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Testimonials

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Peter Bell in NorwayConversation level Norwegian in 20 hours? Not a realistic goal by any stretch of the imagination. However, 20 hours is, I believe, time enough for an adsorbent mind to gather techniques, guidelines and examples. All of these have been provided in abundance by Hazel Nowell at Lancaster Languages.


Homework projects between sessions were clear, logical and helpful in identifying gaps in my knowledge and/or technique. These projects also highlighted fault tendencies which could then be resolved on a session by session basis.

When attending a session, all that was asked of me was ‘Determination’ and an ‘Adsorbent’ mind.

Are you needing second (or more) language support? Lancaster Languages might well be your ‘one-stop-shop’.

Peter Bell, World War II History Researcher

 


Shuqin HuangBecause of you, Monday afternoon has become the most wonderful moment for me during the whole term. 


Becuase of you, I have known more about the amazing culture wrapped in the language of English, and every period of your class seems to me an inspiring and interesting travel in the wonderland of English Culture.


I do enjoy your class. It is well worth my registration, time and participation.

Shuqin Huang (China), Visiting Scholar, Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University

 


I had French and German lessons for a period of 8 weeks, and they were incredibly helpful, as we discussed current events and issues in the relevant countries, which enabled me to practise my conversational skills with a native speaker. We also had focused sessions on specific grammar points that are regarded as more complex or that I personally found more challenging to get to grips with, which therefore also benefitted my written skills in the language. My tutors were so friendly which made the sessions very enjoyable, and I felt very comfortable asking them any questions about the language or culture. I would recommend these courses to anyone wishing to improve their language skills with a more personalised approach, as they allow you to really focus on the parts you find more difficult so you can make progress more quickly.

(We were delighted to hear that Lily subsequently achieved grade A in both languages at A-level.)

Lily Armer, A-level student

 


We chose Lancaster Languages for a week-long intensive beginners' course in German and, other than our slow old brains taking a while to click into gear, it couldn't have gone better. We had a range of teachers – both German and English – all of whom were lovely, and the lessons were thoroughly planned and organised in such a way that we covered the maximum amount of content while maintaining concentration. We still have a long way to go but we wouldn't hesitate to recommend their services. 

Ellie Hargreaves, Samuelson Wylie Associates

  

 


'Lancaster Languages' has a contract with Lancaster University to teach English classes to the overseas staff.  Here are some of the comments from previous course participants:


I would like to express my congratulations to you for your job as English teacher for Lancaster University Staff. I have attended the classes this term as well as last year in the same term when I was here as a visiting scholar too. The classes have been very useful to improve especially my speaking and listening skills. Indeed I presented a working paper in an internal seminar to colleagues in my host department in Lancaster (Accounting and Finance) a few days ago.

Fernando Polo-Garrido (Spain), Visiting Scholar, Accounting and Finance Dept, Lancaster University Management School


Thank you very much for your great English class, which has given me a lot of help in improving my English, many thanks!

LIU Yang (刘洋), PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Electronic Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, CHINA


Thank you for your encouragement and helping. I will remember your warm smiles and happy words, which are precious memories in my heart.

Ivy/Yan Zhang (China), Visiting Researcher, Lancaster University Management School


Thank you for all the support and lessons. Your English classes are great.

Danilo Almeida (Brazil), Agronomic Engineer - Lancaster University - Lancaster Environmental Center, Sao Paulo State University - College of Agricultural Science


I want to thank you all your effort in the lessons. It was really useful for me.

Ivan Jauregui (Spain), Postdoctoral senior researcher in Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University

    




Hi, my name is Petra, I am from Transilvania. I have been working as a bookkeeper in a local Charity for over three years. My classes with Lancaster Languages have been awesome. I have been taking the classes for almost three months, once a week and I am really happy about my improvement. Now I feel more comfortable and secure when speaking English and more fluent, too. One great thing about the class is that I could fix my goals with my teacher so she prepared the lessons according to that. It was a completely customized program. I thank my teacher for all her patience and extraordinary enjoyment of teaching English. I fully recommend Lancaster Languages.

Petra Madarasan, Bookkeeper, Age UK, South Lakeland (Romania)


I got in touch with Lancaster Languages through my work. Since I have to make and receive phone calls on a daily basis, my manager thought a few sessions on the subject would be useful for me and another colleague to feel more confident on the phone. I found these sessions very relaxed, cheerful yet focused on those areas where we needed some help. Hazel is a well prepared and skilled tutor who can make the most of every session, without being overwhelming or intimidating.

