Language learning at weekends: the experiences

Miranda Mettes, commercial manager at HarperCollins Holland:

"I deliberately chose to take an English course at the weekend. Time is an issue for me. I didn’t want to take a whole week off work, because then there’d be so much catching up to do. I already had a good foundation in English and was able to build on that nicely in just a few days.

One of the things I worked on was improving my grammar. I write a lot of e-mails and want to do that well. The little tips from the trainer were what helped me a lot. It was a good way to refresh my skills.

A second subject I worked on was giving presentations. When I had to do that in English, I didn’t feel so sure of myself, especially when dealing with native speakers who sometimes fire questions at you in a local dialect. A nice side effect is that the trainer gave me a lot of tips about how to put together a presentation and showed me why it’s important to be less direct in dealing with the English and Americans.

Finally, I worked on making small talk. I sometimes spend several hours in the car with foreign authors and want to be able to chat with them informally. The nice thing about these lessons was that they were very focused on who I am and what I do. It was very personal.

I experienced the weekend as very busy, but I knew that in advance and I was prepared for it. It helps that everything is very well arranged—you’re really pampered. The result is that I can now write e-mails faster and feel more confident when I speak English.”

Justin Brock, General Contractor bij Van Boxtel Hoorwinkels:

“This was a fantastic experience. I learned much more about the Dutch language than I initially thought I would, and met great people along the way. The instructors pushed me far outside of my comfort zone in terms of speaking the language and asking questions, which at the time, I was hesitant about. Upon reflection, however, I can see how beneficial it was. The service was top of the line, and the food was amazing. I was also impressed at how well connected the professors were with the kitchen staff, which helped to bridge the connection between the "classroom" and outside experiences. 

I have seen a remarkable improvement in my comprehension of the language, and a considerable boost in confidence when speaking with others. Regardless of whether you spend two days or five, it is clear that the courses offered at this institute truly help in learning a new language.”