Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
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Learn a new language – or improve your skills – with Leeds Beckett starting this summer
Leeds Beckett University’s new LanguagED programme is launching in June 2021, beginning with a series of free language taster workshops.
These will be followed by a programme of part-time language classes and culture-themed workshops, for beginners to proficient learners, starting in October 2021.
The language taster workshops are free and open to everyone, and will take place on Monday 14, Wednesday 16 and Wednesday 23 June, starting at 18:30, using Microsoft Teams. Lasting between one and two hours, sessions will be available in French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. Each session will cover basic vocabulary and grammar as well as associated cultural aspects, such as history and the arts.
More taster workshops - including Farsi, Basque, Arabic and Scottish Gaelic - will run in July and September. Find out more and book your place on the Eventbrite page.
The part-time language courses will start on Monday 4 October, running in three blocks of 10-week programmes throughout the academic year. Courses cost £200 for one block and are available in French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. You can choose to attend your course online using Microsoft Teams or face-to-face, at Leeds Beckett’s Headingley Campus, if permitted under the current Government guidelines.
Students can progress through levels of proficiency, from absolute beginners to independent level.
A series of language and culture-themed workshops - for learners who want to practise, develop and maintain their more advanced language skills in an informal social setting - will also begin on Monday 4 October.
Courses are available in French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish, and will focus on improving pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, whilst also learning about history, culture, the arts, and current affairs.
The two-hour workshops will run for five weeks and cost £100.
Bookings for all courses starting in October open on Thursday 10 June. For a full list of language courses and workshops, and to book your place, please visit our modern languages website on the launch day.
There are so many advantages to learning a new language. It improves our understanding of others, it boosts our mental flexibility and ability to think quickly, and might stave off dementia.
By offering our language classes both face-to-face in the classroom and online at the same time, we hope to provide students with as much flexibility as possible, to learn in a way that fits in with their busy lives. Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn a new language, there has never been a better time to start.
All students will have the opportunity to attend free online Language Cafes, which are held throughout the academic year, and allow students to socialise with other language learners at all levels of proficiency.
Heather Sharp, a student of Italian at Leeds Beckett University, said: “I have been studying Italian at Leeds Beckett for several years and am happy that I have made the effort to do so. The teachers are not just native speakers but have an excellent knowledge of Italian grammar and are fantastic at explaining some of these difficult concepts. Each year that goes by I feel more confident when I visit Italy that I can converse with Italians and have a pleasant interaction. I think that the lessons offer great value for money, and I have made some lovely friends with like-minded people who share a common goal".
The LanguagED team is based within the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett, and also offers bespoke courses and consultancy services to schools, businesses, and organisations.
Language educators with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) can provide information, advice, and guidance to school leadership teams and modern foreign language subject areas at both primary and secondary schools.
The team also specialise in developing and delivering language courses that provide activities within organisations to increase mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Ana Ligero Lasa, a secondary school teacher based in Madrid, said: “My Leeds Beckett course has helped me to think about my teaching and contributed to my professional development. It has been particularly useful to share experiences with the teachers and other students on the course, as this has given me many new ideas which I will take back to my teaching context at home.”
For more information about any of the programmes available through LanguagED, please email ptlanguages@leedsbeckett.ac.uk You can also subscribe to the LanguagED mailing list and follow LanguagED on Twitter.
In this article
Dr Nicole Whitworth
Dr Nicole Whitworth is the Head of International & Global Studies in the Carnegie School of Education. Her academic background is Linguistics and Phonetics. She specialises in language acquisition of speech and the teaching of phonetics and pronunciation.