Renata Olajos, Admin Support, Age UK, South Lakeland (Hungary)

    




I took Norwegian lessons with Lancaster Languages once a week for a number of months. The lessons lasted about one and a half hours each time. I had a very basic understanding of Norwegian and Danish having lived in Copenhagen for two years but I did not feel confident reading, writing or speaking/listening with the language.

One-to-one lessons with Hazel helped me progress quickly. I was never a great fan of English grammar terms and found these initially challenging in Norwegian. But with Hazel's help, both my Norwegian and my understanding of grammar terms in general improved.

If you are looking to progress quickly with a language, I would recommend the one-to-one approach. It worked for me.

One observation I have is that you do need to put some effort in between classes. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen by osmosis alone so I did have to put some homework time in too.

The classes were interesting and I feel I have a greatly improved understanding of Norwegian in quite a short time.

David, Chartered Engineer




I attended a one-to-one course with 'Lancaster Languages' and I wanted to improve my pronunciation, to repeat some aspects of grammar and to work on my professional English. It was a wonderful learning experience and I liked it a lot and the teacher was very flexible with respect to topics and timetable. Everything I learned was highly related and appropriate for my work. Hazel organised a work-related meeting with somebody from Lancaster University which I enjoyed a lot. And I believe the best thing was that we had a lot of fun and did a lot of laughing. So thank you, Hazel, I would like to return.

Jutta Pauschenwein, University Lecturer, Graz (Austria)

    


 

I have learnt English for many years. But when I came to the UK, I still found it difficult to communicate with native people effectively. So I could not integrate myself into the local life. After I went to the English class held by “Lancaster Languages”, the situation began to change. Hazel is a humorous and considerate teacher. Her shining smile and gentle voice ease my anxiety and encourage me to speak English bravely. In the class Hazel frequently gives us interesting and instructive topics to talk about, which make us understand the UK deeply and vividly. As far as I am concerned, the course is beneficial not only for improving English skill but also bridging the gap between different cultures. Thanks.

Vickey, Academic Visitor, Lancaster University, (China)

   






It was a pleasure to learn English and develop several skills during this course. We had a great time discussing, interacting and improving our English. Besides, this class was useful to be directly efficient in the university and it was adapted according to our level. The combination of this course with daily practice was absolutely perfect for learning quickly.

Anthony, Researcher in Lancaster University Management School (France)

 

   



Giuseppe Rizzo

 

 

 

The course was well structured and organised in its entirety, I truly and thoroughly enjoyed our lessons which were clear and easy to follow. All the sections were very beneficial, however the most useful part, without a shadow of a doubt, was learning about the stress patterns of English. Hazel’s competence is second to none, therefore I do not envisage how the training programme can be further improved.

Giuseppe Rizzo, Business Development Manager, AF Global

 

 

 

 

   


 


My recent experience at Lancaster Languages School has been extremely useful, all the lessons were suitable and very well delivered, in order to improve my pronunciation and oral skills. Hazel and Elena have made it possible for me to correct the most noticeable mistakes in my speaking, and their teaching strategies have helped me overcome difficulties that I thought unachievable. This short total immersion course has lived up to my expectations and I won't hesitate to attend lessons in Lancaster Languages School whenever I have the chance to.

Carlos San Juan Alonso, Teacher, Cantabria, Spain

 

 



Matthias ElsnerI have attended a four day Business English course at ‘Lancaster Languages’, which included training for delivering presentations and workshops. Before the course started we had an informative discussion about the content of the course, in order to tailor it to my personal needs.

Part of my course involved giving a training presentation, which was delivered several times. Each time my language skills improved.

Both formal and informal English were covered. I learned useful phrases, which have improved my ability to communicate at work e.g. in emails, phone calls, presentations and meetings. We looked into the ways in which cultural differences can influence communication in English and German.

I am very grateful to the teachers for being so patient and I found the whole experience very positive. I am especially grateful for your efforts in repeatedly improving my pronunciation.

It is a great credit to ‘Lancaster Languages’ that they were able to arrange such a specialised and effective course at such short notice.

Matthias Elsner, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster
 


Dan Wang

 

  

With the great help of Lancaster Languages, I passed the IELTS test with 7.5 overall and was accepted as a graduate student at the University of Cambridge. I would recommend Lancaster Languages to you if you need any help for learning languages.

