lessons in Spanish and Japanese are designed to delight food and language lovers alike. Pitched at a beginner level, Cactus’ professional, native-speaker teachers will focus on key phrases helping people to order their favourite food and drink, creating a fun and friendly environment for the whole family. Visitors will also be given the chance to win 10-week evening language courses in a location and language of their choice, each worth around £150, in a Hunt the Cacti Competition! Last year’s World Food Market was a great success, showcasing local producers and restaurateurs, as well as international snacks, meals, beers and cocktails, bringing food lovers from far and wide flooding into Brighton & Hove. Highlights included Japanese desserts, German sausages, Indian and African hot food, Spanish sherry and very indulgent Norwegian waffles! This year, as well as introducing language taster classes, other exciting new additions include goodies from A Taste of Calabria, Caribbean savoury dishes and fruits, South African foods by Coriander, the bottle spinning cocktail bartenders from Chilled Bars, as well as one or two surprises. “We’re very excited to be part of the Brighton & Hove Food & Drink Festival for the first time ever,” comments Germaine Broadbent, Sales Director at Cactus Language Training. “As there will be a range of cultures and their foods represented at the World Food Market, we thought it would be great to offer visitors the opportunity to sample the languages too. For anyone interested in languages, food and travel, our taster sessions promise to be inspiring, informative and above all fun.” Maddy Carr, Assistant City Centre Manager, adds: “I was thrilled to be contacted by Cactus about the possibility of adding a language element to this year’s World Food Market. Not only will visitors enjoy sampling cuisine from all around the globe, but they will also be given the opportunity to order their favourite snacks and drinks in Spanish and Japanese!  Two days of food bliss accompanied by local DJs, dance performances, language tasters and competitions and you have a recipe made in Heaven!” Press 2009-09-07T16:29:06+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-announces-new-language-classes-in-london-birmingham/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-announces-new-language-classes-in-london-birmingham/#When:16:32:31Z Cactus today announces foreign language evening classes in London and Birmingham. The new locations include three in London - Monument/Cannon Street, Liverpool Street and Kings Cross – and one in Birmingham, and cover popular European languages such as Spanish, French, Italian and German, as well as introducing a range of more unusual languages, such as Mandarin, Arabic and Thai. The group evening courses are taught over 10 weeks by Cactus’ professional, native-speaker teachers in an interactive, dynamic and friendly environment, with a focus on conversational skills, speaking and being understood. With courses now available in 24 languages at 40 locations around the country, Cactus is the UK’s leading provider of evening language classes.  “We’re constantly looking to expand our language services and we identified a particular need to increase the number of classes we offer in London and introduce classes in Birmingham,” comments Chris Moore, Head of Cactus Language Training.  “Evening classes continue to be popular among those wishing to meet like-minded people and learn a new language, whether learning before jetting off on holiday, wanting to impress friends and family, or using it in a business context.” Press 2009-09-02T16:32:31+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/coco-before-chanel-preview-screening/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/coco-before-chanel-preview-screening/#When:15:21:07Z Before its official UK release, Michelle Curtis, Communications Manager at Cactus, was lucky enough to be invited to a preview screening of Coco Before Chanel at the famous Soho Screening Rooms in London. Here are her thoughts… Coco Before Chanel tells the story of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel’s early years, before she became Chanel the famous couturier. The film highlights only a small snapshot of Chanel’s life, from her childhood in an orphanage and the years she spent as a seamstress by day and cabaret performer by night, to the beginning of her long and successful career. I loved the way the film revealed Chanel developing her style. From the signature stripes introduced as she watches the fishermen bringing in their nets along with the morning’s catch, to the classic black minimalism represented by the nuns’ habits, the film suggests that much of Chanel’s inspiration and style was gathered from her surrounds and experience.  I really enjoyed Coco Before Chanel and anyone with an interest in French culture or fashion is sure to enjoy it too. It has certainly made me want to learn the language and take another trip to Paris. Coco Before Chanel was released in cinemas on 31st July. Press 2009-07-31T15:21:07+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-celebrates-green-britain-day/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-celebrates-green-britain-day/#When:15:06:05Z Today, Cactus Language Training is celebrating the inaugural Green Britain Day and increasing its fight against climate change by asking all of its staff to pledge to do something green.  Pledges include everything from dumping the plane in favour of the train where possible to always switching off the computer at night, and sourcing fruit & veg locally to drinking tap water instead of bottled. Why not share your pledges for Green Britain Day in our comments section below? It’s difficult to know where to start when it comes to discussing the green credentials of a company which is has its roots in the travel industry. But, despite the nature of our business, we are big believers in making every effort to minimise the impact we have on our environment. We already have a number of initiatives in place which help to reduce the impact we, and our customers, have on the environment (see below), but we can always do more! That’s why everyone at Cactus is making personal pledges in recognition of Green Britain Day. An annual event, Green Britain Day is a chance for everyone to start working together to cut our carbon footprint in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. So, how is Cactus taking steps towards being green? We encourage our staff and clients to dump the plane and take the train, and where air travel is necessary, we urge them to consider offsetting their carbon dioxide emissions by contributing to schemes such as those found at Climate Care (http://www.climatecare.org) and The Carbon Neutral Company (http://www.carbonneutral.com). Cactus also has a policy where it offers staff a day in lieu for their extra travel time, if they dump the plane to take the train. From recommending our customers stay with host families, arranging excursions with local providers and working with privately owned language schools where possible, Cactus aims to directly support the local communities in the destinations our customers travel to. By contributing to local