As there were five weeks in the month of March we had an extra Monday without the Language Café at the British Lion in Folkestone.  It would seem we cannot live without a language café so we ended up joining in at Le Café des Langues in Tours.  It is true Tours is much bigger than Folkestone so we were not surprised to be there with about sixty other people.  We joined the Spanish speakers at two tables dedicated to that language but there were other tables for languages such as Esperanto ...
Continue reading ...

So the Language Café is back!  We would like to thank Nick and Dee at The British Lion for allowing us to meet up there.  Last Monday we had a most successful evening speaking mainly German as there were not too many Russian speakers present on this occasion.  Those that were there also spoke German so they were kept busy.
Tonight we look forward to seeing all the Portuguese speakers again.  Hopefully they will all have returned from the beaches of the Algarve and Madeira with plenty of topic...
Continue reading ...

Come to our final Language Café at Home Ground in the Old High Street, Folkestone today.  We will be speaking Spanish and hopefully some Chinese.

Unfortunately, Home Ground will be leaving Folkestone at the end of the month. We would like to thank Neil and his team for all their help over the past year and wish them all the best for the future.

Meanwhile, we are looking for a new venue for the Language Café and hope to be up and running again in October.

Continue reading ...

Flushed with the success of the Language Café at Home Ground, 41, The Old High Street, Folkestone, CT20 1RL on a Monday evening at 19:30 three new languages have been added.

On the first Monday of the month we can now speak Russian as well as German.  The second Monday will remain as a Portuguese speaking evening.  The third Monday will now be French and Italian and for the fourth Monday we will be getting out tongues round Spanish and Chinese.

We are really enjoying meeting new people as well...
Continue reading ...

Congratulations to President Obama on his success in the recent elections.  Many are attributing this success to the fact that he has been able to communicate effectively with the Spanish speakers of the United States.  See how he does this on the following links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF-jrFUR2Ys

Direct from his Spanish language website:

http://www.barackobama.com/latinos/video-presidente-obama

Does this not show the usefulness of learning a second language?



Continue reading ...

A select few of us met up at Home Ground on Monday to speak Portuguese.  I do hope the others found it as interesting and useful as I did.  It is always good to meet new people face to face.

This week we are looking forward to another language evening but this time it will be in French. 

So come and join us at 41, The Old High Street in Folkestone from 7:30 in the evening.


Continue reading ...

Have you ever visited a Café des Langues in France?  The one we have been to sets aside a few tables for people who want to chat in various foreign languages.  At each table they speak a different language.

At last we are able to start off the same idea.  However, we are starting small and hoping to grow.  This evening we will all be chatting in Portuguese, next week it will be French.  The following Monday will be Spanish and the fourth Monday of the month German.

So brush the cobwebs off you...
Continue reading ...

So the main games are over.  Are you ready for the next set?  Start learning Portuguese now ready for your trip to Rio de Janeiro.  Janet's classes start on 4th October 2012 at The Quarterhouse, Tontine Street, Folkestone.  You can register on line at www.kentadulteducation.co.uk.  Reference number 8189 FOL-12-A.

Continue reading ...

Luckily the weather was fine today as half the inhabitants of Folkestone made their way to the town centre to sample food from different countries and watch displays from various different areas of the world. The Nepalese dancing was most colourful and we were able to appreciate the variety that the country has to offer.  The Japanese students from Chaucer College, Canterbury varied their performance with dancing, drumming and martial arts.  The flamenco dancers were also very much appreciate...
Continue reading ...

Did anyone see the programme on Channel 4 yesterday where a young man learnt enough Arabic in 19 weeks to be interviewed on Jordanian TV in Arabic?  It made interesting viewing for those of us who are language tutors. 
First of all he is to be congratulated for his success.  He took on not only speaking the language but reading and writing it as well. 
The thing that impressed me most was the fact that he tried out his Arabic all the time - with his tutors in England, with his host family in ...
Continue reading ...

Looking for new ways to read books, I investigated again the Overdrive app which on smartphones makes it easier to borrow ebooks from public libraries as opposed to buying ebooks from Amazon, downloading public domain materials or articles or even putting together your own stuff.
In the course of this activity, I came across, borrowed and downloaded, an ebook entitled “The Meaning of Tingo” by Adam Jacot De Boinod, published in 2005 by Penguin. Its subtitle goes some way towards describing...
Continue reading ...

April 28, 2012
Continue reading ...