 

The course is especially helpful for developing your speaking skills, as the tutor who is a native English speaker, is very professional. Furthermore the feedback received from the tutor was extremely useful and constructive.

 

Dan Wang, Wang Yuan Xu, Business Studies student, University of Lancaster


 

 

 



Hello to all who, like me, are embarking on the adventure of learning a new language: in my case, English.

My name is Anabel and I am a 55-year-old woman – yes you’ve read correctly, I am that age – and I have been learning English for 3 years, starting at ‘Level 0’, at the Language School in Bilbao. I had become a little discouraged with my English, but it’s amazing how everything can change in just a month!

Taking advantage of the fact that my daughter was spending a term in Lancaster, UK, as part of her PhD studies, I joined her and was very lucky to find exactly what I needed to move forward in my language learning. The classes (at Lancaster Languages) were customised and based on my level. The teacher worked very hard with me and has got out of me far more than I ever imagined possible; to be able to ask for something specific in a shop, a restaurant, and even more, to understand the answers I received. Without her collaboration it would have been impossible.

It was great fun to mix learning with sightseeing in Lancaster, getting to know the important places and, of course, getting to know about English culture through our conversations.

Anabel Iturrioz
 


Jana




I came to Lancaster to visit my friends. Even only with 6 lessons with Lancaster Languages, it was very useful for me. I enjoyed talking about many different topics, the teacher kept correcting me with great patience. She answered so many questions I had about topics, grammar, collocations, British culture etc.

She was the first teacher who explained to me how to pronounce many words I had been struggling with. I was very motivated by her friendly approach and it increased my interest in the English language and British culture.

Last but not least I also had a great time in the Lake District with the teacher and a group of French guys. I would definitely recommend Lancaster Languages school for their professionalism, flexibility and friendly approach.

Jana Hruba, student, Czech Republic

 

 


 

"I have had weekly one-to-one Norwegian lessons with Lancaster Languages and found my tutor to be great company, a very experienced, effective and encouraging language teacher, and extremely professional and reliable. I have also drawn on her services professionally in arranging intensive English language tuition for a colleague. The tailored course she provided exceeded our expectations, particularly in the combination of language learning and cultural activities she arranged, which were perfectly suited to the work we were developing together.“

Dr Karin Tusting, Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University.
 



A course perfectly suited to my professional interests. I work in agriculture and Lancaster Languages organized an ideal progression between indoor classwork and field trips (farm visits, participation in an auction). Nothing like making progress in the language and wishing to return on holiday to Lancashire!

Alongside the lessons and field visits, living with an English family provides a window on daily life, entertainment and local foods. This is as much a cultural as a linguistic education.

Nathalie Joly, Sociologue à l'INRA et AgrosupDijon
 


 

If I made a mistake you didn't interrupt me every time, you let me go to the end of my sentence. Only, if I made a BIG mistake, you interrupted me instantly.

When I lost a word, you waited and gave me time to think... and then you gave some "hint"... You didn't instantly give the right word... and you didn't speak over me!

You were interested in my native language... you wanted to know how we say some things... It gave me the feeling that I was not so stupid... because I knew something that you didn't ;-)

And last but not least, it was easy to speak with you. I felt that it was OK to make mistakes when I discussed with you! So I wasn't so nervous... and I made fewer mistakes.

Thomas, Germany
 


 

When my wife and I were looking for someone to teach us Norwegian we contacted Lancaster languages. Nine months later we are ready to move to Norway and use the Norwegian  language skills we have learnt. Thank you.

Phil and Jill Bowes
 



I took a two week long intensive course in Lancaster Languages that allowed me to grow significantly in the mastery of professional English, thanks to the personalised programme created and adapted from the analysis and evaluation of my needs (academic English, conducting a meeting, correspondence, pronunciation, etc.).

Lancaster Languages organised visits and interviews with people in the region working in my professional field (agriculture) and this provided some very interesting and relevant practical exercises. The other strength of Lancaster Languages lies in the quality of teaching that afforded me an extremely profitable experience during those two weeks.