economies, we are helping to create sustainable travel and enabling future travellers to continue visiting and enjoying these places. Our website features interactive route maps giving comparisons between travelling to popular destinations by plane and train, outlining the cost, time and CO2 emissions, to allow our clients to make informed decisions about their travel arrangements. We also provide info to our clients on ways of off-setting their carbon emissions. Located in the heart of Brighton, we encourage our employees to travel to and from work by bike or on foot where possible. Work-place parking spaces for bicycles is available for cyclists and we also have the government’s ‘Cycle to Work Scheme’ in place to encourage staff to ride to work. For longer distance travel, public transport is a convenient option as bus stops are a few metres down the road and the Brighton railway station is only a 10 minute walk away. When it is necessary to drive, we encourage ‘car sharing’. At the moment 75% of our employees either cycle or walk to and from work, and no one currently drives to work. Recycling is one of our office routines. We not only recycle the usual cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and tetra packs, we also have a kitchen caddy installed where we put all of our used ground coffee and tea bags ready for composting. And finally, all of our product information is available online only, meaning no more brochures! Press 2009-07-10T15:06:05+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/vicky-cristina-barcelona-dvd-launch-party/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/vicky-cristina-barcelona-dvd-launch-party/#When:15:25:03Z Earlier this week, Cactus invited students, teachers and other friends to experience the ‘real Spain’ in the heart of London to celebrate the DVD launch of Woody Allen’s latest film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. The free fiesta took place at Salvador & Amanda, and guests were treated to authentic Spanish tapas and sangria, a wonderful Salsa performance by Paul & Lindsay from Ezyfeet Dance and some informal help with their Spanish speaking skills from Cactus’ teachers…the cheeky Spanish chat up lines went down particularly well! There were also prizes to be won, with Cactus giving away 10-week evening language courses and copies of the DVD to a lucky few. A great time was had by all, and the feedback from guests so far has been fantastic… “the venue was amazing. We felt as though we had walked right off the London street into a Barcelona eatery! It was such a lovely, chilled-out atmosphere and everyone was so friendly and welcoming. It was so refreshing to rub shoulders with such fun people. We tend to only expect such an atmosphere on the continent, on holidays. What a perfect evening.” Thanks to everyone who came along and the made the evening such a success. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Press 2009-06-24T15:25:03+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-launches-own-brand-french-study-books/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-launches-own-brand-french-study-books/#When:08:01:55Z Cactus has developed a range of study books specifically designed to complement its hugely successful French evening classes. Working with Difusion SL, the Cactus-branded books have been designed to reflect the syllabus of Cactus’ Beginners and Beginners Plus French courses. The books will come into use in July. Based on a framework of 20-30 hours of learning, the new books will help learners express themselves through practical and cultural examples, as well as increase their understanding of the language through a variety of listening exercises on the accompanying CD. “We’re always looking for ways to improve our language learning services,” commented Chris Moore, Head of Cactus Language Training. “We started by introducing our own-branded Spanish books, and following positive feedback from our students, we saw a need to develop a range of books to suit our French evening courses too. Looking ahead, we do plan to further extend our range of books to include other languages and accommodate a wider variety of levels.” Press 2009-06-24T08:01:55+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-announces-new-academic-director/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-announces-new-academic-director/#When:15:12:23Z Cactus is pleased to announce the appointment of Jenny Johnson as Academic Director. Jenny has worked as Head of Cactus TEFL for the past 3 years and now takes on the newly created role of Academic Director, a position which involves heading up the expanded Academic Team at Cactus. Jenny brings over 30 years experience in the industry to the new role, including many years in Spain as head of a TEFL teacher training department and some years as a volunteer on committees for the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language. “I am very keen to get going with my new role,” comments Jenny. “I’m particularly looking forward to building strong relationships with our teachers and working on maintaining the high standards our clients have come to expect from all of our services, especially the evening language and tailor-made courses. We have exciting plans in the pipeline for developing an innovative learning pathway, incorporating face to face, online and portable modes of study.’ Press 2009-06-23T15:12:23+00:00 http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-launches-language-minis/ http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/tailormade/uk/press/article/cactus-language-training-launches-language-minis/#When:08:19:51Z Cactus has developed a range of podcasts to complement its hugely successful 10-week Spanish evening courses. Called ‘Language Mini – ¡Hola!’, the Spanish podcasts are the first in a series of language podcasts, or ‘Language Minis’, to be created by Cactus. Podcasts have been developed for 7 levels, spanning beginner through to advanced Spanish, and are designed to help Cactus students increase their understanding of the Spanish language through a variety of listening exercises and equip users with language skills for use in everyday situations. Each level contains 10 x 15-18 minute lessons including an audio track, a dialog track, a key vocabulary review track, a grammar track and a Lesson Guide in PDF format featuring conversation transcripts, vocabulary lists, grammar points and quizzes. The Spanish featured is a “standard” or “neutral” version of the language, avoiding regional forms of speech, to enable users to apply what they learn anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world. “Our new ‘Language Minis’ have been specifically designed to complement our 10-week evening language courses,” comments Chris Moore, Head of Cactus Language Training. “We are launching our Spanish podcasts first in July, but for anyone looking to learn other European languages, French, Italian and German podcasts will also soon be available. We believe that the best way to learn a language is through a blended approach, so we’re thrilled to be adding podcasts to our range of language learning options, offering our customers even more flexibility.” Press 2009-06-23T08:19:51+00:00