Véronique Lucas
Agricultural Journalist
 


 

During the intensive course, I made great progress with my English. The course included different parts. Firstly, I lived with a local family. They made breakfast and dinner for me. At the same time, they helped me by having a conversation about interesting events and revising the new vocabulary that I had learned. Sometimes, we watched TV and listened to the radio. Secondly, I spent almost the whole day at Lancaster Languages learning different kinds of English, such as language for presentations, grammar, telephone calls, as these were the particular subjects that I wanted to focus on. During the lunch break, the teacher gave me a lift to the city centre. I chose a restaurant and asked customers some questions in order to practise speaking.

Another part of the course was the cultural visits. One day, the teachers took me to the Lake District. We had British afternoon tea in the hotel and we visited a famous poet's house. One evening, we went to a traditional British pub. I spent a wonderful evening with all my teachers and my host family. At the weekend I also went to the city of York with them and their dog. We had a long walk and visited some famous places and buildings.

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to learn English. The intensive course has given me much more confidence.

Xiaohui, Gao, student at Lancaster University Management School
 


 

I joined a British/Italian company to start up the business in Japan and the company provided a valuable opportunity for me to learn real English on a tailor-made course with ‘Lancaster Languages’.

There are first-rate teachers in Lancaster Languages. They helped me understand English with great passion; the way they taught me how to differentiate between L and R pronunciation, and teaching me about English history in Lancaster Castle.

After learning English in Lancaster Languages, I spent about three weeks in our headquarters for my business training. I gained a lot of experience there as well and the training days were productive because the preparation for English communication at ‘Lancaster Languages’ was really useful and worthwhile.

Writing about ‘Lancaster Languages’ brings back good memories for me... my stay with the friendly host family, watching a rugby game, visiting a farm to see sheep dogs, the beautiful Lake District, the English tea break, fish and chips, drinking at the English pub and ... rainy days!!!
These were unforgettable moments.

Yoichi Morita, Managing Director, GVS JAPAN K.K.
 


 

I contacted Lancaster Languages for a two-week intensive course in English for our Japanese Business Development Director. It was very short notice, but with complete professionalism they managed to arrange a very successful and beneficial course. The course timetable was varied and there was an excellent teaching team. I was particularly impressed with the way the course was tailored to meet our business needs. The in-house teaching sessions were combined with visits to our factory premises and involved other members of our staff. The tutor was extremely professional, and I would have no hesitation in recommending Lancaster Languages to my business colleagues.

Alison Wood, Director of Operations
Fenchurch Environmental Group Ltd
 


 

Brian Green"Lancaster Languages tailored a programme of courses over a six month period to bring our non-native speakers up to scratch.

They identified specific needs and through a combination of group and individual sessions, worked with the guys to improve not just their conversational language, but also their written and presentation skills. It enabled us to send a Pole to work offshore in Malaysia, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico, a Peruvian to present complex metallurgy to the Texans and an Italian to run projects in this country and Singapore.

When we need to bring new recruits to a standard of fluency and literacy that we can use or when we have specific team courses, we will call on Lancaster Languages again.”

Brian Green, General Manager, First Subsea Ltd.

  


 

When I started to attend the lessons, I had some issues with regard to my pronunciation, therefore we decided to work in order to improve it. After a first stage in which the teacher evaluated my mistakes, she started a rigorous plan in order to develop and improve my pronunciation. In the first instance we started with the easiest issues to be resolved, then proceeding further, I was able to delete the bigger problems too. She used a voice recorder in order to let me understand where the mistake was, then as homework I had a recording each week with the right pronunciation. Her help was really necessary; now I know how to recognise my mistakes and try to avoid them.

Giuseppe Rizzo, First Subsea Ltd
 


 

When I started working at First Subsea Ltd, it was quite difficult for me to perform my work since clients and colleagues couldn’t understand my pronunciation. This problem became more critical when I had to give presentations at conferences. Fortunately everything changed after starting my English course with Lancaster Languages. My pronunciation improved dramatically in a short time. I think the teacher’s method, style and exhaustive dedication were the key points in the massive improvement I achieved. Now I am really happy with how I can manage my speaking and it has made my life very much easier.

William Flores, Research Associate Metallurgist, First Subsea Ltd, Lancaster

  


 

"Lancaster Languages provides personalised lessons depending on your goals and needs. They provide me what I need to improve my English pronunciation. The teachers have helped me develop more confidence to speak in English in public, and so I felt ready to take part in this speech competition. Although I do need more practice to improve my pronunciation and would like to learn more from the teachers, I am very pleased that I could achieve one of my targets for pronunciation. I greatly appreciate their support!"

Ami Sato, PhD student, Lancaster University